News

On March 20, at the CeBIT '98 convention in Hanover, Germany, several leading manufacturers of CD-ReWritable (CD-RW) drives and media announced that the market for CD-RW products has grown much faster than originally predicted.

On March 17, Recoton">http://www.recoton.com">Recoton Corporation announced that it has licensed the NHThttp://www.nhthifi.com">NHT; brand name to Vergence Technology, Inc. NHT is a name known among audiophiles for its line of loudspeaker products for home audio. Vergence intends to utilize the NHT brand name on its new line of products designed specifically for the pro audio and professional home music markets. Planning for this marketing agreement has been in development for many months with Vergence Technology's Chris Byrne and Ken Kantor, who were also the founders of NHT.

Concluding its six-year evaluation of Digital Audio Radio (DAR) systems, the Consumer">http://www.cema.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) filed its final report last month with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The report, "Technical Evaluations of Digital Audio Radio Systems: Laboratory and Field Test Results, System Performance, Conclusions," is available to the public from the FCC and through CEMA's websitehttp://www.cemacity.org/works/pubs/files/dar.htm">website;.

You may have noticed recent news items about proposals to deregulate the electrical power industry. You may have received solicitations to sign on with some start-up utility you never heard of, promising 10% to 40% reductions in your electrical bill. The model for this deregulation---if it comes to pass---is the long-distance telephone industry.

On March 12, Energy">http://ovonic.com.">Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. announced that Sony">http://www.sony.com">Sony Corporation has expanded its royalty-bearing license under ECD's proprietary phase-change rewritable optical-memory technology to include advanced technology for use in rewritable CD and DVD optical-memory products. Phase-change technology, invented by ECD, is used in PD and CD-RW rewritable optical-memory discs.

March 9, AKM">http://www.akm.com">AKM Semiconductor, Inc. introduced the AK5392, a 24-bit stereo analog-to-digital (A/D) converter based on its proprietary dual-bit delta-sigma technology. The AK5392 reportedly achieves a dynamic range of 116dB, said to be a 15dB improvement over other single-chip alternatives.

In an announcement that could stun the neophyte custom CD compilation business and concurrently impact future prospects for the $12 billion music recording industry, superSonic">http://www.supersonicboom.com/">superSonic BOOM has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Ergon Technology for a patented manufacturing process covering customized audio products. Like Open">http://www.openmarket.com">Open Market's announcement last week that it had received patents from the US government for its e-commerce technology, superSonic's announcement raises more questions than it answers.