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作为最早一代MP3播放器的Fans, 我有幸在1998年年底花了$199通过互联网上购买了Dimond公司以RIO命名的32MB的MP3播放器(还蛮新潮的吧？)，虽然当时的播放器功能极其简陋，容量有限、采用计算机并口下载歌曲、只能收听MP3格式的音乐，不过我还是非常得意地戴着它晃悠在99年北京的大街上 - 乘公共汽车的时候、开摩托车的时候，收听自己压缩的音乐或英语节目，毕竟火柴盒大小的它能够播放纯净的、自己可以录制、压缩转换的声音文件，我真的是爱不释手。那时候我英语听、说的能力还很差，就把一本英语杂志 - 疯狂英语附带的磁带录音通过电脑的声卡录音、软件压缩成MP3格式的数字音频，虽然繁琐，但是16kbps的码率音质很好，能让我32MB的播放器装载近5个小时的英语节目。你难以想象当时我对这个即将到来的高科技产品的热爱程度。
需求推动着市场的迅猛发展，很快MP3普及全球。离别北京两年后再回来，已经发现地铁里几乎所有人的脖子上都挂着各式各样的播放器，U盘也在转眼之间遍布大江南北。今天中关村里几乎所有的小摊上都摆满了各式U盘，跟茄子、土豆差不多成了可以甩卖的物品，一如廉价的MP3播放器。我个人认为U盘的发展与MP3是分不开的，因为MP3的市场推动了Flash存储器的巨量需求以及价格的大幅下降。
当Apple几年前把几乎滥遍街的MP3播放器包装成一种时尚而称霸全球的时候，我萌生了一个问题，那些靠U盘吃饭的厂商是否也能在这小小的指头大小的东西里做出什么名堂？先前看到一篇文章介绍利用U盘支持移动计算(也在本牛的博客中发表过)，这不Flash存储器的大佬SanDisk开始利用U盘支持在线的视频服务，还给它起了一个名字叫TakeTV视频播放器，架起了PC和电视之间数字压缩视频的桥梁。来看看它吧：
- 结构，很简单 - 一个大容量的USB盘，一个遥控器，还有一个连接电视机的座子，其实呢，就是一个压缩视频播放器。
- 价钱呢? 4GB - $99.99，8GB - $149.99
- 现在这个领域的厂商都喜欢绑定服务，该公司也提供在线视频节目服务，称之为Fanfare， 用户只要花$1.99就可以下载一个电视节目，当然该公司也正在考虑提供一些免费但是插入了一些广告的节目.
分析家认为SanDisk需要建立一个大的视频节目目录。
SanDisk to Debut USB Drive, Video Service
By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer
(AP) -- Flash memory maker SanDisk Corp. on Mondaywill debut an online video service and a USB flash drive that can carrytelevision programs and videos from a computer for playback on TVs.
The Sansa TakeTV video player - an ensemble ofan oversized USB drive, remote control and a small dock that connectsto a TV - and its accompanying video service, Fanfare, marks the latestattempt by a company looking to bridge content between the PC and thetelevision.
Similar to using a USB drive to store and movedata files, users of TakeTV can drag-and-drop video files stored ontheir computer - Fanfare downloads, home videos or other unrestrictedvideo content from the Web - onto the device. Users can then plug itinto the cradle connected to a TV. A simple menu appears on the TV toscroll through the files for playback.
The TakeTV player is $99.99 for a 4 gigabyte model and $149.99 foran 8 GB one that can hold up to 10 hours of video. Fanfare, in a teststage, offers premium TV shows for $1.99 per download - roughly thesame price as rival services, but SanDisk says it hopes to ultimatelyprovide a broad mixture of free and ad-supported content as well aspay-per-download videos.
Fanfare's catalog at launch is small, with about 85 titles. Itfeatures TV shows from CBS, including "CSI" and "Survivor," Showtime,TV Guide, and Smithsonian Networks. Dozens of titles are being addedeach week, SanDisk said.
The online video service is a new venture for Milpitas-basedSanDisk, which is the leading maker of flash memory cards and holds adistant but steady second-place position behind Apple Inc. in theportable media player market with a 10 percent share in the U.S.,according to market researcher IDC.
SanDisk saw an opportunity in the fledgling market it didn't wantto pass up, said Kate Purmal, senior vice president and general managerof SanDisk's digital content unit.
The distribution of videos, movies and television shows over theInternet is expected to grow as companies ranging from Apple andWal-Mart Stores Inc. to the TV networks themselves compete for theaudience. The various methods of getting the video from over theInternet onto the TV, however, has yet to become easy or cheap enoughfor the mainstream market.
CBS Corp., one of SanDisk's first major partners, found in itsconsumer research of the TakeTV product that people liked itssimplicity, compact size, and price, said David Poltrack, president ofCBS Vision.
SanDisk will need to build a larger video catalog to succeed, said Danielle Levitas, analyst at IDC. |
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发表于 2007-10-22 20:07:12
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