“PhatNoise Inc. has licensed the reference design for its Mach
MP3 Jukebox, an in-car audio jukebox system, to Visteon Corp.
(Dearborn, Mich.), the world’s largest manufacturer of car stereos.
The system will let consumers store and play up to 30 gigabytes —
about 4,000 tracks — of digital audio in either the MP3 or
Microsoft Windows Media Audio format. Visteon will begin selling
the systems in the car stereo aftermarket in the third
quarter.”
“The system will include a removable hard-disk drive, called
PhatBox, that allows files to be transferred from the in-car
digital stereo system to a PC, and vice versa. PhatNoise is also
working on next-generation products that will span the car, home
and portable digital audio categories, said company founder and
chief executive Dannie Lau, who declined to reveal further
details.”
“The Mach MP3 reference design, based on a prototype that
PhatNoise debuted in June 2000, includes an embedded Linux
operating system and applications, the PhatBox storage cartridge, a
USB docking cradle and PhatMan software. The USB cradle will
connect the drive to a PC and the company’s PhatMan music
management software, which enables track playlists to be updated
automatically.”