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Satellite radio got a boost toward wider market acceptance on February 16, when Sirius">http://www.siriusradio.com/">Sirius Satellite Radio and XM">http://www.xmradio.com/">XM Satellite Radio announced an agreement to develop a unified standard for satellite radios. The current batch of satellite receivers can pick up transmissions from one of the providers, but not both. The next generation of receivers will expand the technology's reach by enabling reception of both companies' broadcasts.

This spring, downloadable digital music from EMIhttp://www.emigroup.com/">EMI; may begin popping up everywhere, if a new arrangement with Supertrackshttp://www.supertracks.com/">Supertracks; goes as planned. The two companies have created what they believe is a secure system for downloading music to computers, portable players, and to CD burners at kiosks in shopping malls. The news follows by only a couple of weeks an announcement that Warner">http://www.warnermusic.com/">Warner Music and EMI will merge their operations under the larger umbrella of AOL Time Warner.

DVD-Audio has kept a low profile since its misfired "launch" late last year (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10620/">previous story), but has popped up again at this week's Audio Engineering Society Convention (AEShttp://www.aes.org">AES;) in Paris. Pioneerhttp://www.pioneerelectronics.com/">Pioneer; is demonstrating its latest generation of universal DVD players, recently">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10633/">recently released in Japan, using a new DVD-Audio disc, some of the contents of which were encoded using Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) technology to enable high-resolution surround sound.

High-definition audio is on its way to a DVD player near you. Pacific">http://www.hdcd.com/">Pacific Microsonics has introduced a new High Definition Compatible Disc chip, the PMD-200, for the next generation of CD and DVD players. The device is a "feature-rich audio IC that provides HDCD processing for both the CD and DVD formats," according to a February 11 company press release.

It's been a rough season for some in the e-commerce crowd, as several consumer-electronics Internet startups find themselves amid changes. Last week, CyberShop.comhttp://www.CyberShop.com">CyberShop.com; announced that it will close the e-tailing sites CyberShop.com and electronics.net (created as a joint venture with Tops Appliance City, which is now under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection) and sell these operations' remaining retail assets. At the same time, the company says it will launch an "Internet incubator" through the establishment of Grove">http://www.grovestreetventures.com">Grove Street Ventures to attract and develop startup Internet companies.

It would seem almost reasonable to imagine that your next stereo receiver or preamp could have an "intel inside" sticker on the front. Last week, software company Behttp://www.be.com">Be; made several announcements that it hopes will not only bring such a future to consumers, but also place itself at the center of the Internet-connected home-entertainment equipment market.

The inclusion of "hyperlinks" in music CDs that direct music lovers to Sony-affiliated online sales sites has angered the National">http://www.narm.com/">National Association of Recording Merchandisers, a trade organization representing more than 1000 music retailers. NARM has filed suit against Sony">http://www.sonymusic.com/">Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Coporation of America, seeking an injunction against the use of hyperlinks and charging that the practice of including the links in CDs is a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Asking retailers to sell discs with such embedded links is the "equivalent of asking Tower Records to put posters for rival Musicland in their stores," said NARM president Pamela Horovitz.