From: roland <for_spam_at_gmx.de>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 03:17:35 +0100

hi !

>firmware. If they knew that they could make up "Archos clones",
>bundle open-systems free Rockbox firmware on them, and sell
>them, we might get some other great sources of inexpensive
>players. They might even be willing to cough up prototypes to

wow - that would be great!
rockbox compatible mini devices with 1.8" hdd`s and a larger lcd display , assembled in a "not so hackerish way" coming to my mind
:D

i vote for the "modernized rockbox compatible archos clone" from far east :D

> I've done a lot of traveling in Asia and working with
> electronics manufacturers there. I could probably dredge up
> some contact information if the Rockbox development team thinks
> such "feelers" might be a good idea.
actually very interesting, because there is "chinese rockbox" now :)

regards
roland







----- Original Message -----
From: "David H. Straayer" <mail_at_dhstraayer.com>
To: "Rockbox Development" <rockbox_at_cool.haxx.se>
Cc: "George Kerscher" <kerscher_at_montana.com>; "Barry" <barry_at_FBTC.NET>; <kparks_at_ce.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 8:41 PM
Subject: Notes from the audiobook world.


> First: Congratulations on a magnificent team effort! Without
> what you have done, the Archos would not be a good choice for
> audiobook users. The "resume" and the "bookmark" features make
> a world of difference.
>
> Second: Some of you folks may be interested in the R6WG11
> committee on spoken audio that has been working for some time on
> standards for audiobooks. It is a joint effort of APA (Audio
> Publishers Association) and CEA (Consumer Electronics
> Association), and has published at least one standard already,
> for audio books on CD/MP3 media. The contact point for R6WG11
> is kparks_at_ce.org. I know that most of the people involved in
> Rockbox development are more oriented to music listening than
> audiobook reading, but the discussions at R6WG11 may prove to be
> a useful source of ideas.
>
> Third: R6WG11 has been working with loosely with the DAISY
> organization. George Kerscher kerscher_at_montana.com has been
> involved in the DAISY work and he would be very interested in
> the voice interface. George is blind, and the DAISY standard is
> specifically intended for providing material for blind folks. I
> 'm sure he would be delighted to know that you have produced
> software to turn the Archos into such a blind-friendly device
> that can be had for such a low cost.
>
> Fourth: Here are a couple of tips that could make the Rockbox
> system even more audiobook-friendly. First, when the "left"
> button is tapped during play, I suggest that instead of jumping
> to the beginning of the file on the first tap, as it does now,
> just jump pack a user-configurable number of seconds back (this
> could even be hard set at some value between 15 and 45 seconds,
> but a user-settable amount avoids the gripes from folk who
> prefer a different value). Then if a second tap comes along
> soon (within a 1 or two second window, perhaps) it would then
> jump to the beginning of the file, and subsequent taps would go
> back files. This would make it easy to back up and "re-read" a
> section. Another nice idea would be to have a user-settable
> "re-read" value (it might even be the same parameter used
> above), and always do a resume or a bookmark that many seconds
> before the point at which reading was stopped. A little overlap
> helps a user to remember the context. I'd love to always have
> my Rockbox resume by re-playing the last 15 to 30 seconds of
> material. That would lessen the loss due to the otherwise nice
> fade-out and fade-in.
>
> Fifth: We might want to let the manufacturing community in
> Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China know about the availability
> of Rockbox. There are a lot of electronic assembly houses there
> who are great at putting together consumer electronics
> equipment, but not so great at developing the necessary
> firmware. If they knew that they could make up "Archos clones",
> bundle open-systems free Rockbox firmware on them, and sell
> them, we might get some other great sources of inexpensive
> players. They might even be willing to cough up prototypes to
> send to the Rockbox development team to ensure that Rockbox
> firmware is available for their designs. :-) I know, because
> I've done a lot of traveling in Asia and working with
> electronics manufacturers there. I could probably dredge up
> some contact information if the Rockbox development team thinks
> such "feelers" might be a good idea.
>
> Sixth: Would it be possible to allow recording at fixed bitrate
> instead of VBR? I have a hunch that it may be just a different
> setting for the hardware that is there already. The
> post-processing software I use for massaging the MP3 files I dub
> from audiocassettes and LPs (MP3DirectCut) doesn't really "like"
> the VBR files, so I have to spend a lot of computer time
> converting the files from VBR to FBR first.
>
> Dave Straayer
> Audiobook enthusiast and
> now happy Rockbox user.
> 916.729.4954
> mail_at_dhstraayer.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/rockbox
>

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Received on 2004-03-21