This is in Newsletter 14, going out soon. You guys get a sneak preview!

/// Mark 2 – New Features List

In the last newsletter we briefly announced the new version of the Car player which will start shipping during Quarter 2. Now we are pleased to be able to provide more details.

In order to accommodate higher production volumes it was necessary to design a new version of the empeg Car main board. Almost all components on the Mk. 2 are surface mount (compared with under 65% on the current product), greatly increasing the speed at which Car players can be manufactured on the robotic production line.

Since it was necessary to update the player for production reasons we decided to implement as many customer suggestions as possible as part of the update, along with a few ideas of our own. At the same time we realised that we had to retain software compatibility with current players to ensure on-going support for our early adopters.

In general the current Car Player specification applies to the Mk.2 player, with the following additions or modifications:

Voice Recognition
This system, licensed from a prominent Japanese company, is speaker independent for control functions and speaker trained for playlist selection. The microphone (supplied) connects to a 3mm jack socket on the in-car wiring loom, and can be replaced with a DSP directional microphone (at extra cost) for better results in vehicles with particularly high levels of background noise.

Rotary Control
The new front panel control has a "graduated" rotary action for level control and a push action for function selection. It provides convenient access to volume, balance and so forth.

Modular Tuner
The internal tuner has been replaced with an external module which connects to the in-car wiring loom. The player can be purchased without a tuner, or with an FM/RDS module. Reception has been improved so the antenna amplifier should no longer be required. The modular design means that, in the future, we can support Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and other new standards if there is demand for them.

Sample from Tuner and Aux-In
The tuner and auxiliary input sources are now "visible" to the ARM processor, which means that the visuals will work with them. We also have the future capability of sampling from these sources, for example to record traffic reports, although the bandwidth will be low (around 11Khz).

Display Brightness
The overall brightness of the display is now selectable in software, providing for convenient day and night settings. In addition there is a car headlight signal input on the in-car wiring loom which provides for automatic dimming at night.

Ethernet
10BaseT Ethernet is fitted as standard and is accessible for home use (unfortunately we can't dock this connector, although it can be used in-car if you don't mind making the connection manually). This interface will provide similar download rates to USB, but will be of particular use to clients who wish to develop software for the platform using tools such as telnet and ftp. We have the option to support internet streaming protocols if there is demand. Wireless Ethernet bridges are starting to come onto the market now, opening the
possibility for wireless access for download without the need to remove the player from the vehicle.

Real Time Clock
A clock has been added, backed up by a long life capacitor that will retain the time and date for at least a week without connection to the mains or to the car. The clock will be set automatically each time the player is connected to a PC.

Memory
The system memory (RAM) has been upgraded from 8Mb to 12Mb. This is to accommodate the voice recognition software whilst still providing a good level of music cache.

Disk Options
The largest drive that we can supply is now 18Gb, giving a maxed-out capacity of 36Gb on a dual drive player. That's about 650 hours of music at 128K compression. Due to supply difficulties it is likely that we will have to drop the 4Gb model.

Display Colour Options
By popular request we have added red to the set of display options. The red that we have chosen matches very nicely with Audi and BMW night illumination.

Standard ISO Connection
The car docking cage has an improved wiring loom that terminates in a standard ISO connector, supported by most modern cars. The power filter is now pre-wired into the loom.

Cell Phone Mute
Also present on the new in-car loom is a cell phone mute input, which automatically pauses or mutes the audio when your phone rings (if you have a cell phone dock that provides this feature).

Improved Audio Output Stage
Further work with this circuit has increased audio quality even further than the current player. Although provision has been made for floating ground output, this should no longer be required for most installations, eliminating the need for grounding leads.

Improved Power Supply
Quiescent current has been reduced significantly, improving start-up reliability down to 8V for when the car battery level is low. The player can now connect to the permanent +12V feed with accessory sense to "wake up" from standby. We are also working on a feature to "wake up" from a software interrupt, opening up many new applications for developers.

Improved Case Design
The handle now folds out to almost 90 degrees, compared with 45 degrees on the current model. The player lid is free of screws, held in place by the front panel and a series of clips. The docking action has also been improved, with significantly less resistance upon removal.

Improved In-Car Serial Port
The in-car docked serial port now includes hardware flow control, improving conditions for those clients who are experimenting with cellular networking and other serial applications.

Pricing on the player has yet to be finalised, but we expect that the base model will cost US$1199 with a 6Gb disk and all of the above features except for the tuner. Pricing on the tuner modules hasn't been fixed but is expected to come in between US$50 and US$100.

Existing clients who choose to order a Mk.2 player will be offered a discount and a free tuner and carry case. We would reiterate that the current model will continue to be fully supported with software updates.

Eventhou the MK2 specs haven't change much, but enough that the MK1 can't use the MK2's accessories. My question is, will MK3 be backward compatable with the MK2 accessories or will MK3 be totaly different? 100% compatable or just somewhat? And will you be making the future MK backward compatable also? Just wanted to know what your future plans are before I decide to buy the MK2.

eric

Also, please tell us what the pricing structure is going to be for the Mark 3. And, I need a firm release date for the Mark 4, one that isn't going to be pushed back. And let us know what kind of storage technology will be used in the Mark 5.

Corby
SN#320, 6-Gig Blue

I'm beta testing a prototype of the Mark 6, and it incorporates alien technology.


-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

You guys are terrible! The Empeg was a luxury purchase for me, and you are filling my heart with an unnatural lust for the Mark 2 unit.

I may be very weird, but the functionality that is really intriguing me is the "Radio VCR" that is implied by having a modular tuner that can be sampled working in conjunction with a real-time clock. I understand that this isn't going to be a great tool for recording music, but I love the concept of being able to record "All Things Considered" or a sports broadcast on my Empeg, and then be able to listen later and fast forward through as I please.

I'm sure you will hear some complaining, but I am appreciative of the pricing and support considerations that you are showing the Mark I owners. Congratulations, and keep on innovating!

Corby
SN#320, 6-Gig Blue

I'm sure you will hear some complaining, but I am appreciative of the pricing and support considerations that you are showing the Mark I owners. Congratulations, and keep on innovating!

Hear, hear!

Not only that, but the tentative price that you posted for the base model is amazing. I thought, with all the new features, it would be a lot more expensive than the Mark 1's. Instead, it's about the same price. At first, I thought that I wouldn't be bothering to upgrade my unit, but now I'm thinking twice about that decision.

-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

What happened with the tuner? FM/RDS only? I thought it was going to have AM as well!! AM is important to some of us.

Hey there, Doug! Long time, no see. I've been enjoying the player. :-)

Good question, I hadn't noticed that little omission in Rob's specs. How about it, Rob? Will there be AM or not?


-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

Ok, question of the day. Is there any way that that you guys would buy back the empeg for a lower price, or could you somehow upgrade the hardware?
-Jordan

Ok, question of the day. Is there any way that that you guys would buy back the empeg for a lower price, or could you somehow upgrade the hardware?

They've already answered that question in another thread. They can't upgrade the hardware because ALL of the components would need to be completely replaced: Motherboard, case, display board, faceplate, handle, docking sleeve... everything has changed on the Mark 2. The exception is the display board and faceplate: They are tentatively planning for Mark 1 owners to be able to purchase a new display board and faceplate to get the volume knob option. However, the display board isn't cheap, and it would require shipping the unit back to England to be professionally retrofitted.

As far as buying back old units... They can't afford to do that in terms of time, manpower, and money. Since there's no way they could re-sell the used Mark 1 units or make use of the components, they wouldn't be able to offer much money for them. You would get much better results and make much more money by selling your old unit on Ebay. You wouldn't expect Sony to offer to buy back your TV set just because next year's model was better, would you? Why should Empeg be any different?



-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

Yeah, well I heard the Mark 7 comes with 50 terabytes of solid-state storage (no more hard drives) pre-loaded with every piece of music ever recorded using a proprietary 50:1 compression rate for a total of 3.4 million hours capacity, and automatic wireless updating as new music becomes available. Since this capacity is such that the total playlist will encompass about 50,000,000 songs, the hierarchical playlist function will not work, so all songs have to be played in shuffle mode requiring about 388 years to shuffle through and repeat any particular song.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

And the color display has been replased with at hologram projektor together with the option for Beta-link (remotecontrol as a brainimplant)
and the car manufacture now premounted in ther top models

Mark
wait for mk III with a USB Host/slave
(USB->Ethernet)(USB->COM 1-8)(USB->You name it)

We did plan for AM/FM and until recently I thought that was what we would be shipping. Unfortunately it appears that we have only been able to source suitable FM tuner modules for the time being, and even those are unlikely to be ready until a month or two after the Mk.2 starts shipping (that's not SUCH a great problem as the tuner simply plugs in to a cable on the car mount).

We MIGHT ship an AM/FM tuner later in the year.

Rob

>>>We MIGHT ship an AM/FM tuner later in the year.


I haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh since I installed my Empeg. I would be great to
be able to listen to Talk radio and even record comical or important radio programs.

Tom


Reg_2845 Serial #00173

We have no plans for a Mark 3. I believe the Mk.2 has the specification needed to take the product into the foreseeable future.

Rob

> I haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh since I installed my Empeg

So there ARE advantages to not having an AM tuner.

Rob

Woe me... How much discount can it be... $50? $100? another 1000$ just for a new tuner (ok, the tuner in the Mk.I IS crap)
and noone to tell me if the new one is really better... RDS/FM... ok, but which RDS features are supported?
TA,TP,TI,PI,TEXT,AF? Especially AF,TA and TP are essential in a car!!!

there is a Mk4 EMPEG for sale on Ebay

Empeg Kicks Ass
S/N 00203
http://www.iretro.com

> I haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh since I installed my Empeg
So there ARE advantages to not having an AM tuner.

I didn't think you Brits knew about him.

My biggest problem with Rush Limbaugh is that I can no longer say "Rush" and assume that people know I'm referring to my favorite band. The phrase "I'm a Rush fan" has taken on a completely different meaning in recent years.

-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

I really hope this happens. Not having AM will be the ONLY flaw in the Mk2, at least it sounds like it. A lot of us in the states need AM for traffic reports and the like.

Does this increase the footprint of empeg-with-tuner? Do I need
two dash slots now to have both? When undocking the empeg,
does the tuner come with it?

No, from what I've seen on this BBS, the tuner module will be a small box that will connect to the back end of the wiring loom, using the docking port for its connection. You should be able to just tuck the small (couple inches cubed?) module up under the dash somewhere. This does mean that the Mk II won't be able to play radio undocked.

If I'm wrong, tell me, and I'll eat a bug.


_~= Dearing =~_
"WAY too happy about having #99."

Yep, that's correct.

Ok, I'm clueless, what's an "RDS" tuner and how is it useful? Any good links to info sites?

Thanks.
--Bryan

Darn, and I had this big, juicy beetle all ready for him.

-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

Someone should have bluffed and told him he was wrong...


-- Bleys

"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca