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While it's not exactly a stampede just yet, a small dust cloud is rising as several consumer-electronics manufacturers head toward the Internet to sell products. Last week, citing the need to "maintain the highest quality customer service in the new e-commerce era," Denon">http://www.denon.com/">Denon Electronics joined the online sales herd. In an effort to keep track of e-commerce vendors, the company has announced that it will establish a separate authorization agreement for retailers handling Denon and/or Mission products on the Internet.

FM fans alert: Tuner specialist Magnum Dynalab has introduced its "Triode Series," led by the $3995 MD-106T triode tube tuner. The MD-106T is said to combine great signal
sensitivity and selectivity in channel reception with "exceptional build quality and musical realism." One design feature that's something of a throwback to tube electronics of the 1950s and early '60s is a glowing "Magic Eye" tube indicator for fast, precise tuning. The MD-106T also features "a precisely aligned tunable five-stage RF front end, and a double-thick, gold-plated circuit board to minimize vibration," according to a company announcement. Stereophile's Larry Greenhill is about to embark on a review of the MD-106—stay tuned!

On June 2, Stereophile reported that HDGiants.com, formerly known as MusicGiants.com, had filed">http://www.stereophile.com/news/bust_and_booms_on_the_download_front/">… for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The future of the high-quality music and video download site that had most recently begun offering "Super HD" 24-bit surround-sound downloads was unclear.

Yet another variation on restricted-use compact discs appeared last week, when Phoenix-based SunnCommhttp://www.sunncomm.com/">SunnComm; announced an agreement with Nashville's Sunbird Records that also includes revenue sharing. Sunbird says it is preparing to release country music singer Len Doolin's Once in a Lifetime on November 1 using SunnComm's new "Expanded Experience CD" (CD3) technology in an effort to restrict use of the disc on computers.

Music buyer beware: SunnCommhttp://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm; announced last week the dubious milestone that it had shipped over one million restricted MediaMax audio CDs in March and expects to beat those numbers in April. The MediaMax M4 suite of "Digital Content Enhancement" technologies is built using the Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series platform.

Ithaca, New York-based Netdriveshttp://www.netdrives.com/">Netdrives; says it has introduced the world's first MP3 player capable of playing MP3 audio files without using a personal computer. Called the Brujo (Spanish for "wizard" or "sorcerer"), the machine has a built-in CD player that can play more than 11 hours of MP3 music. The device can be connected directly to any home stereo system, and also works as a normal CD player.

MP3 players are going to hit the market in waves this fall, and manufacturers will be trying hard to make their products stand out from the pack. Several companies are bringing out combi MP3/CD portables, including consumer-electronics newcomer Pine">http://www.pineusa.com/">Pine Technology USA, of Fremont, California. Pine has long experience in the manufacture of motherboards, modems, and other computer components. The company is now shipping its $189 D'Music SM-320V MP3 portable. Its $219 model SM-320 includes an FM tuner. Both players have 32Mb of embedded solid-state memory and will accept a 32Mb SmartMedia card. Pine's players operate on two AAA batteries, and can double as voice recorders with up to 4.5 hours of recording capacity. Retailers include Fry's Electronics and Office Depot.