Motorola Tunes MP3 Files Into Stereo Play
By Karen Brown
from the June 18, 2001 issue of Broadband Week
Motorola Inc. is raising the volume of its home networking technology with a new product that for the first time will let users translate and play MP3 audio files over their conventional stereos.
It's the first in a three-pronged home networking strategy for the consumer electronics maker that will create products focused on audio and video entertainment, voice communications and computer productivity, says Vince Izzo, director of home networking for Motorola Broadband.
"We've extended this concept of home networking because we feel home networking is the enabling technology, but what we are really talking about is a broadband anywhere approach or a broadband sphere in the house now," he says. "So instead of three or four points inside a home that are connected to an MSO's broadband pipe, it's now through using home networking technology you connect anywhere inside the house--the concept being now that we have done that, we can make some interesting content available in places it wasn't ever before."
While other companies are focusing first on computer-centric productivity offerings, Motorola will come out of the blocks with the entertainment-oriented audio technology. Using technology developed by wireless device partner SimpleDevices, the SimpleFi system converts MP3 files into standard stereo input signals using wireless connections between the computer and the stereo.
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Motorola Expands DCT5000 Line
Motorola's top-of-the-line DTC5000 digital video box will soon have some younger siblings aimed at giving cable operators mix-and-match capabilities.
At the National Cable Television Association show last week the electronics manufacturer showed off the myriad options set for upcoming iterations of the DTC5000. That includes a 40 Gigabyte hard drive, personal video recorder capabilities and additional connection options for USB, front input/output ports to connect to video cameras and a high-definition decoder for future HDTV products and content.
The list price of the first upgraded unit--the 5100--will be in the low $400 range. That brings it at a slightly lower price compared to its 5000 big brother even as it expands memory to 64 megabytes of DRAM and 32 MG of Flash memory, with more connections and HDTV capabilities. - K.B. |
"If you have a stereo today, the one thing about the stereo is it cannot play the MP3 files," Izzo says. While consumers may have portable MP3 players and laptops that can do the job, "now we are actually saying it's not your laptop and your desktop and these mobile devices, but how about that home stereo you have put all that money into and sounds great and is the primary entertainment consumption area of the home?"
To tap in, consumers will have several options. They will need a wireless receiver attached to their stereo, but the brains of the system can be provided via a Motorola modem, IP telephony modem, set-top box or separate home gateway device armed with SimpleFi functions and a wireless antenna. That way, they can choose how to add the audio functions--for example, consumers who already have a cable modem can opt for the gateway device, while those new to broadband service can choose an integrated modem.
"We're more pragmatic about it than thinking everyone's going to buy brand-new everything gear," Izzo acknowledges. "We really have four main product lines, and all four main product lines have the capability of doing this. Every MSO and even consumers are going to make their decision of what they think is the right form factor for this. Why should we be the ones that saying it's only one way and that's the way it has to be?"
In the future, that audio mobility also takes to the road, with products aimed at handheld devices and car stereos. At last week's National Cable Television Association show in Chicago Motorola used a specially rigged PT Cruiser to show off a beta version of SimpleAuto, a device that converts MP3 files for stereo play.
As an extension of the audio networking line, customers can eventually send MP3 audio files to a storage device attached to a car stereo. Similar to the home device, the car device would also decode the MP3 files into a standard stereo's inputs.
But it is also envisioned as more than just a music player.
"The idea is it would be great if it retrofits to the conventional stereo, but it's more the concept of being able to do this," Izzo says. "Motorola is working very diligently, as are lots of companies on trying to making these new intelligent car radios and stereos available that include some navigation, news, traffic and weather in addition to the audio content for music and audio on tapes."
Rolling the audio networking products out, however, still has some hitches. Izzo says the audio products are in trials now and will be available this fall for rollout with partner MSOs that are "extremely interested in taking these products, trialing them, and getting them in consumers' hands."
Retail distribution will eventually be another channel, but as with other cable products (including modems) the relationship between the retailers and the MSOs has yet to jell.
"And that's one of the things the MSOs want to get their hands around because I'm sure they would appreciate and support the retail-based distribution as long as the service model comes back to them," Izzo notes. "So it's not really known, and I think that's one of the issues with extending this broadband everywhere story ... it is not known how the real value gets deployed. But to us it's a combination of retail and MSOs."
As with all consumer products, pricing is the key, and that is proving thorny for Motorola. It is targeting the audio gateway attached to the cable modem at about $199. The device that attaches to the stereo, however, will cost about $249, so customers who already own a cable modem and want to add this audio translation capability are looking at a $450 price tag. If they buy a modem already integrated for the audio capabilities that would run $249, for a total cost of $500.
"We're shooting to go lower on it, but again the early rollout of the product is probably going to be more expensive that what we were shooting for eventually," Izzo acknowledges.
Despite these problems, however, Motorola is betting cable operators will see the value in such products in strengthening their ability to keep customers and generate more money from them.
"This is the next thing after digital video. It's the next big service rollout for the MSOs," Izzo says. "What we are saying is here is a way get more touch points, more applications and more services into the hands of the consumer base, and you are solving a problem that this consumer base has. Clearly, today the inability to play an MP3 on your stereo is an issue. The inability to play those files in your car is an issue. And now we are solving the problem."
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