LET THE MUSIC PLAY
Thanks to either Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connections, the Roku Soundbridge music-player systems can connect to a stereo or powered speakers and play content from a PC or other network source. The top-of-the-line M2000 is a 17-in. long tube with a 512- by 32-point vacuum-fluorescent display that gives the artist, title, duration, and even a 16-channel spectrum analyzer (Fig. 4).
The system includes built-in support for Apple Rendezvous and iTunes, Rhapsody, Windows Media Connect, and Windows Media Player 10, as well as any music service that uses Windows Media DRM 10 (e.g., Napster, MusicMatch, and Walmart.com). At this point, however, it can't play iTunes Music Store files (protected AAC files).
In addition to playing WMA, AAC, WAV, MP3, and AIFF files, users can listen to the large selection of Internet radio stations without the computer thanks to an IR remote control and built-in browser. Via the remote control, users can search for music based on artist, album, song name, or keyword. It also offers many functions for controlling playback and song-queue management.
A 400-MHz Blackfin DSP from Analog Devices Inc. lies at the heart of the SoundBridge systems, performing all signal processing and internal control functions. A module version of the SoundBridge targets designers who would like to embed SoundBridge functionality into other products.
Simple wireless solutions are available for homes in which existing wiring or running Ethernet cables isn't practical. One system offered by Sonneteer, the Bardusb, consists of two units. The transmitter, which looks similar to a USB memory stick, simply plugs into the computer's USB port. The receiver, which employs forward error correction to reduce reception errors, attaches to the amplifier or powered speakers (Fig. 5). As a result, users can wirelessly play music from their computer's hard drive, the Internet, or from a CD or DVD drive on their audio system, or to audio systems in any number of rooms in their home. The transmitter has a 50-m range and uses the 2.4-GHz band to transmit uncompressed digital audio in real time.
Controlling all of the music- and video-file transfers is a challenge without a full keyboard at your disposal. Quickly reacting to the problem, many companies are now working on programmable remote controls. Some use IR, and some use RF wireless, including Wi-Fi-based solutions that can link directly into home networks.
One such networked controller is Universal Electronics' NevoSL. By using UPnP, the controller discovers media (photos, audio, or video) on the networked PC or media servers and lets users browse through the selections on its screen (Fig. 6).
The on-screen menus allow users to select and then direct the media to the desired system for playback or display. Inside the NevoSL controller is a 203-MHz, 32-bit CPU with up to 64 Mbytes of DRAM, a touchscreen display (3.5-in. QVGA LCD with 64k colors), 17 programmable hard buttons, IR and Wi-Fi (802.11b) interfaces, and a USB 1.1 data port.
PDAs, MP3 players, handheld multimedia devices that play videos and music, portable game devices like the Sony Playstation Portable, the Gizmondo from Gizmondo Europe Ltd., and cell phones are the latest containers for media-on-the-go. Recently entering the fray is the LifeDrive mobile manager from PalmOne. With built-in Wi-Fi networking and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, the LifeDrive packs a 4-Gbyte micro hard drive to hold MP3 audio files, photos, video clips, and work data (Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Adobe Acrobat documents). Based on a 416-MHz Xscale processor, the system includes a 320- by 480-pixel transflective TFT LCD panel that displays 64k colors and includes touchscreen support.
Currently, over a dozen handheld media players and most higher-end PDAs and cell phones now support video files. Higher-end audio players like the Apple iPod support pictures and audio, and support for video likely isn't too far off.
In the automotive space, we already have an abundant number of car-installed DVD playback systems to entertain passengers. XM and Sirius receivers offer radio stations from all over the country. BMW started the music-on-the-go trend by adding a pre-integrated hookup for iPods so users can connect iPod players and then manage the tunes with the stereo controls in the car.
Also getting updated is the stereo in the cabin. Some CD players can now play MP3 files on home-burned disks as well as standard CD-audio files. A few systems will even start to offer memory-card slots or a USB slot. Thus, drivers can bring their DRAM-based memory card or USB memory stick and plug it in to play their favorite tunes while they drive without having to carry a separate music player.