TI Unleashes DaVinci Codec Modules
Digital media components move up the stack from ExpressDSP
By Edward J. Correia
March 15, 2006 —
(Page 1 of 2)
Texas Instruments is movin’ on up—the software stack. The company on March 6 unveiled a series of integrated, production-ready digital media components for its DaVinci and other DSP-based platforms.
The software, which includes codecs for voice, audio and video, is the first to be offered by the company so high in the stack. It is designed to work with TI’s ExpressDSP, its driver- and kernel-level APIs. Pricing for a full stack is around US$50,000 plus $2.20 per device; individual codecs and bundles may cost less. Components begin shipping at the end of March.
“We’ve made a conscious decision to invest in digital media software as a product,” said Brian Jeff, TI’s worldwide software marketing manager. “If you’re looking at building a portable media player, it’s usually the interface design that makes it stand out,” he said, adding that what’s under the covers is immaterial, as long as it works. “We’re enabling customers to focus on differentiating features while integrating tested codecs that don’t differentiate but are a requirement to have a successful product on the market.”
Free as in Support
Although the software is not free, TI’s marketing materials position the components against example code and demo versions offered by competitors and freeware that today is widely available as open-source. “We’re making the distinction because lots of companies say they have software, but they have not defined the details,” said Lisa Ferrara, manager of TI’s media relations program.
Conversely, the TI solutions are documented, and according to Jeff, extensively tested. “When we’ve talked to customers, they’ve said they are spending lots of time optimizing and testing software. Those tests are completed in TI’s facilities and have taken advantage of the hardware and our test vectors,” which he said number in the thousands. “The software is optimized for our platforms.”
And TI’s evaluation program includes four hours of free support. “Software is only as good as the support that’s behind it,” said Jeff. To help with the expected workload, TI has engaged about a dozen partners on several continents. “Partners were chosen based on their software expertise on video, audio and high-level OS issues and have a track record of customer satisfaction,” he said. This is the first time TI has engaged partners in this way, he added. “We’ve been getting important feedback on what would be required to go into broad distribution with support for multiple platforms.” Partners can provide not only TI’s software and support, but also custom integration services, he said.
Share this link: http://sdt.bz/29190
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Zeichick’s Take: Radio moves from analog waveforms to digital packets
Streaming radio highlights the need for streaming applications to be designed to take up as little bandwidth as possible
|
|
Taking enterprise architecture to the business side
Startup Corso is bringing out a cloud-based planning platform that ties into business plans
|
|
Appcelerator Acquires Cocoafish to Add Instant Mobile Cloud Capabilities to its Industry Leading Titanium Platform
Appcelerator Offers Messaging, Social, Location and Storage Mobile Cloud Services to All Mobile App Publishers
|
|
ComponentOne Releases a Collection of 40+ UI Widgets Powered by HTML5 and jQuery
ComponentOne has announced the 2012 release of Wijmo: a kit of UI widgets for HTML5 and jQuery development
|
Taking enterprise architecture to the business side
Startup Corso is bringing out a cloud-based planning platform that ties into business plans
|
|
Top five apps to manage your workload
Web applications offer new ways to track your “to-do” lists
|
|
Not so fast when it comes to testing in the cloud
Developers face outsourcing, virtual lab management and mobile devices as obstacles
|
|
Xceed releases UX-focused suite for Microsoft’s WPF
"Blendables" helps match user experiences to developer visions
|
Are you at risk for burnout?
Burnout is a severe problem and it can strike at any time. Here's how to tell if you are nearing the edge.
|
|
Agility, mom, and apple pie
If we're to evaluate the state-of-the-art in software development, we should start with the values espoused in the Agile Manifesto.
|
|
RIM woos developers with free tablet
How do you get more apps ported to the BlackBerry PlayBook? By giving every developer a free tablet, of course!
|
|
GitHire: Use Headhunters to Find Your Perfect Programmer
Are you a hiring manager tired of scouring the job boards? Check out this new service that will find 5 people interested in your jobs.
|
The Hidden Costs of Software Licensing
Moving beyond paper-based software licensing to more flexible, software-based licensing is a business decision. There is a growing trend tow...
|
|
Case Study: You May Need a Development Mechanic
As a contractor for a major financial player in Germany, SOBEGE, a German-based consultancy specializing in embedded IT and web services, wa...
|
|
Ensuring Software Quality at a Major International Bank
One of the world’s leading international banks has adopted AgitarOne technology for delivering generated unit tests for their Java software...
|
|
Load Testing Adobe Flex Applications
Adobe Flex applications may be different from applications you’ve worked with before. For classic HTML web applications, the server does all...
|