Here is the courtesy repost:
/// Contents
/// --------
Important Registration Update
US Service Changes
Mark 2 Price List
Voice Recognition Delayed
Get Unwired
Web Site Update
Welcome Aboard
Recruitment - C++ Programmers
Useful Resources
/// Important Registration Update
/// -----------------------------
The current registration database includes a large number of expired email
addresses and entries by people who may no longer be interested in
purchasing a player. As the shipping date for the Mark 2 approaches we have
decided to improve the accuracy of the information in the database.
If you are a registered client currently in the queue for a Mark 2 player
you should visit the new registration site at the URL below. Original Mk.1
owners should also visit if interested in the Mk.2 upgrade offer.
At the site you can confirm or cancel your registration. If you take no
action your registration will be automatically cancelled before we start to
ship the new player, and you will lose your place in the queue. You can
also choose to cancel your registration but remain on the mailing list.
The URL is http://www.empeg.com/register/
There is no point visiting this page if you have not already been allocated
a registration number! If you have recently registered but have not yet
received a confirmation please be patient - we hope to clear the backlog
soon.
Note that we are not taking any orders or payment details at this time -
the process is to improve the registration database and obtain statistics
to enable us to set future production ratios.
/// US Service Changes
/// ------------------
As part of our on-going commitment to customer service, we have improved
our US after sales support. We have replaced the previous support office
(which was supplied under contract by a third party) with a new support
center at our main site in Cambridge. This enables us to respond more
quickly to technical enquiries, and to ensure that the highest levels of
service are maintained at all times.
The US toll free support number has now changed to:
1-877-259-5295
Live telephone support is provided Monday thru Friday during the following
times:
04:30 - 18:30 Eastern
01:30 - 15:30 Pacific
We may extend these times as demand increases, however we also provide fast
email response around the clock - addresses listed at the end of this
bulletin.
/// Mark 2 Price List
/// -----------------
The Mark 2 price list has now been finalised. The base model has moved up
to 6Gb as previously announced, with 12Gb and 18Gb single drive models also
on offer. A 36Gb dual drive model completes the range.
6Gb (100 hours*) US$ 1199 UKP 750
12Gb (200 hours*) US$ 1299 UKP 810
18Gb (300 hours*) US$ 1549 UKP 970
36Gb (600 hours*) US$ 1949 UKP 1210
If you live in the EC you pay sterling, otherwise you pay US Dollars.
Sterling prices do NOT include VAT. The US$ prices do not include any
domestic import or other duties (currently zero rated to the USA).
All sales within the EC will attract VAT at 17.5% unless we are selling to a
registered person or organisation outside of the UK. Prices do not include
insurance and shipping. We reserve the right to modify any information without
notice.
* Approximate time capacity based upon 128K/sec encoding.
/// Voice Recognition Delayed
/// -------------------------
We announced some months ago that the Mark 2 car player would include a
voice recognition function. This will provide for control of many of the
player functions using spoken commands, and to this end the Mark 2 has a
microphone input jack.
We have licensed voice recognition software, designed for use in
environments with a high level of background noise. The noisy environments
that the software authors originally anticipated were factories and other
industrial settings - unfortunately it is taking us far longer than expected
to convert this technology for use in a car. Recognising spoken commands
when there is no background noise from the road, the engine and the music
itself is not too complicated; however the issues become more complex when
these factors are introduced.
With a finite development team and a seemingly infinite wish list of
features, we have felt it important to set priorities. We have promised
that the Mark 2 will ship with consumer release software, and that means
fixing all known problems such as synchronisation. We also feel that
certain new features are essential for the Mark 2 release, including support
for Ethernet which opens up developer and wireless applications.
At this stage we are not comfortable with including voice recognition in the
consumer software release. We have more work to carry out with the authors
of the licenced software, and a lot more in-car testing to perform.
Therefore we have decided that voice recognition will ship in a downloadable
Beta release, possibly when the Mark 2 is launched, or perhaps a little
later.
However, an important factor is that the hardware to support this feature is
present and working perfectly. Therefore the upgrade will simply
involve downloading a new software release from our web site - and, of
course, it will be free of charge.
We'll keep you updated with our progress in this exciting aspect of the
car player.
/// Get Unwired
/// -----------
As soon as we decided that the Mark 2 car player would ship with 10BaseT
Ethernet as standard, we started to think about wireless applications.
This is a common feature on many wish lists, and the "cool factor" of
loading music onto your player - whilst it is parked outside - cannot be
denied!
The Mark 2 supports synchronisation via Ethernet as standard, so the
simple solution for wireless connection is to add a wireless LAN
bridge. This device intelligently connects a wireless radio network
to a standard wired Ethernet.
We plugged an Apple Airport bridge into Hugo's MX5 (and boy does it
look great on the parcel shelf), an 802.11 WaveLAN card into an office
PC, and Hugo's Mark 2 empeg appeared on our local network! Emplode
can synchronise with it, you can telnet and ftp in (if you load the
developer image), and throughput is about the same as USB.
We're currently researching the best wireless products on the market
to connect your car into your home network, and we hope to offer a
wireless package with the Mark 2 car player. We're very excited
about the potential applications that this will open up - watch this
space!
/// Web Site Update
/// ---------------
After much bullying of designers, programmers and contributors, we now
have a target date for our new web site to go live - June 1st. In fact
we hope that it will be online a little sooner than that, so keep an
eye open!
The new site will include a major style revamp, improved product
information, better online support, a dedicated press section and a
much needed new ecommerce system.
Although the new site is intended to better present our corporate
identity, we also want to build upon our already close relationship
with technology enthusiasts. Therefore a second site will go live
alongside the main site - our very own Geek Site! It will include
a wealth of technical information, photos of prototypes, bio's of
the empeg developers and a lot of other cool stuff. The geek URL
will be announced nearer the time.
As well as updating our web content, we are changing host to Pair
Networks. Their service during our trials has been outstanding and
their connectivity is second to none. Our site is currently split
between a UK and a US host, which can be confusing as well as a
little inefficient. The new site will offer great bandwidth
throughout the world, and we think you'll notice the difference.
/// Welcome Aboard
/// --------------
We have two new faces to welcome to empeg.
David has joined customer services, with responsibility for answering
your emails and telephone calls. He's drawn the graveyard shift (not
that anyone goes home at 5:30 around here!), so he'll probably become
a familiar correspondent for many of our earlier time zone clients.
Peter joins our software development team in June, bringing with him
a wealth of embedded systems experience. He has contributed in no
small way to major international software projects, and we are very
pleased that he has decided to come and work with us.
/// Recruitment - C++ Programmers
/// -----------------------------
We currently have new positions for two C++ software engineers, who
will work on major OEM projects as well as the car player. The jobs
are both based at our main site in Cambridge, UK. We are looking
for experienced team workers of a high calibre.
For more information please contact
[email protected].
/// Useful Resources
/// ----------------
Web Sites
The empeg web site at http://www.empeg.com/
The unofficial empeg BBS at http://empeg.comms.net/
The empeg developer's site at http://www.empeg.mars.org/
Download software updates from http://www2.empeg.com/upgrades/
Download source code from http://www2.empeg.com/sources/
Email Addresses
General information
[email protected]Sales enquiries
[email protected]Press enquiries
[email protected]Mailing list
[email protected]Tech Support
[email protected]/// end