SAN DIEGO, California – A home-stereo component that lets consumers build MP3 playlists like the ones they can create with PCs, and the Lyra, a sexy – and tiny – new player, commanded most of the buzz on opening day of the MP3 Summit.
ReQuest co-founder Steve Vasquez heralded AudioRequest as the first home-stereo component that can play MP3 files.
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The user inserts a standard audio CD, presses the "encode" button, and the music is stored in MP3 format. Users can load up to 150 hours of music into the US$599 device, which is due to ship this fall.
But wait, there's more: Users can load any standard audio format into the device – an FM tuner, a record player, even an 8-track can be connected, recorded, and compiled into playlists.
In addition to MP3, AudioRequest will be compatible with any new formats as they emerge, Vasquez said. The device is also capable of outputting a signal to a TV set so consumers can create animations and video to accompany music playbacks. It connects to PCs via a USB or parallel port.
An audience member pointed out that the device effectively undermines SDMI, the copy-protecting format in development by the recording industry, if it can grab music from the radio – the broadcast exception to copyright laws governing recorded music.
Vasquez's response: "Shhhhh..."
Thomson Consumer Electronics developed the Lyra for RCA. One especially appealing feature stands out from the flurry of new players: It's got lots of storage capacity.
When Jeff Scott, business development and product manager for the French-owned Thomson Consumer Electronics, said the player will contain a "microdrive" capable of storing 345 MB of music, there was applause in the audience.
"Thank you," Scott said proudly.
It will also support Type II compact Flash memory in addition to the microdrive. The device, due to ship in September, costs $199 in a 32-MB memory version and $249 for a 64-MB version.
The Lyra will support MP3 and RealNetworks' RealG2 format. Scott said the company is open to using the SDMI format if it's successful.
Rapper Ice-T was spotted checking out the Lyra at the company's booth on the showroom floor.
Exhibitors were ecstatic over the news of Diamond Multimedia's win against the RIAA. Electronics manufacturers eager to get into the MP3-player market saw the decision as a green light to develop and ship more portable players.
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