Month: December 2002

  • Sony bets big on XrML digital rights markup language

    Sony is definitely getting all of its DRM ducks in order. First there was the recent co-purchase (with Philips) of InterTrust. Now, Sony has licensed all current and future patents of ContentGuard. ContentGuard is a subsidiary of Xerox, with Microsoft as a minority stakeholder. They have several key patents covering DRM systems and digital rights…

  • First 3G call made in live U.S. network

    Yesterday, AT&T Wireless and Ericsson completed the first WCDMA/UMTS call in a live network environment. The new 1900 MHz WCDMA/UMTS network they used for the test will have more than 100 cell sites in Dallas by the end of this year. All I want for Christmas is 802.11x most everywhere, 3G everywhere else, and phones…

  • Winner of "NerdTV" MPEG-4 encoder showdown

    Ben Waggoner has been helping Robert X. Cringely with an MPEG-4 encoder evaluation for NerdTV. Ben did all of the encoding, and then stepped out of the way to let Robert and his team pick the best. Sorenson’s forthcoming Squeeze 3, a $199 MPEG-4 encoder, was unanimously (all viewers determined it did best on all…

  • Sony's new set-top boxes

    At the BroadbandPlus show, Sony introduced four new set-top boxes (STBs). All but the low-end model support DVR functionality (which can’t be good news for TiVo), and HDTV. They look interesting, but I won’t be buying until I know I can get to media I’ve recorded for personal use. All four STBs incorporate Sony’s new…

  • Knowing your tools

    Ars Technica is running the first part of a series called Understanding the Microprocessor. Although it may sound a bit esoteric for less-technical readers, the article is well-written and does a nice job of easing into the details. …the purpose of computers isn’t to just “compute” in the abstract, but to produce usable results from…

  • The five stages of coping with P2P file sharing

    Robert X. Cringely recently posted an interesting article called Resistance is Futile: How Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Is Likely to Change Big Media. In it, he refers to a recent Microsoft Research paper (The Darknet and the Future of Content Distribution, which I pointed to in an article I posted on 11/7) that notes that P2P…

  • RealNetworks offers two-day SuperPass preview

    Taking a cue from cable, RealNetworks is offering a free preview of their SuperPass. Except that they call it a “trial”, defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “a state of pain or anguish that tests patience, endurance, or belief”, and “a trying, troublesome, or annoying person or thing”. In an additional sign that RealNetworks…

  • Universal unveils misguided 99¢ music download effort

    Today Universal Music Group (UMG) accounced 99¢ music downloads for more than 43,000 tracks. In Liquid Audio and Windows Media formats. I could go get those tracks, right now, and without UMG getting a cent if that whole “stealing is bad” thing wasn’t ingrained in me as deeply as it is. But I’d gladly give…

  • Via Licensing chosen as administrator for MPEG-4 audio patent pool

    The MPEG-4 Audio Licensing Committee (ALC) have selected Via Licensing as the licensing administrator for the MPEG-4 Audio patent pool. This is a good thing, I suppose, but it’s troubling that MPEG-4 technology and content developers will have at least two “one-stop shops” for MPEG-4 patent portfolio licensing — MPEG LA for video and Via…

  • Sorenson Media announces MPEG-4 support for Squeeze 3

    Sorenson Media, best known as the company behind QuickTime’s Sorenson Video, has announced that the next major release of Squeeze will support ISMA-compliant MPEG-4 encoding. Squeeze is available in single-format versions for $199. Their “Compression Suite” version is $199, and supports Flash, MPEG-4 and QuickTime output. Caution: The Windows version also supports RealSystem and Windows…