Audio mp3 mp3 player portable

It would seem as though the MP3 revolution is over. As Sanyo marketing manager Alex Lungley points out, the shelf space for these products is ever dwindling, and other manufacturers have complained of the difficulties in selling any product that sports 64MB or less of memory.

In addition to this, there are constantly stories of various websites being closed down, perpetuating the notion that MP3 format is petering out. In June, the recording industry let slip plans to sue individuals who trade copyrighted songs on file-swapping services.

This has been the latest attempt by the music industry to choke off the system that spawned the MP3 hardware, and that they fear will cause them to lose control of their music.

In addition, the labels have started using technical measures to flood swapping sites with bogus files. Such tactics could be further expanded if legislation is approved that would explicitly allow them to harass file-swappers without fear of legislation.

While manufacturers insist that the purpose of a solid-state audio player is more centred around ripping tracks from your own CD collection, the fact of the matter is that consumers are down-loading copyrighted material from the Net. All this seems to be de-mystifying the `free music' notoriety MP3 enjoyed when it first rocketed into the spotlight a few years ago.

However, it would appear at the moment that things could go either way, and as the format starts to find its niche, it seems as though it could be saved from being the eight-track tape of the internet generation.

Previously, the biggest problem solid-state audio players faced was the inconvenience of the manner in which they operated. Users would have to download a new playlist from the computer every time they wanted to change the contents of the player--something, it transpired, they were not prepared to do. However, with this being the major setback, the products have largely evolved beyond the tiny units capable of holding around 30 or 60 minutes of music. Instead, the more successful products are now measuring their storage capacity in giga-bytes instead of megabytes, capable of holding entire CD collections rather than simply a cherry picked selection of tracks.

In this area, the Apple iPod is currently doing great things for getting the message across to consumers, with high-profile adverts in cinemas and a great deal of coverage in the press. Whereas previous solid-state audio players simply had skip-free play-back to sell themselves, the newer wave of jukeboxes have something more to offer--a tangible benefit that sets them apart from any other audio product.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs explains: "iPod lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it anywhere. With the new 10GB iPod, you can listen to your music continuously on six round trip flights between San Francisco and Tokyo and never hear the same song twice."

Additionally, this new wave of WAV is capable of doubling up as a hard drive for PCs and Macs. As Neal Leggett, European brand manager for Creative Labs points out: "Users can enjoy great audio in the format of their choice, keep up to date with the new audio storage formats and copy their data files at the same time. It's the perfect all-round solution."

Crucially in a market as fast moving as IT, these products can usually be updated over the Internet to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in sound formats. In this manner, people can be assured that the are not going to be left behind when different compression formats enter the market.

CONVERGENCE

Another way the solid-state audio market has been spreading is by converging with other products. Essentially, any unit that uses solid-state memory is capable of being a digital audio player. In this way, MP3 players have been integrated into mobile phones, digital cameras and watches, leading to the question how many MP3 players can one person need, and attached to how many different devices.

As a reaction to this, the jukeboxes have started offering services that might actually fit with the digital audio gambit, especially given their ability to double up as a PC hard drive.

The Archos JukeBox Multimedia, for example, combines an MP3 player and recorder plus a built in microphone, photo album and carousel, still camera and camcorder, plus video player and recorder.

A further portable audio sub-category to spring out of the MP3 revolution is the MP3 CD player, and now, of course, Sony's NetMD, which is capable of downloading tracks from a computer.

Philips has long been supporting the idea of the MP3 CD as the format with which to exploit the on-line music revolution, maintaining that CD offers a storage format with which consumers are familiar, as well as being a cheap manner in which to archive songs downloaded from the Net.

Indeed, it is predicted by research from IDC that CD-based compressed music players are set to surpass other types this year, with sales growing from one million units in 2001 to more than 18 million in 2006.

Cirrus Logic has launched an audio processor which it says will allow manufacturers to sell MP3 players for about 32 [pounds sterling]. CD-based compressed music systems have become popular partly because manufacturers often build them into mainstream devices, such as DVD players. Cirrus claims that its highly integrated chip will substantially lower the cost of adding the features.

"You can store hundreds of tracks on it, as long as people are happy to burn their own CD from a PC," says Michael Noble, vice president of European sales for Cirrus. "It enables you to carry a whole library around on one CD-Rom."

With broadband Internet connections becoming ever more prevalent, it becomes apparent that people will be downloading more such content, and will need somewhere to store it. Digital music may not have yet set the world alight, but the ability to efficiently download a song has not been available to a great number of users.

As more companies begin to roll out their broadband offerings, the number of people down-loading files will increase, and they will undoubtedly need somewhere to store them.

With this in mind, solutions such as the MP3 CD players and NetMD will surely become more appealing. As a result, Philips is expanding its MP3 range with a small pocket sized player--the Pocket ExPanium 431. At just 180 gram and a 21.5mm thick body, the pocket 431 uses an 8cm CD, yet is still capable of providing three hours of MP3 playback. The player is about 40% smaller than its predecessor.

In this way, the unit combines much of what made solid state audio players popular--their small sizes, and skip free playback--with the cheaper price of CD media, rather than the more expensive solid state option.

Elsewhere on the innovations front, Creative Labs are lining up a cable-free MP3 player, the Nomad MuVo. The thumb sized device sports a detachable storage portion that can be inserted directly into a computer's USB port, allowing for drag and drop file transfer.

Besides music files, the flash memory storage can also hold any type of data file, and Creative is riding on this to market the product as an all-round portable data storage gadget. Both MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) formats will be supported.

Meanwhile, Apple's acclaimed iPOD will soon no longer be exclusive to Mac users. "The big news," comments Apple's Mr Jobs, "is that we're bringing the iPOD to Windows users." The new 20GB iPOD will be available in early August to Mac users and later in the month to Windows users. "We want to be sure Mac users get the iPOD first" explains Mr Jobs.

WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY

The iPOD will become the only MP3 player that uses high-speed FireWire to sync with the PC. Apple claims that a 4,000 song library can be downloaded in just 30 minutes, compared with the 13 hours or more it would take with USB based devices. The iPOD's 10-hour battery recharges automatically whenever iPOD is connected, using power supplied over the FireWire cable.

For Mac users, the new iPOD will include the new iTunes 3. This software package adds new features, including Smart Playlists that automatically and dynamically update playlists based on simple rules set by the user.

For Windows users, the iPOD works with MusicMatch Jukebox, the number-one selling software for PCs. iPOD is the only MP3 player to provide Windows users with Apple's exclusive auto-sync technology, which will keep the iPOD automatically updated every time it is plugged into a PC.

In this way, the unit seeks to eliminate one of the more troublesome aspects of MP3 players--that of having to update playlists every time the user wishes to listen to something different.