I came across this and because of patent infringement suits and EDIG`s relationship with PortalPlayer I thought it would be worth posting ( what ever happened to the other design partners Aeronix and Kaga ? ):

press release

PortalPlayer Launches Design Partners Program

Aeronix, e.Digital and Kaga Electronics Will Fast Track Consumer Entertainment Products

Santa Clara, Calif., January 9, 2003—PortalPlayer, Inc., a leading supplier of digital audio platforms for consumer electronics, today launched its Design Partners Program and named three companies that it has qualified to speed the development of new consumer entertainment products. The Design Partners Program extends the engineering resources available to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) seeking to design new entertainment devices for the pocket, car and home, such as digital-audio-capable portables, camera accessories, car stereos and home component systems.

The three companies that PortalPlayer has qualified in the Design Partners Program are Aeronix, Inc., e.Digital Corporation, and Kaga Electronics. The qualification means each company has demonstrated its capabilities in system integration, firmware development, and project management. PortalPlayer is working with each to provide comprehensive training on its platforms, ensuring that OEMs working with PortalPlayer`s qualified design partners receive the highest quality of engineering services.

The PortalPlayer Design Partners Program provides a fast track to new system designs by giving OEMs access to the engineering resources and complementary intellectual property of the qualified partner and PortalPlayer`s system-on-chip (SoC) platforms, firmware, system architecture, and PC-based digital media management applications. By using PortalPlayer`s platforms as a starting point, Design Partners can work with OEMs to quickly and cost-effectively build differentiation into next generation products.

``The PortalPlayer Design Partners Program provides access to skilled teams that speed time to market and better control costs,`` said Michael Maia, vice president of marketing for PortalPlayer, Inc. ``These qualified developers have demonstrated expertise in the design and delivery of compelling, user-friendly consumer electronics products and share the PortalPlayer vision of simple, powerful devices.``

The charter companies in the PortalPlayer Design Partners Program are:

Aeronix, Inc. (www.aeronix.com) is a privately held Systems Engineering, Electronics, and Software Development company specializing in digital media solutions, communications, and data acquisition technologies for a variety of applications including consumer electronics, computer systems, and government/DoD. With a highly experienced engineering staff and efficient management structure, Aeronix has built a reputation of providing quality, cost-effective products and services on time. For more information contact: Ralph Heredia, rheredia@aeronix.com

e.Digital Corporation (www.edigital.com), a provider of comprehensive engineering services, technology licensing, industrial design, manufacturing services and private labeled products designed to help OEMs around the world optimize product development cycles. For more information contact: Steve Ferguson, steve@edig.com

KAGA Electronics (www.taxan.co.jp), a value added distributor that is part of TAXAN, a Japanese conglomerate that supplies electronic products and components, including hardware and software, to resellers worldwide, including products marketed under the TAXAN brand. For more information contact, Koji Matsuura, matsuura@taxan.co.jp

About the PortalPlayer Platform

PortalPlayer is positioned to meet the growing demand for consumer entertainment solutions with a platform that includes a system on chip, firmware and system architecture, and a PC-based digital media manager application. Based on a scaleable architecture that is fully customizable, the PortalPlayer platform gives OEMs the flexibility to build multiple versions of products from a single base design. Using solutions from PortalPlayer, customers can design and develop complete product families, from player-only portable devices to digital-audio enabled encoding and playback systems for home and car stereo installation.

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