iRiver W10 to incorporate TeamSpirit 3.0 voice engine

     Seoul-based Reigncom, one of the largest manufacturers of portable multimedia players (PMP) and the parent company of mp3 player manufacturer iRiver, has licensed SPIRIT DSP's TeamSpirit 3.0 Voice Engine Mobile to ensure outstanding voice quality in the new iRiver W10 VoIP-enabled PMP. Previously, iRiver licensed TeamSpirit 3.0 Voice & Video Engine to be integrated into its next-generation Unit2 multimedia home entertainment and communication center.
     TeamSpirit 3.0 Voice Engine Mobile will run in the new iRiver W10 gadget. The iRiver W10 (see photo) series heralds a new era in portable electronics. A luxurious array of features makes the W10 the gadget of choice for all technology-savvy customers. iRiver W10 delivers such must-have functionality as high-quality, crystal clear voice over IP, MPEG-4 and WMV video streaming and MP3, WMA and AAC audio playback, and it includes a built-in FM tuner and a Wi-Fi Positioning System.
     "Our next-generation iRiver W10 wouldn't be a success without high-quality voice communication, demanded by subscribers and required by service providers. With SPIRIT's software, we are able to ensure excellent service perception and satisfaction of subscribers' modern demand for ubiquitous communications," said Justin Hwang, VP Products of Reigncom. "We do emphasize the quality of our products. In every minor detail, we look for the most advanced and reliable solution. SPIRIT turned out to be the best choice."
     "With SPIRIT's help, iRiver has successfully added communication functionality to the W-series of its fancy gadgets. By marrying a VoIP phone with a multimedia player and navigator, iRiver keeps pace with the newest market trends and strong subscriber demands born when Apple added GSM functionality to the iPod," said Alex Kravchenko, VP Sales of SPIRIT DSP. "We enjoy our ongoing relationship with Reigncom and are pleased to support another break-through of Reigncom's development team. SPIRIT is dedicated to helping market leaders like Reigncom transform their devices into communication gadgets of tomorrow."
     TeamSpirit 3.0 Voice Engine Mobile is part of TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine Mobile, which is a complete solution that delivers rich voice and video experience for mobile OEMs. Due to sophisticated algorithms, the engine enables best-of-breed voice, as well as 3-way video conference calls with 10 fps on a low cost 200 MHz mobile phone for 3G VT and V2oIP (voice and video over IP) applications. The engine provides longer battery life, thanks to extremely low MIPS consumption.
     TeamSpirit Mobile is specifically designed for next generation mobile devices like dual mode phones (cellular + WiFi), WiFi phones and Portable WiFi devices, softphones on mobile platforms, IP voice and videophones and 3G mobile phones (with video telephony support).
     TeamSpirit 3.0 Mobile is available on all ARM9 and ARM9E based processors (XScale, OMAP and others), along with ARM AudioDE and TI C64x.
     SPIRIT DSP (www.spiritDSP.com) employs 140 professionals, and has been in the international software licensing business since 1992. A bootstrap company, SPIRIT has been profitable for 15 years. For the last 10 years, SPIRIT's focus has been on voice and video communication software products. SPIRIT counts among its customers Adobe, Agere, Arima, ARM, Atmel, BT plc., Cisco, Compal, deltathree, Flextronics, Ericsson, HP, HTC, Huawei, Importek, Korea Telecom, Kyocera, LG, MediaRing, Microsoft, NEC, Nortel Networks, NXP, Oracle, Paltalk, Polycom, Quanta, Radvision, Reigncom, Samsung, Siemens, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Trinity Convergence and Veraz, and among 200+ other communication OEMs and software vendors. SPIRIT communication software is used in over 80 countries and powers more than 100 million embedded voice channels today. SeeStorm is SPIRIT affiliate for synthetic video conferencing.
     Reigncom's ever expanding digital product lines include: Multimedia Devices (MP3/4, PMP, Mobile TV), Network Devices (Home Media Center, Wife Network, Navigation) and Content Devices (E-Dictionaries). The company's products are branded under the iRiver brand.
     For more information visit www.reigncom.com.

COWON Alchemy 700 MHz Au1250 Q5w PMP

     COWON Systems, a global leader in digital multimedia solutions, has selected the RMI Alchemy Au1250 Processor for its Q5w Personal Media Player. The Q5w is a powerful personal media player bringing Wireless LAN and Wireless Internet capability to a surging media player market. COWON's choice of the RMI Alchemy Au1250™ operating at 700MHz provides the pocket-sized media player the necessary functionality to deliver levels of connectivity and performance previously unavailable.
     COWON Systems is headquartered in Seoul, Korea, with its North American division office located in Irvine, Calif.
     More information about COWON and its products is available online at www.cowonglobal.com.
     COWON's Q5w is a Personal Media Player based on the WinCE 5.0 operating system with a 5-inch 16 Million Color LCD touch screen which can be utilized via touch mode or pen mode. The PMP supports a wide variety of media codecs freeing users from the tedious transcoding process enabled by the use of the RMI Alchemy Au1250. The hi-res video/audio playback and other powerful multimedia features are integrated into this device including; premium digital sound enhancer (JetEffect), a wireless remote controller, TV-OUT (HDTV), USB 2.0, WinCE Office Viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), and up to 13-hours of playback.
     "Making the decision to use the RMI Alchemy Processor has been an easy one. We have worked closely with the RMI team for the last few years and feel that the Au1250 brings the highest performing processor at the lowest power that we could find anywhere," said Larry Mun, senior manager, COWON Systems. "The higher performance of the new 700 MHz Au1250 processor gives us the CPU headroom we need to support our advanced connectivity and Office Viewer suite. No other processor brings this level of CPU and video performance with low power and integration. Alchemy gives us an advantage over other media players in the market."
     The RMI Alchemy Au1250 Processor is in full-production and offers a variety of performance levels ranging from 400MHz to 700MHz, depending on the application. The new 700MHz offering, an increase of 17% in performance, allows customers and developers increased capabilities including faster route calculation speeds for navigation devices as well as increased browser speed for Wi-Fi enabled products.
     "The COWON Q5w is a powerful product and we are excited to have been chosen as the SOC vendor of choice for this device," said Mike Wodopian, vice president and general manager, Alchemy Solutions at RMI. "We believe this latest product offering shows the ingenuity and the creativity of the COWON team and are delighted that RMI Alchemy technology is at the heart of this device."
     RMI's Alchemy Solutions include the Au1200 Processor Family and the Au1550 Processor Family to meet the needs of consumer and communications applications by offering a high-performance, low-power processor capable of delivering a rich multi-media experience to end users under a 1/2 watt (450mW).
     The Au1200 Processor Family consists of the Au1200, the Au1210 and the Au1250, media processors targeted for full-featured Portable Media Players (PMP), Personal Navigation Devices (PND) and MobileTV. The Au1550 Processor Family offers network processing capabilities with a versatile high-performance, low-power, highly integrated network System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designed for wired and wireless applications.
     RMI is headquartered in Cupertino, CA with branch and subsidiary operations in Texas, United Kingdom, India, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. More information about RMI can be found on the company's website at http://www.RMI-Corp.com.