News archive (9 / 1999)

The sales of "The Matrix" DVD are soaring. Already 1.5 million copies of the movie have been shipped making "The Matrix" the most successful title in the format's history! The DVD release has already generated $23.4 million in revenues

Setting another industry record, "The Matrix," released on DVD Sept. 21, generated sales to consumers of approximately 780,000 or 52 percent of shipments, making it the most successful DVD in first week sales. According to VideoScan, first week consumer sales of "The Matrix" DVD were three times greater than the next highest-selling title to date.

"DVD has not only revolutionized home entertainment, it's changed the threshold for success in the market," said Warren Lieberfarb, president, Warner Home Video. "`The Matrix' is the perfect example of DVD's market potential."

It took just two years from DVD's national launch in August of 1997 for the format to ship one million units of a single title. That compares to four years for compact discs and 11 years for VHS!

Since its launch in 1997, DVD players have outsold the VCR by 13 to one and the CD player by four to one. More than 60 million discs have been shipped and nearly 2.6 million DVD players are currently in U.S. homes. More than 4,000 DVD titles are now available from every major studio for sale or rent at traditional retail outlets and through online services.

DJ2000 is one of the newest MP3 software products on the market and has unique features differentiating itself from currently popular players such as Sonique and WinAMP. DJ2000 makes use of a proprietary new technology called Library Processing System (LiPS) allowing users to store their music collections on any media. DJ2000 manages the music collection, prompting the user to insert the CD when needed. The convenience of offline storage is unique to the industry and cannot be found in other MP3 management tools such as RealJukebox or MusicMatch.

Additionally, the Party Mode in DJ2000 allows party guests to search through the music collection and play songs without providing full program access.

DJ2000 supports Creative Labs' NOMAD Portable Player.

A Demo of DJ2000 is available from 215 Technology and on numerous locations around the Internet. The complete version is available directly from 215 Technology for $29.95 and includes a FREE bonus of 4 New MP3 Utilities. The product will soon be available at online stores including Beyond.com.

www.215tech.com

FamilyWonder.com is offering a $15 discount towards any purchase made by new customers. They also have a 'Buy three, pay for one' -offer, but it's not valid for DVD purchases. Point your browser to this address to get the discount.

Because the site is quite hard to navigate, and there's no way to list the DVDs they have, you might want to check out the list of available titles at DVDTalk.com.

You can, for example, get Lost In Space or Contact for $5.74 (after discount and with shipping to US). Shipping to Europe is ridiculous, though.

MP3.com and TLC have announced their charity deal -- million first users of mp3.com can download TLC's new track "I Need That" for free. For every download, sponsors will donate a dime for a charity purposes.

mp3.com

Two major PDA processor manufacturers, ARM & Cirrus Logic have announced that their up-coming PDA processors will support Windows Media Audio format. This is a clear sign that Microsoft is trying to get its big piece of PDA markets.

Finally there's official word from Warner Brothers regarding the problems people have been having with 'The Matrix' DVD.

The problems are hardware-based - the problem is not with 'The Matrix' DVD. The problems are caused by the hardware not being up to full DVD specifications. There will be firmware patches for these devices available shortly.

If you are having a problem with your copy of 'The Matrix', you might want to check out the following pages at PC Friendly:

PC Friendly - Matrix tech support for consumer DVD-Video players
PC Friendly - Matrix tech support for computer DVD-ROM drives

Vertical Horizon has developed a player that plays both standard CDs and MP3 CDs. Consumers will no longer have to rely on their PCs and CD ROMs to enjoy CDs with MP3 files. The player features a microprocessor that controls the identification of the signal from the disc, and depending on whether or not it is a CD or MP3 file, runs the file through a MP3 decoder. The player is available as both Home Stereo type and Portable type.

Yamaha will be demonstrating it's upcoming XG-Movie 5.1(tm) Digital Surround Card to the public for the first time this weekend.

XG-Movie 5.1 supports Dolby (tm) Digital, and the high resolution DTS(tm) Digital Surround formats using Yamaha's YMF744 and YSS912 audio chips. The new audio card also privedes a variety of DSP surround effects using the YSS912.

XG-Movie 5.1 outputs 5.1 -channel audio (left, center, right, left-surround, right-surround, and LFE) that delivers cinema quality effects. The card accepts both analog and digital input sources, and also provides both digital and analog outputs with signal to noise ratio (SQNR) greater than 96dB.

Features of Yamaha XG-Movie 5.1 Sound Card
· Complete DTS/Dolby Digital solution that takes S/PDIF DTS/Dolby Digital encoded digital data from the YMF744 and outputs 6 channels of audio (left, right, left-surround, right-surround, center and sub-woofer.)
· Alternatively, takes 5 analog inputs (TAD, Mic, AUX, Video, CD and Line-in).
· DTS Digital Surround decoding.
· Dolby Digital support.
· Full DOS mode through a TSR.
· Full duplex hardware for telephony functions.
· PC99 compliant.
· Optional digital I/O with coaxial/optical connectors.
· PCI Bus Master Interface (PCI 2.2 compliant).
· Supports 4-channel AC97 output.
· MPU-401 UART-compatible MIDI interface on a second bracket (option).
· S-YXG50 software included.

World's leading eCommerce site that has specialized in customized CDs, Musicmaker.com has made strategic deal with AOL for $20 million. The contract allows AOL to offer customized CDs and digital downloads for its customers and to lead traffic into MusicMaker's pages and vice versa.

Largest new media oriented site that is owned by AOL is WinAmp.com that was acquired by AOL earlier this year.

MyMP3Storage.com offers 50megs of free mp3 storage space for everyone. This beats the offer that FreeMP3Space.com has -- they offer only 25megs. Well, this is still very little space, but better than zero tho'.

Diamond Multimedia just released a newest version of their portable mp3 player, Rio. This version is called PMP500 and it has 64mb of memory as default (upgradable to 96mb), back-lit LCD, new design, USB port and Mac support.

The price will be estimated $269.

Cybertronics Inc. released revolutionary MP3 add-on to Sony Playstation. This little piece of a hardware is installed in PSX's I/O port and after the installation you will be able to listen MP3 CDs (with regular compression they can store over 11hours of music), play imported games and use your self-made backups.

Read more

Diamond Multimedia has called all shareholders of the company for extra meeting where they are supposed to discuss and propably vote about merging with S3 Inc. So, propably today we know more about the future of world's number one mp3 player manufacturer.

eBay is fighting against users who sell pirated material -- specially self-made audio albums -- on eBay.com. eBay has informed that they will remove such users from their databases and will inform their contact informations for cops.

ebay.com

Company press release
FREMONT, Calif. --Sept. 20, 1999--Cirrus Logic, the leading provider of audio chip solutions, today unveiled two new Crystal digital-to-analog converters (DACs) that support both dueling DVD audio standards.

As a result, the new DACs enable the creation of universal DVD players, a new class of consumer electronics products. In separate news releases issued today, the company announced:

· The CS4397 SuperDAC -- This high-performance audio DAC delivers on a single chip, the audio quality that typically requires three separate components in today's high-end DVD players. The new high-end audio DAC is the first to offer both 120 dB dynamic range performance -- the highest in the industry -- and compatibility with the next-generation audio formats: DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD).

· The CS4391 -- This new DAC also supports both DVD Audio and SACD while at the same time delivering exceptional audio quality (108 dB) at a mainstream price point. The DAC's architecture removes jitter noise and thus eliminates the need for expensive phase lock loops or voltage controlled oscillators, further reducing overall system cost and making mainstream universal DVD players a reality.

Mp3.com and Tunes.com have made a deal to co-operate with e-commerce site HollywoodMusic.com. Sites will offer their tracks and artists for HollywoodMusic.com's markets.

(article source DimensionMusic.com)

More info:
mp3.com
tunes.com
HollywoodMusic.com

One of the most highly anticipated DVD releases hits the streets on November 2, 1999

(Company press release)

GLENDALE, Calif., Sept. 14 -- One of this year's most highly anticipated DVD releases and a constant presence on DVD consumer's most wanted lists, the ``Special Limited Edition'' of Saving Private Ryan, debuts on DVD November 2 from DreamWorks Home Entertainment -- debuting day and date with the film's first-ever sell-through VHS release. Continuing its award-winning tradition of delivering the highest standard of excellence in DVD product, DreamWorks will conduct an all digital Telecine high definition transfer -- resulting in enhanced detail and definition. As well, the DVD will feature bonus programming including a message from Steven Spielberg; an exclusive, half-hour behind-the-scenes look at this extraordinary film; and specially created interactive menus. The ``Special Limited Edition'' of Saving Private Ryan DVD also will be available in the Digital Theater Systems (DTS) format.

An unforgettable film achievement, Saving Private Ryan, a DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures' co-production, received wide acclaim from audiences nationwide during its theatrical release and throughout the world. It was hailed as the best motion picture of 1998 by more than 70 film critics and critics groups across the country and appeared on more than 160 ``Top 10'' lists. After becoming the highest box-office grossing film last year, Saving Private Ryan went on to shatter rental records with the strongest revenue generating debut in rental history.

Pine Inc. releases their new portable CD player in November -- this is the world's first commercial portable CD player that can play also mp3 tracks stored on the CDRs.

The device is on the market in November 1999 (in U.S.) and estimated price will be around $299.

Creative Labs released an enchanced version of their hyper-popular sound card Sound Blaster Live!. This new card is called Sound Blaster Live! MP3+ and it includes mp3 acceleration and support for Creative's LAVA technology.

Read more about this from Creative's Homepage.