Texas Instruments is First Hardware Company to License New mp3PRO Digital Audio Format
TI to Offer Thomson's Advanced Audio Format To Internet Audio Device OEMs, Enabling Millions of Consumers to Experience the Latest Technology
DALLAS (September 19, 2001) -- Continuing as the vanguard in the Internet audio market, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) and Thomson multimedia today announced that TI will be the first hardware company to license Thomson's new mp3PRO digital audio format. Using TI's industry-leading programmable digital signal processors (DSPs), manufacturers will now have the ability to update Internet audio devices to support the mp3PRO format. Backwards compatible with mp3, the new mp3PRO offers dramatically improved compression rates and sound quality. (See http://www.ti.com/sc/internetaudio.)
"Support for the mp3PRO format by a global leader like TI is instrumental in helping us expand our reach to portable Internet audio devices and will help to carry-over the momentum of mp3 to the more advanced mp3PRO," said Henri Linde, vice president of new business, patent and licensing unit for Thomson multimedia. "Leveraging the success that mp3 has achieved in becoming the hands-down leader in digital audio compression, mp3PRO strengthens our offering with better compression rates and audio fidelity."
Launched in mid-June, the new format is an update to mp3, the ubiquitous standard for digital audio files and clearly the most popular digital audio format available. In addition to its combination of better file compression and superior audio quality, mp3PRO utilizes the programmability of TI DSPs to offer backwards and forwards compatibility, enabling mp3PRO files to play on original mp3 products and mp3 files to play on any upcoming mp3PRO devices. The programmability of the TI DSP gives manufacturers the option to provide a Web site where customers can go to upgrade their audio players for MP3Pro.
Because TI's DSPs are software-upgradeable to enable support for future product features and audio compression formats, portable Internet audio players using TI's DSP will be able to incorporate the new mp3PRO with a simple software upgrade. This was demonstrated more than a year ago when Thomson's RCA LYRA became the first player to add support for an additional audio format after it was in the hands of consumers.
"As one of the first companies to usher Internet audio into the mainstream, TI continues to be a pioneer in leading the way for further acceptance of this new digital audio format," said Chris Schairbaum, worldwide marketing manager of Internet audio business at Texas Instruments. "By adding the mp3PRO audio format to our extensive list of supported audio and music formats, TI continues to offer manufacturers the largest selection of audio compression formats available."
TI provides high-performance, programmable DSP and analog-based solutions for many audio segments. TI offers a broad range of audio products with the performance headroom and flexibility in a low power solution for designs, including portable Internet audio players, digital radios, home jukeboxes and home theatres in a box. TI has the broadest offering of audio formats in the industry, supporting all of the popular digital audio codecs and digital rights management systems.
Support for mp3PRO on TI's DSP is scheduled to be available by the end of this year.
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