NEW DELHI: Intel Corporation has announced that it is working with consumer
electronics companies Creative Labs, iRiver America and Samsung to help them
deliver a new category of digital devices called Portable Media Players (PMPs)
that operate on Intel XScale technology to enable long battery life and
high-quality video and audio.
According to the company, these products are expected to help provide
consumers with the ability to have anytime, anywhere access to their favorite
authorized music, movies and photos residing on their PMP device. Intel XScale
technology, with its high-performance and low-power consumption features, is
helping to enable exciting new portable digital devices such as PMPs.
PMP devices are expected to be available by the manufacturers on retail
shelves in 2004. Creative Labs, iRiver America and Samsung are demonstrating PMP
production intent devices at the International Consumer Electronic Show.
A PMP with a 20GB hard drive is estimated to provide up to 70 hours of video
storage, play 700 hours of music and hold up to two million photos. Actual
device capabilities will vary. Intel XScale technology offers low-power
consumption to help extend the battery life of these handheld devices by up to
an estimated four to six hours.
To speed product development, Intel created a PMP reference design based on
the Intel PXA255 applications processor, and includes a color LCD panel, hard
disk drive, AC97-compatible audio subsystem and a USB 2.0 interface. Microsoft
engineers used the Intel PMP reference design to create their Windows CE-based
Portable Media Center software.
(CyberMedia News Service)