http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2108306,00.html
Open-source MP3 rival goes mobile
Sat Apr 13,10:43 PM ET
By Matthew Broersma, ZDNet News

The open-source audio format run by the Ogg Vorbis project has managed to get its first mobile player bundled with the Linux-based Zaurus

The Ogg Vorbis project to create a fully open, license-free alternative to the MP3 format got a boost on Thursday with the release of the first Ogg player for a handheld device.

A firm called TheKompany, which makes Linux (news - web sites) desktop tools and developer applications, released tkcPlayer for Sharp's Linux-based Zaurus handheld computer. TkcPlayer also handles MP3 files, and includes features like filtering by different song attributes and playlist management. The Zaurus will launch in the U.K. next week.

TheKompany claims that the Ogg files compress to 10 percent smaller than MP3 files, with 50 per cent better quality on average, and consume a third less power on the Zaurus during playback.

Ogg Vorbis is an open-source project aimed at creating an audio compression-decompression format similar to MP3, but free of patents and license fees. MP3, or MPEG Audio Layer 3, has become the de facto standard for trading audio files over the Internet because of the small size and high quality of its files. However, the MP3 format is controlled by the Fraunhofer Group and other members of the MPEG Consortium. Software and makers must pay Fraunhofer royalties for each encoder distributed.

The open-source technology isn't yet available as a Version 1.0 release, a step that is required before many companies will adopt the technology. The latest version of the software is Release Candidate 3, distributed at the end of last year.

This message needs urgently to be edited to remove all Zdnet gibberish.

Anyway, great news! Thanks for announcing it.

Just some thoughts on the subject:



I think the 50% better is a little bit too much. Besides, it's difficult to verify this statement if they don't provide the MP3 implementation used for comparing purposes.



Now, that's really strange. If I remember well, vorbis is the most CPU-intensive format regarding decode. At least in my machine, oggdec is quite slower than faad - not to mention mpg123 and mad.

Again, just some thoughts.

Regards;

Roberto.

Well we are talking about a hand held system right? Several people have been working on optimised players for embedded or mobile platforms. Integer based and otherwise. I do not find it unreasonable that they could have optimised or tweaked their player quite a bit. It was my understanding that though the code has been optimised in recent history it has alot more that could be done to it. And it is on the back burner as getting the quality maximised is their priority. So it is not out of the question that since they are not working on an encoder and can focus on optimising their player to its fullest potential that their claims could very well be true. If overstated a bit.

What really gets my ire up is the morons and short sighted people over at Zdnet and many other places pigeon holing Vorbis because they think that because Xiph has not optimised the encoder enough for their desires that the format is not ready to use and should be avoided. If these companies had bothered to look at the specs they would have seen that any streams encoded a year ago no matter how bad they sounded at the time would be fully playable for the forseeable future and beyond. This is due in part to the fact that the decoder has been 1.0 for almost a year. Since all these people have to do is impliment and optimise a player from the fully 1.0 decoding structure it makes me wonder if they can tie their own shoes or have any unique concious thought on their own!

I never want the guys over at xiph to stop tweaking! But for their benefit, ours, and the benefit of the imbecile naiev tech reviewers and corporate C.E.O.s They should just go ahead and give in for the moment and call it 1.0. These people will most likely only want to iplement playing of Vorbis audio and not encoding. So they could take the full 1.0 decoder specs and source that have been around since early last year and make portables. And all the while xiph can continue to tweak the encoder behind the sceens to their and our delights. It really makes things seem sad when seeming industry leaders and innovators need their hand to be held on something so simple.

I commend TheKompany for being one of the first to realise that numbers generally mean squat. I wish them all the best luck. Like they will need it though. They will already be out the gates with market penetration while the giants are just waking from their slumber to late to gain any sort of significant market. There will be others to follow suit. And the giants will all let out one giant collective "Homer Simpson" like DOH!