June 6, 2006 – HANDHELD IFE manufacturer digEcor has decided to focus its efforts on introducing the new digEplayer XT before returning its attention to the planned digEsystem embedded product.

According to digEcor CEO Brent Wood, the decision was driven by the realisation towards the end of last year that third-party production of the original digEplayer 5500 was in trouble. “Near the end of 2005 it became apparent to us that the quality of the 5500 was slipping, warranties were not being honoured and that Korean manufacturer Maycom needed to be replaced. In early January it was clear that Maycom was in some kind of financial trouble and that production was not happening at all.”

Although by then digEcor had selected Colorado-based Triad Systems Engineering to design digEsystem and work was well under way, the company moved quickly to protect its core business, deciding to design and produce the XT portable ahead of the embedded system. Accordingly, the contract with Triad was amended so that the portable XT would happen first, with the design incorporating many of the features needed for the embedded system,

”The embedded system has not been abandoned,” emphasises Wood. “It has simply been delayed as a result of the need to push the XT launch.”

The XT is scheduled for introduction later this summer. Final assembly work is due to get under way shortly in an area of digEcor parent company Wencor’s Utah factory vacated this week by the digEplayer 5500 repair department, which is moving to another area of the building. The initial assembly work will be carried out under the direction of a Triad engineer with 40 years’ experience of new product manufacturing.