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.