Downloading audio files onto a computer's hard drive has proven a compelling way to collect content for many music lovers. But the weak link with computer-based audio systems is finding a way to play that music on a more traditional (and typically better-sounding) audio system. With a compatible CD or DVD player, you could burn the files onto a disc, or if you have a portable device such as an iPod, you could hook it up directly to your system.But several consumer electronics manufacturers have decided that for Internet-based music distribution to ultimately succeed, there has to be a more convenient method for connecting audio systems to online music services. Sony, Sharp, Pioneer, and Kenwood revealed last week that they have teamed up to offer products in the Japanese market that will be able to download files from an online media store without the need for a PC.The products are expected to appear early next year in Japan and are not likely to be available anywhere else in the immediate future. All four companies will enable their products, which will be configured to resemble a typical stereo, with an Ethernet port and software that ties it to a website run by LabelGate, a Japanese online music shop which opened in August.
The companies say they have set up a joint venture for the project called Any Music Planning (AMP), which has chosen to integrate a version of the Linux operating system into the net-connected devices and use the OpenMG copyright management technology developed by Sony and MiniDisc's ATRAC3 format for the distribution codec. AMP's Fujio Noguchi says that the products will operate in a similar way to their PC-based brethren, and foresees the system's allowing files to be transferred to Windows Media Audio–compatible portable devices as well. Noguchi adds, "Ultimately, our dream is to make the service a worldwide standard. First, we want to focus on the Japanese market."Pricing for downloads is still up in the air, and LabelGate points out that the new service will be separate from the one the company offers to PC users. Denon, NEC, Onkyo, and Yamaha say they are also developing products for the Any Music platform. Sharp's Moriyuki Okada says, "Our industry is in crisis. We want to emerge from that by offering new business ideas."While exploring the Any Music platform in Japan, Onkyo also announced last week its second "Net-Tune" audio product for the US market. The company says the new TX-NR801 receiver, which was first shown to the press in prototype form at CEDIA Expo in September, retails for $1000 and is available now. According to Onkyo, Net-Tune is compatible with MP3 and WMA formats and allows the receiver to connect to a computer-based network via a standard TCP/IP Ethernet connection or to access Internet radio streams via a networked broadband Internet connection.
The company says that this system also allows for up to 11 other Net-Tune clients to connect to the same network, all having simultaneous and independent access to music stored on a central PC with the receiver's on-screen display showing song title, artist, album, genre, and playlist information.What is interesting is that neither the Onkyo Net-Tune product nor the Any Music platform is currently compatible with the market leader in paid music downloading: Apple's iTunes and its AAC format. On the other hand, iTunes players such as the wildly successful iPod are not presently compatible with Windows Media Audio files, which are used by the recently relaunched Napster downloading service and most other portables, thus setting the stage for another classic format war.Last week also saw the release of Ucentric's Whole Home Music 1.0 software, intended for use in television set-top boxes and consumer electronic devices. The Massachusetts-based company says that WHM will allow consumers to easily access and play their digital music collections in any room in their home through a "user-friendly point and click interface that can be accessed from any screen, including a TV, PC, PDA and even a cell phone in the future."
Ucentric says that WHM is designed specifically for in-home storage, access, and playback of digital music files and is "the only in-home music application that automatically discovers and aggregates all the digital music files stored on networked appliances like media centers, set-top boxes and/or personal computers." The company also says it has partnered with Gracenote to provide "metadata," such as song and album title information for CDs ripped using WHM.
