A legal kerfuffle has forced SanDisk to pull all of its MP3 players off its stands at the IFA 2006 consumer electronics show in Berlin. This is quite embarrassing and costly for the company which just announced its new Sansa range of players.
Sisvel, an Italian patent management company, issued a complaint about unpaid fees a week ago and the German public prosecutor decided today that the claim has some merit, forcing Sandisk to clear its stands. Despite the show crawling with retailers from all over Europe, SanDisk will not be allowed to show them anything - except for photos. Oh dear.
There is certainly no love lost between these two, which have a history. At the show, in an MP3 interview with Digital Lifestyles, Sisvel’s Robert Dini flamboyantly compared his company’s legal action to cutting off a drug dealer before distribution can start. Ouch! How fast can you say ‘Libel Law-suit’? - Martin Lynch
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Oh well, it’s not that surprising but MySpace with its global army of networked teens is entering the music download game.
A deal has been struck with Snocap, set-up by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, which provides digital licensing and copyright management services. Users of the new service will be able to download tracks from up to 3 million unsigned bands and artists. Artists will price the songs, factoring in the MySpace commission, and hope that the millions of cash-rich teens will turn them into the next Arctic Monkeys.
However, MySpace will not be selling downloads from record companies. Hang on. Just unsigned artists? Yep. So all that hysterical ‘MySpace tackles iTunes’ reports from mainstream press/sites is just sensationalist headline nonsense to con readers into reading a completely different story then? Bingo. - Martin Lynch
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Long after they arrived in the US, Toshiba has finally released some concrete details at IFA 2006 for the first HD DVD players for the UK and Europe.
There will be two models: the low-end HD-E1 and the high-end HD-XE1. The HD-E1 will arrive in November capable of outputting 720p and 1080i high definition content. It will carry a price tag of €599 – just over £400 and support audio formats including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD.
The €899 - £600 - HD-XE1 sports full high-def 1080p support and the much improved HDMI 1.3 interface. Compared to the existing HDMI 1.2 input, 1.3 more than doubles the bandwidth speed to 340 MHz (10.2 GBps) as well as boosting colour support from 24-bit to 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit. Due in time for Christmas.
As expected they cost a lot more than those on sale in the US but what’s new there? Expect them to sell-out like hot cakes. – Martin Lynch
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
