Multimedia is the watchword for the new year, as tech leaders and newcomers alike explore new offerings in music services and products, ranging from players to videoconferencing to tools for musicians.
Microsoft is launching a digital music service in the U.S. next year, perhaps inspired by the success of Apple Computer's ITunes. As recently as July, Microsoft chief executive officer Bill Gates said he didn't see an online music service as a money-maker.
Gateway took a swipe at Apple in its November announcement of the DMP-X20 Digital Jukebox MP3 player, saying its player was $100 cheaper than Apple's $399 IPod. A Gateway executive also made a thinly veiled reference to the more expensive IPod, proclaiming that until now, "consumers were forced to pay a premium for a high-capacity ultrathin digital jukebox."
The digital media market is seeing some new entries. Recent arrivals include Lexar Media, which is offering JumpDrive Music, an affordable MP3 player-cum-storage device. Televigation's TeleNav mobile phone-based Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation service could steer drivers to their destinations during the holiday season. For those unable to travel, a Visteon system will enable users to videoconference with loved ones using a broadband Internet connection and a TV set. Also, the MusicPad Pro tablet PC from FreeHand Systems will elicit a holiday cheer from nerdy musicians.
Newest Portable Player
In the world of MP3 players, catchy names rule: Creative Labs named its MP3 player Nomad, Apple called its MP3 player IPod (which has now become a household word), and Dell chose the moniker "DJ" for its line of MP3 players.
Gateway chose the more complicated name DMP-X20 Digital Jukebox for its recently launched USB 2.0-based MP3 player with a 20GB storage capacity. For $299, the DMP-X20 comes loaded with features, including a six-band equalizer, an FM tuner, and a digital voice recorder. A 2.5-inch display presents MP3 and other data with an indigo blue backlight. Users can browse music by album, artist, genre, track, or play-list.
A $50 Belkin add-on device enables the DMP-X20's digital voice recorder capabilities, which can record sounds to the hard drive. The USB 2.0 interface allows the DMP-X20 to exchange music and data files with a Windows-based PC.
Double-Duty Jump
Lexar Media's JumpDrive Music is like a Zip disk that can play MP3 files. This tiny, oval-shaped device has a USB flash component that can store, carry, and transfer data files, while also serving as a full-featured MP3 player. This product is aimed at the traveler, who could use the device to transport files and listen to music while on the road.
The drive is priced at $90 for a 128MB model and $160 for one with 256MB of storage. The capacities pale in comparison with IPod's 20GB and 40GB models, so the JumpDrive functions more effectively as a file transporter.
The JumpDrive is compatible with both USB 1.1 and 2.0, and works with the Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
Super Web Cam
If you can't travel during the holidays, try Viseon's VisiFone TV to interact with loved ones.
This system allows live videoconferencing over IP at speeds of up to 512 kilobits per second, displaying the other person's image on your TV set. All you need is the VisiFone TV device, a TV, and a broadband Internet connection. The VisiFone can be plugged into a DSL or cable modem or router, and can work on a home or office network.
The device costs $599 and allows free videoconferencing at 30 frames per second with anyone on the Internet who has a VisiFone device, a Web cam, or an H.323-compliant system. H.323 is a protocol for real-time communications over packet switched networks. The VisiFone TV has a built-in CCD (charge-coupled device) camera, and USB ports to support USB cameras and video cameras.
Sheet Music Goes Tech
Digital sheets will replace paper sheets as classical music steps into the 21st century, according to FreeHand Systems, manufacturers of the MusicPad Pro device, a sleek tablet PC that displays digital music sheets on a 12.1-inch TFT LCD screen, while sitting on a music stand.
Digital music sheets can ease the process of arranging, composing, and performing for classical musicians and composers, the company says. A single MusicPad Pro tablet can store more than 5000 pages of sheet music. Sheets are turned by touching the screen. MusicPad Pro also has annotation technology that allows musicians to mark up or compose new music while preserving the original score. FreeHand Systems calls it "the biggest breakthrough for musicians since music was printed."
The device has 96MB of flash memory and 64MB of RAM. It weighs just over 5 pounds and can operate for 3 hours on a single battery charge. It also has a video-out button, an ethernet port for network connectivity, and two USB ports for connecting external devices. Digital music sheets can be downloaded from a music store on the company's Web site. The MusicPad Pro costs $1199.
Basic Organizer
The low-end $130 Simpliciti Home Organizer is a good option if you can't afford the high-end, multi-thousand-dollar showpiece multimedia refrigerators that have made their debut.
The Simpliciti won't keep your food cold, but it will track birthdays, organize recipes, and function as an address book as effectively. It can also keep lists--shopping lists, to-do lists, and grocery lists, for example. It looks like a calculator, with a keyboard and a small black-and-white screen that displays the input. It operates on four AA batteries and plugs into any 110-volt power outlet. You can buy an add-on thermal printer for $140.
Digital Directions
Televigation's TeleNav is a GPS-based mobile phone navigation system similar to the telematics technology found in vehicles.
TeleNav includes a GPS receiver built in or attached to the mobile phone, which determines the vehicle's location, computes the shortest route to a destination, and guides the driver there. The GPS receiver uses the mobile phone as an interface to communicate with the driver. If TeleNav detects a driver going in the wrong direction, it calculates a new route to steer the person back on track.
TeleNav also provides airport code location information, a Yellow Pages service, and voice-automated, multilingual service in English, Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin. The GPS receiver is priced separately from the service at $69.95. Televigation's service starts at $5.99 monthly for a 12-month plan.
