3G Rio Plans

Electronic News, March 13, 2000 by Jerry Ascierto

S3 Inc. recently announced a partnership with SanDisk Corp. to provide advanced storage solutions for S3's next-generation Rio digital audio players. The Rio, the biggest selling MP3 player on the market, will showcase expanded storage capacity and advanced storage management features in its forthcoming, third generation, S3 said. S3 will leverage SanDisk's flash memory technology for the device. Cahners In-Stat Group predicts that the market for digital audio devices will grow from about 800,000 units in 1999 to nearly 10 million units by 2003. "In line with this estimate, we are planning to significantly expand our Rio family of products, starting with the addition of our third-generation Diamond Multimedia Rio handhelds," said Ken Potashner, chief executive officer and chairman of S3.

Macronix, Infineon Partner

Taiwan chipmaker Macronix Internationaland Infineon Technologies have agreed to cooperate in developing ROM multimedia cards, aimed at the digital audio space. During the first quarter this year, the two companies will present a one-chip solution with 32Mbytes of memory capacity. The companies will provide secure ROM with copyright protection in compliance with the secure digital music initiative's security regulations. Infineon co-invented the multimedia card, the world's smallest removable solid state memory solution. The 32Mbyte ROM multimedia card is suitable for a wide range of applications. When used as a sound carrier, the device enables up to 60 minutes of music and sound or 30 minutes of MP3 music. The ROM based multimedia card is analogous to a CD, but provides higher storage density. Used as an electronic book, 32Mbytes can hold about 20,000 pages, enabling applications such as dictionaries, phone books or city maps. A variety of 64Mbyte ROM multimedia cards will be available this year, and a 128Mbyte ROM version is planned for 2001.

MP3 Security

One of the stumbling blocks set in place for the digital music revolution has been the issue of security. While MP3 player units continue to sell, the lack of mainstream content available to download has stalled the device's potential. Recently, Cirrus Logic Inc. and InterTrust Technologies Corp. rolled out a general-purpose, content-secure system-on-a-chip (SOC) for Internet audio players, supporting MP3 and Windows Media Audio. The companies claim that it is the first such device. InterTrust will be supplying its Rights/PD digital rights management software to Cirrus' Maverick chip family, a combination that exceeds all current Secure Digital Music Initiative specifications, the companies claimed. The existing Maverick EP7209 SOC, currently shipping in second-generation Internet audio devices, supports the software, which ensures that digital content will be used only as permitted by content-owner or distributor-specified rules. Building on the EP7209, Cirrus plans to introduce the Maverick Lock EP7307, which will provide hard-wired support for InterTrust's decryption and digital rights management software. The Maverick Lock technology includes on-chip security features such as a built-in secure digital music initiative ID, hidden private keys, automatic verification of a secure environment, and automatic disabling of debug and test interfaces. The chip will begin sampling in the second quarter, with third-generation digital audio products using the chip hitting the streets this fall.