“A consortium of the world’s largest computer and electronics companies on Tuesday established ground rules for building compatible electronic devices that can share movies, music and other media… Many of the 145 global companies, including Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp, are deeply wedded to proprietary ways of storing and processing digital media content. The group, however, found consensus in common and existing standards for audio, video and Internet communications,” Daniel Sorid reports for Reuters.
“Products that meet the specifications of the Digital Living Network Alliance will be awarded a logo that will let shoppers know that such a device will work with other certified products. The first compatible electronics could start appearing on store shelves by the end of this year,” Sorid reports. “Several challenges became apparent as participating executives gave a presentation to reporters in San Francisco. For one, the group acknowledged that they had yet to agree upon an anti-piracy technology for movies and music.”
“Also, despite the large collection of companies, at least two important names in consumer electronics were absent from the alliance: Apple Computer Inc. and RealNetworks Inc. Apple did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Real said it would consider joining at a later date. Apple’s portable music player, the iPod, has become a highly profitable success in legal music downloading,” Sorid reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: RealNetworks is an “important name in consumer electronics?” Since when?
Dopes.
This is such a joke. No wonder Apple did not want to be part of it.
sounds to me like people are getting worried about Apple, AAC, and Quicktime.
From the last line of the article a quote from a Sony VP:
“”The products are not getting less complicated. They’re actually getting more complicated,” he said.”
Ummm, last time I looked Apple products are getting easier to use and less complicated. I guess he was talking about windows products.
And we all know how WMA and ATRAC are standards, right?
keep moving. please step to the back. please keep moving…..moo.
Why would people want to encourage a standard if their own products are not the standard? That’s like creating a currency for each city in the world. Apple’s AAC is comparitible with a larger currency such as the Euro. It bridges everyone together. Silly marketers. When will they learn.
The dlna.org home page uses words like ecosystem. That’s a Bill Gates word. Looks and sounds like it’s a Microsoft group, just like the Digital Home Working Group (dhwg.org). Apple is not a member of that group. TiVo is also not a member of either group.
The most important group is the Consumer Electronics Association. And they have embraced Firewire and MPEG-4. That and the IEEE networking standards is all Apple seems to want.
Ok, they didn’t manage to build even TWO compatible devices, so it’s a good idea to “lower” the bar to a zillion???
Hmm, at least the manufacturer will be awarded with a nice sticker. Thats really motivating.
At least if that sticker is big enough, it may hide a large part of the ugly dell on which it is sticked upon!
any news on iPod and iTunes in europe, i wonder how are they doing, if they will be ass popular as in america and apple could maintain it, it would be a new standard for music wouldnt it lol?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> so apple doesnt need that steaker lol.
This is a meritocracy and product of marketing myth! I’ll ‘get by’ without any stickered product!
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http://homepage.mac.com/johnhood
800,000 in Europe, of which 450,000 were bought in the UK. I didn’t buy any and don’t really intend to.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jun/23itunes.html
And how is this different to HAVi?
http://www.havi.org/index.asp
It’s not so much the stickers that are important – it’s the branding. These companies have the intention of creating a collective virtual Brand in the minds of the public so as to compete with the threat of Apple. People place a lot of trust in a logo as an easily recognisible motif designed to symobolise a re-assuring message (and will do so even more if the brand is juxtapositioned with equally familiar electronics company logos). Think of the wildly confident and successful ‘Intel Inside’ campaign.
Apple might do well to pre-empt this very real threat by this with it’s own ‘MPEG4 Standard – the next Generation’ campaign – a complimentary branding which focuses on the ‘Standard’ rather than Apple itself.
The only sticker they might want is the Apple logo sticker and say they are compatible with Apple. HA!
This consortium sounds like an attempt to push Microsoft’s technology into more electronic devices. As if there are not enough cheap WMA-compatible players out there.
cool now there will be a logo to tell me right away what things wont work with ipods, so people can ignore them
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> great idea!
It seems to me that Apple can stick with its own game plan in terms of AAC and such, but comply with selected portions of the “standards” such as external interfaces. So Apple might choose to play the game with the interface between the iPod and other components (e.g., car stereo, home audio, etc.), but not some other specifics. They may not get the logo, but the logo has no value at this point.
I doubt any of you could even manage a lemonade stand. No wonder Apple has 5% marketshare.
iPod – BMW
WMA devices – Hyundai?
The “free market” isn’t really so much free as it is Dog Eat Dog.
Because his wealth only amounts to a measly 0.4% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, and we know “marketshare” is everything.
Most likely, this group will use standards that Apple is already using. Just a bunch of copycats.
it tells me i don’t have http://www.buy-games.narod.ru/