IBIQUITY ACQUIRES TECHNOLOGY FOR DAB RECORDER
Apparently setting stage for radio version of personal video recorder (PVR), terrestrial digital radio developer iBiquity Digital acquired exclusive worldwide license for Command Audio (CA) patents, technology and other assets in field of digital radio, companies said Tues. Companies are privately held and terms of agreement weren’t disclosed. IBiquity said acquisition set stage for radio broadcasters to provide consumers with content on-demand, as well as selecting radio programs via electronic guide, scanning content and pausing or saving for later listening. CA technology also will give content providers and advertisers tools to design innovative programming, iBiquity said.
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IBiquity plans to integrate CA technology with its digital AM and FM system to let broadcasters and consumers “leverage the revolutionary capabilities of digital radio,” iBiquity CEO Robert Struble said. “Radio manufacturers will be positioned to fully utilize the additional storage and multimedia capabilities in their products to differentiate the digital radio experience from today’s analog,” he said.
IBiquity received exclusive licensing rights to all CA intellectual property for all radio systems and products including digital AM and FM radio, satellite digital radio and other digital radio systems worldwide. CA now will focus remaining business on licensing its on-demand media intellectual property in nonradio fields such as PVRs and terrestrial and satellite TV applications.
Spokesman for iBiquity told us that because it had licensed CA’s technology only for digital radio uses, CA’s suit against Sony over TV-centric PVRs didn’t involve iBiquity and had no impact on its rights. CA sued Sony in Feb., alleging Sony’s TiVo-based PVR infringed on 2 of CA patents. Suit, in U.S. Dist. Court, San Francisco, charged PVR had violated patents underlying audio-on-demand service that included portable receiver in which data were stored.