When will the Hi-Muse be available?

At this point, the Hi-Muse exists solely as a prototype which FST is using to showcase the company's technologies and know-how. However, the Hi-Muse also represents a complete, ready-to-manufacture system. The reason for this is that FST initially set out to develop the Hi-Muse as a complete product, which they planned to manufacture and market… themselves. Later, however, the company decided to focus instead on its core strength — software development — and license the software they are developing to companies which are better equipped for the manufacturing, marketing, and support of products based on the Hi-Muse technologies.

“If the interested company is a service/content provider, they can choose to let us take care of everything, as we have a partnership with Hitachi who is keen on manufacturing the products, and another partnership with a French company (named [email protected]) for development of the online services,” Grison says. “We can also offer integration and consulting services.”

How much will it cost?

Grison says the end user price of a device similar to the current prototype would be around $700. However, this is highly dependent on the volumes produced as well as on the type of processors (i.e. the cost of a TI or Cirrus based unit would be lower). It also depends on various choices of the product's manufacturer, such as whether to include a hard drive (and if so, its size), characteristics of the LCD screen, etc. Consequently, the price could be as low as $200-300.

“A business model we're working on is something halfway between the new Napster and the way cellular phones are marketed in Europe,” says Grison. “that is, the Music Service Provider would subsidize the products to almost 100%, and users would pay a monthly subscription fee that enables them to download a certain amount of music (either in P2P or from a portal).” With respect to the problem of protecting music copyrights and safeguarding the user's private information, Grison says “the device is highly secure, as it is part of a closed network and therefore doesn't present the hacking threat a PC has.”

In thinking about the cost of the device, Grison points out that “the system isn't only for consumers — it's likely to be very attractive for in music stores, bars, and night-clubs, and other public places.” And he adds that they “can provide services such as enabling people to rate music, or create own music programs, or download music to their portable devices (for example in a night-club when you like the music that's playing).”

“One really exciting possibility is that, since all the system logs are stored, this information can also be provided to music labels and other companies involved in the music business,” adds Grison. “Imagine a bar with 200 people able to rate music in real time or the information provided by a million home users — that's pure gold for the music industry!”

Reference platforms and beta test

In order to support companies planning to develop Hi-Muse based products, FST is in the process of creating two reference platforms — based on the TI and Cirrus processor alternatives. These are expected to be available by Q3 2001.

FST also plans to build a few hundred Hi-Muse beta test units by the end of the year. Companies, developers, and end-users interested in participating in the beta test program can register on the Hi-Muse website.

• Part 1: The ultimate music appliance?
  
• Part 2: Summary of features
  
• Part 3: What's inside the Hi-Muse?
  
• Part 4: When will the Hi-Muse be available?

 
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