The format introduced by EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Bros. is called ??SlotMusic? and will be available initially through a range U.S. retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Sandisk is developing the hardware and software technology, which is based on the microSD format. SlotMusic cards will be packaged with a tiny USB sleeve, which will allow buyers to play the music in any portable device with a microSD slot (such as cellphones) as well as any device with a USB interface (such as PCs).
In its very basic concept, SlotMusic cards are positioned as a CD replacement for all those portable devices that can play digital music, but are simply too small to integrate a CD player. The four music giants consider their SlotMusic cards as ??a versatile new physical music format for the 21st Century? and promise to launch the format with ??MP3 music of top artists? in time for the Christmas season. The artist lineup and pricing of these cards has not been announced.
What we know, however, is that the music will be saved in 320 kb/s quality and that the SlotMusic cards will have a capacity of 1 GB - which means that there will be plenty of room for secondary content. EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Bros. said that consumers will also be able to save their own music on these cards to create their own small music albums. 1 GB of space is enough to store about 110 four-minute songs in 320 kb/s.
--collected
In its very basic concept, SlotMusic cards are positioned as a CD replacement for all those portable devices that can play digital music, but are simply too small to integrate a CD player. The four music giants consider their SlotMusic cards as ??a versatile new physical music format for the 21st Century? and promise to launch the format with ??MP3 music of top artists? in time for the Christmas season. The artist lineup and pricing of these cards has not been announced.
What we know, however, is that the music will be saved in 320 kb/s quality and that the SlotMusic cards will have a capacity of 1 GB - which means that there will be plenty of room for secondary content. EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Bros. said that consumers will also be able to save their own music on these cards to create their own small music albums. 1 GB of space is enough to store about 110 four-minute songs in 320 kb/s.
--collected