Automotive Mobile Audio Video

Operating on EDGE wireless data network, BlackBerry[R] 8800 has built-in GPS and supports location-based service applications. Operational functionality is promoted via full QWERTY keyboard, trackball navigation system, and Hi-Res (320 x 240) landscape display with context-sensitive menus. Along with various call management and phone features, handset comes with Push To Talk and Bluetooth[R] support, 64 Mb flash memory, and micro-SD expandable memory slot.

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ATLANTA and WATERLOO, Ontario, Feb. 12 - Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and AT&T (NYSE:T) today introduced the thinnest BlackBerry handset yet. The BlackBerry(R) 8800 incorporates a full QWERTY keyboard and offers customers a unique blend of performance and elegance. AT&T will be the first wireless carrier in North America to launch the BlackBerry 8800 when it begins offering it across its wireless retail and business channels on February 21.

The BlackBerry 8800 from AT&T has an exclusive, premium, dark blue finish and AT&T uniquely supports Push To Talk (PTT) on the handset. It features built-in GPS (Global Positioning System), a first for an AT&T-enabled BlackBerry handset. The BlackBerry 8800 also incorporates RIM's new trackball navigation system for fast and intuitive navigation, as well as a media player and a microSD expandable memory slot for storage of music and videos.

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OYSTER BAY, N.Y. -- Portable entertainment changed forever in 1979 when the Sony Walkman hit the market. It spawned an industry, and made personal mobile listening possible.

Today's equivalent is the MP3 player. But where's the music, and how do you get it? It's on the Internet, and you need a computer to buy it and transfer it to your player. That's a step backwards, away from the joy of truly portable procurement and listening.

"Today's so-called portables," says Vamsi Sistla, director of residential entertainment at ABI Research, "are still tied by an umbilical cord to the computer and a broadband connection. The industry should address these shortcomings."

A suggested rethink is included in ABI Research's new study, "The Emergence of Portable Audio, Video & Game Markets."

Consider this scenario. You head into a drive-in food stand. While waiting for your order, you connect your network-ready MP3 player to a wired or wireless vending station, right from the car. After your multimedia provider's normal authentication process, you download the latest multimedia in the time it takes to cook your burger.

You could restock your player at a sidewalk kiosk, or in a record store or an electronics retailer. You could do it in the supermarket checkout line, or at the gym, or even on a plane.

For market leaders such as Sony, Apple, Philips and Microsoft, for big retailers and name brands, and for Wi-Fi, RFID and NFC vendors this could mean many more customers, higher sales, and huge profits.

All that's needed is to make portable audio and video devices network-ready, and for content providers to build an access infrastructure to provide additional avenues for obtaining content. "I'm not excited by the prospect of an 80 GB MP3 player," says Sistla. "What gets me excited is a 20 GB player that can download media on the go."

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Delphi Automotive Systems said it has received more than $2.5 billion in business orders from seven different customers around the world for its Communiport[R] brand Mobile MultiMedia (MMM) technologies. Delphi's Communiport products will provide a number of navigation, mobile computing, communications, entertainment and information functions for personal and commercial drivers. "The extraordinary growth of Mobile MultiMedia has exceeded expectations," said Dave Wohleen, president of Delphi Delco Electronics Systems.

"The interest in these technologies by vehicle producers has been very strong. These manufacturers are acutely aware of how these features and functions differentiate their vehicles from other cars and trucks. And even more important, they understand the evolving demographic transformation of lifestyles that is creating consumers who not only desire these options in their vehicles, they expect them."

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AMD (NYSE:AMD) and M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd. (Nasdaq:FLSH) have entered into a strategic agreement to jointly develop sophisticated high-density flash data storage solutions for the rapidly growing mobile data storage market.

Building on AMD's strength in manufacturing, packaging and flash technology; and M-Systems' award-winning DiskOnChip technology, this collaboration is intended to create embedded data storage products optimized for high-performance mobile and other applications.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will jointly develop and market flash data storage solutions. The combination of AMD's advanced low power flash with M-Systems' widely supported and easy-to-use TrueFFS (True Flash File System) technology is expected to create solutions which offer high-performance, small form-factors and an extremely cost-effective interface.

This suite of products will be designed to offer the functionality and ease-of-use of a hard drive, with the superior speed, performance, low power consumption and reliability of AMD's Flash memory.

Cellular telephones, wireless devices, hand-held PCs, automotive PCs and other mobile products that need to quickly store and retrieve large amounts of data, can greatly benefit from the small form factor and cost-effective interface of the solutions the two companies plan to develop. Offering integrated security features with extensive data storage capabilities, these products will be designed for mobile-commerce applications such as the secure digital music initiative.

"AMD believes that there is a burgeoning market for high-capacity embedded data storage devices in advanced portable products," said Walid Maghribi, AMD's senior vice president and president of the company's Memory Group.

"The growing need for small, low-power, rugged and secure storage solutions that are capable of holding large quantities of data, audio and video files, represents a tremendous opportunity for flash memory. AMD has partnered with M-Systems to develop this new flash-based data storage solution to address the mobile market's unique needs."

"We chose to adopt M-Systems' DiskOnChip technology because of its combination of the TrueFFS software, a unique controller with highly integrated security features, and their ability to provide a comprehensive solution," added Maghribi.

"We are elated to enter into a partnership with AMD, a company that has earned the reputation for delivering extremely reliable flash memory products to the market," said Dov Moran, president and CEO of M-Systems. "AMD's expertise in flash memory and knowledge of the mobile market space, coupled with M-Systems' ability to offer an extremely reliable high-capacity storage solution to applications demanding very high performance, makes this partnership ideal for this venture."

M-Systems' TrueFFS is a patented Flash file system and set of technologies that performs full read/write hard disk emulation with an unmatched level of reliability and performance. TrueFFS works in all major operating system environments, including Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows CE, Windows NT, Windows NT Embedded, Windows95/8, DOS, BE, Linux and other leading operating systems.

With combined TrueFFS and DiskOnChip flash disk technologies, M-Systems' DiskOnChip family of Flash disk products have a burst read/write speed of up to 20 Megabytes per second, an endurance of one million write/erase cycles, advanced error correction/error detection, and are the most reliable Flash disk solutions in the market.

M-Systems' DiskOnChip is currently available in 32-pin DIP, 144-pin DIMM or 48-pin TSOP form factors with capacities ranging from 8 MB to 288 MB. This unique product adds flexibility, minimizes integration efforts, reduces engineering costs and shortens time-to-market. M-Systems' DiskOnChip features high reliability, low power consumption and small size.

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The modern car is a wonder to behold, and its effects on us are compounding daily. On the roads, we're kept safe by cutting-edge advances in electronic braking and collision avoidance systems. In the cockpit, we drive in the right direction thanks to GPS navigational systems. Lounging in the backseat, we're entertained by built-in DVD players, iPod link-ups, and satellite television. The digital automobile is here, and that means the roads are safer, and a heck of a lot more fun.

Techies are changing the face of the automotive industry, and we're here to stay. For instance, in response to the wave of iPod-toting drivers, the industry exploded with a multitude of iPod interfaces for car radios. We explore a few of them in our most recent How To article by Bill Howard, entitled 6 Ways to Link iPods and Car Radios. We'll continue to explore advances in audio that are more than just mere hookups and interfaces, but this article is an example of how we like to keep the discussion down to earth, and supply you with useful and actionable How To information. If you're not an iPod junky or simply like greater variety in your audio playlist, be sure to peruse our Satellite Radio Roundup. For long rides, nothing beats XM or Sirius.

As techies, we also crave information on the latest scientific breakthroughs and experiments. If that's what floats your amphibious auto, er… boat, then be sure to read our Auto News article on the solar-powered car race in Australia and view our slideshow of competitors in DARPA's robot-driven auto challenge.

Speaking of DARPA, will the digital automobile make drivers obsolete? Not any time soon, but it is possible. Cars in the future may be guided by radar. Collision avoidance systems that use electromagnetic waves to help identify obstacles and avoid accidents are already in the pipeline. Some will be passive, merely alerting the driver to potential trouble, and others will be active by assuming control of the car and steering it to safety. We'll cover these topics as well, but I don't think we'll see HAL 9000 driving your lexus next year. But it does make me think… Driver: "Hal, pull over, I have to use the rest stop." HAL 9000: "I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that."

But I digress, so allow me to refocus and welcome you to TechnoRide, the car site for tech fans! At TechnoRide, we're a bunch of techies who love cars. We view them as mobile hubs of electronics. Our primary goal is to bring you the latest news, reviews, and analyses on everything electronic in the modern car, including sound systems, entertainment, video, navigation, security, safety, and much, much more.

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NEWTON, Mass. -- Conference Provides Comprehensive Overview of Today's and Tomorrow's TV to Mobile Business

Global Technology Conferences, Inc. (GTC) today announced the successful conclusion of the first GSPx TV to Mobile event. The two-day event in Eindhoven, The Netherlands attracted design engineers and executives from leading technology companies in Europe and around the world. This vertical event in the GSPx series of conferences focused on the implementation of video broadcasting and video compression technology and the elements involved.

"In its first year, GSPx TV to Mobile attracted key design engineers and business leaders from the industry-leading video and mobile companies," said Dr. Amnon Aliphas, conference chair. "Attendees had the opportunity to learn from each other, explore this dynamic field and gain insight into where the industry is heading."

Video compression and broadcasting technologies will also be explored at GSPx 2005, the pervasive signal processing event, as one of several vertical tracks. GSPx will take place October 24-27 in the Santa Clara Convention Center in California. In addition to video, the conference will examine the latest advances in audio/speech, multi-core processors, next generation technologies, SAR imagery, telecommunications and wireless. Decision-making engineers, managers and C-level executives will come together at GSPx to spark ideas, develop new partnerships, to learn about the latest technologies and to drive the industry forward.

What People Are Saying About GSPx TV to Mobile

"The quality of the GSPx TV to Mobile conference was at a very high level regarding both the profound knowledge of the speakers as well as the depth of the presented topics. I really appreciated the openness of all participants."

Gregorio Roper, ServiceForce GmbH

"The event was right on time and had a good technological focus. A very good job was done to arrange a conference with such leading speakers."

Peder Drege, Adactus

"This event gives an excellent overview of today's and tomorrow's TV to Mobile business."

The conference included speakers from Freescale Semiconductor, Microsoft, Nokia, Philips, Texas Instruments and Toshiba, with the keynote address being delivered by Kees Joosse, business development manager for Philips Semiconductors. Attendees also learned about the latest standards in the industry and exhibiting companies displayed their video compression and broadcasting technologies.

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