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MP3 may be under constant attack by audiophiles, and by music-industry attorneys in the courts, but the format shows no indication of disappearing. Santa Clara, CA–based S3http://www.s3.com/">S3;, maker of the Rio portable audio player, has reason to believe that MP3 has plenty of growth potential. The company is going after licensees for the Rio to make knockoffs, and has plans to produce Rio-type players for home and car audio this summer.

In early June, Toshibahttp://www.toshiba.com/">Toshiba; will institute a new retailing program that embraces the Internet but favors traditional retailers. The electronics manufacturing giant will have "a defined group of Internet retailers" that will be built on a base of traditional retailers, according to an announcement made in late April. Later, the program will be expanded in stages to include Internet-only retailers. The announcement follows an">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10662/">an announcement by Sony Corp. late in January that Sony would begin direct Internet sales this year.

Bothered by bounce? Jonathan Scull offers some solutions for turntable owners with problem floors in "Fine">http://www.stereophile.com//finetunes/226/">"Fine Tunes" No.20. He also describes how impoverished audiophiles can make their own low-cost anti-vibration shelves. Stereophile readers respond with their own experiences—and a warning.

Jonathan Scull thinks he has uncoverd the hot audiophile topic for the new millennium—e-commerce. He lays out the situation in "Fine">http://www.stereophile.com//finetunes/224/">"Fine Tunes" #19. Find out what various manufacturers are up to, and why.

In hopes of stoking the multichannel DVD-Audio engine, Burr-Brownhttp://www.burrbrown.com">Burr-Brown; announced last week the PCM1604 audio digital-to-analog converter, which they describe as a high-performance, 6-channel audio DAC featuring 24-bit capability and 192kHz sampling, for use in a "wide variety of multichannel audio applications."

It's been an up-and-down week for consumer-electronics companies, as revealed by recent earnings reports surfacing around the globe. First, the bad news: Sonyhttp://www.sony.com">Sony; reports that its profits fell 32% in the latest fiscal year, and cites the strong yen for depressing the value of the consumer-electronics and entertainment company's overseas earnings.

Progress toward a working digital radio technology took a big step forward in April with the addition of Lowpass">http://http://www.lowpassprototype.com/">Lowpass Prototype Inc. to the development team. According to an April 27 press release, USA">http://www.usadr.com/">USA Digital Radio, Inc., a privately held digital radio technology company owned by the nation's largest radio broadcasters, has added the manufacturer of radio-frequency systems for radio and television transmission to its coalition to develop and commercialize digital AM and FM radio.