Remember Zayante? Still discussion worthy??
With all the talk about 'A New Device', 'NAB Press Invites' and even some random stuff like 'Apple Projectors' and 'Multimedia Boxes'... Something thats been rattling around in the back of my brain has come back to the front...
Remember Zayante?
While many (including myself) suspected that post buyout news Apple was happy to get "Michael Teener back into Apple (as well as Prashant Kanhere). Michael had left Apple and co-founded Zayante (with Prashant Kanhere) back in 1996 but prior to that he worked at Apple and is known as the Father of Firewire.
When Apple purchased Zayante (April 4, 2002) no FW800 boxes had yet been released and 'Gigawire' was still an often discussed term, GPUL was (maybe?) being thrown around as a tease by some members (sorry about that - but I wasn't the only one) and rumors were all over the place... Talk about the Zayante buyout was quickly overshadowed by G5 / GPUL and OS X 10.2 rumors...
Some (including myself) suspected that 1394b development wasn't going as well as expected and the initial top speed was even scaled back IIRC - 1600Mb/s (using copper) was the initial target speed with it eventually breaking the 3200 Mb/s mark (using glass fiber) - at introduction however 1600 Mb/s wasn't to be seen (nor any mention of using fiber) and instead 800 Mb/s (using copper) made the final cut of 1394b. I for one was a bit disappointed...
Anyway... maybe that was the primary / secondary reason for the buyout... Apple PR says something about being happy to have Kanhere on board to promote Firewire but what kind of reason is THAT to buyout a company?!?! Sorry I didn't (and don't) buy it. Like I said before I think it was Apple and the 1394ta having issues with finishing 1394b. The only thing that still doesn't make sense (even with my speculation about wanting Teener back) is that Zayante (and Teener) was already a founding member of the 1394ta so what benefit would there be if Apple had Teener back or not?
So we still have a company that Apple paid good money for and without any reasonable reason... So below is a mission statement from one of the press releases released just a year prior to Apple buying them out...
Interesting items of note...
"Zayante has completed several innovative consumer electronics system-level designs including an AV Component stack for Kenwood,"
"A Digital Photo Album"
"A DTV/STB reference design" (DigitalTV Set Top Box)
"An in-car entertainment solution for Ford's Lincoln Navigator"
I dunno... but I remember reading about Zayante's DTV/STB and thought it looked quite interesting... (still looking for any web archives that might still exist that talk about it)...
Interesting or no?
Dave
Remember Zayante?
While many (including myself) suspected that post buyout news Apple was happy to get "Michael Teener back into Apple (as well as Prashant Kanhere). Michael had left Apple and co-founded Zayante (with Prashant Kanhere) back in 1996 but prior to that he worked at Apple and is known as the Father of Firewire.
When Apple purchased Zayante (April 4, 2002) no FW800 boxes had yet been released and 'Gigawire' was still an often discussed term, GPUL was (maybe?) being thrown around as a tease by some members (sorry about that - but I wasn't the only one) and rumors were all over the place... Talk about the Zayante buyout was quickly overshadowed by G5 / GPUL and OS X 10.2 rumors...
Some (including myself) suspected that 1394b development wasn't going as well as expected and the initial top speed was even scaled back IIRC - 1600Mb/s (using copper) was the initial target speed with it eventually breaking the 3200 Mb/s mark (using glass fiber) - at introduction however 1600 Mb/s wasn't to be seen (nor any mention of using fiber) and instead 800 Mb/s (using copper) made the final cut of 1394b. I for one was a bit disappointed...
Anyway... maybe that was the primary / secondary reason for the buyout... Apple PR says something about being happy to have Kanhere on board to promote Firewire but what kind of reason is THAT to buyout a company?!?! Sorry I didn't (and don't) buy it. Like I said before I think it was Apple and the 1394ta having issues with finishing 1394b. The only thing that still doesn't make sense (even with my speculation about wanting Teener back) is that Zayante (and Teener) was already a founding member of the 1394ta so what benefit would there be if Apple had Teener back or not?
So we still have a company that Apple paid good money for and without any reasonable reason... So below is a mission statement from one of the press releases released just a year prior to Apple buying them out...
Quote:
About Zayante
Zayante is the only company that provides complete 1394 hardware and software solutions, including silicon cores, software tools, and system designs. Based in Scotts Valley, Calif., the company was founded in 1996 by the visionaries and primary developers of 1394 technology from Apple Computer Inc. In addition to its silicon products, Zayante offers a complete 1394 software product line including 1394 kernel, protocols (AV/C, SBP2, IP1394, and others). Zayante has completed several innovative consumer electronics system-level designs including an AV Component stack for Kenwood, a Digital Photo Album, a DTV/STB reference design and an in-car entertainment solution for Ford's Lincoln Navigator. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.zayante.com, or call Zayante at 1-831-461-4900.
About Zayante
Zayante is the only company that provides complete 1394 hardware and software solutions, including silicon cores, software tools, and system designs. Based in Scotts Valley, Calif., the company was founded in 1996 by the visionaries and primary developers of 1394 technology from Apple Computer Inc. In addition to its silicon products, Zayante offers a complete 1394 software product line including 1394 kernel, protocols (AV/C, SBP2, IP1394, and others). Zayante has completed several innovative consumer electronics system-level designs including an AV Component stack for Kenwood, a Digital Photo Album, a DTV/STB reference design and an in-car entertainment solution for Ford's Lincoln Navigator. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.zayante.com, or call Zayante at 1-831-461-4900.
Interesting items of note...
"Zayante has completed several innovative consumer electronics system-level designs including an AV Component stack for Kenwood,"
"A Digital Photo Album"
"A DTV/STB reference design" (DigitalTV Set Top Box)
"An in-car entertainment solution for Ford's Lincoln Navigator"
I dunno... but I remember reading about Zayante's DTV/STB and thought it looked quite interesting... (still looking for any web archives that might still exist that talk about it)...
Interesting or no?
Dave
Comments
Unfortunately Firewire has been all but pushed out as the connectivity standard for HDTV(it is used in high end Sony and Pioneer units for audio) it is making great inroads in music production. I expect this to get better but somehow I have yet to see Apple really come up with a device that leverages the unique benefits of FW's asyncronous and Isoochronous abilities.
I think such a device is coming from Apple. I just don't know what form it will take. A device that handles audio and video would be pretty nice as apple has a stake in both areas with AAC and now with Pixlet they have high quality codecs at their disposal. Will it be a PVR. Odd are unlikely but we may see Apple utilize their tech in ways that really benefit the new multimedia enabled family.
The Zbox was the device I remembered reading about... here are some details:
TNF Zbox Features and Benefits
- Integrated hardware/software development platform for 1394 embedded applications featuring Zayante?s respected TNF control and protocol stack running on Wind River?s VxWorks RTOS
- Evaluation and interoperability testing platform with multiple applications:
o IEEE 1394 to Ethernet router
o AV/C disk (with personal video recorder enhancements)
o AV/C tape recorder
o SBP-2 disk
- Linkable binaries of Zayante?s extensive range of TNF protocol modules for use under Wind River Tornado development environment
- Full source code available
- Debugging and maintenance interfaces for easy monitoring of applications
- Simple updating of firmware using built-in Internet interfaces
- x86 based with OHCI 1.1/1394a-2000 interface
TNF Zbox overview
Zbox is a state-of-the art evaluation and development platform for embedded applications incorporating IEEE 1394.
Zayante?s highly modular TNF software stack provided with Zbox is centered on TNF Kernel, a server module which presents all the capabilities of 1394 in an easy-to-use API including device discovery and enumeration, configuration ROM building and searching, logical node identification (maintained across bus resets).
Zbox comes with three sets of protocols that execute as clients of TNF Kernel:
1. AV/C (audio video control), the protocol family used for most consumer applications AV/C Protocols available or planned for Zbox include tape recorder (camcorder, VCR), disk (digital video recorder, DVD, CD, MD), panel (user interface), and EIA 775 (digital television and set top box)
2. IP 1394, the protocol used for carrying internet data on 1394 busses
3. SBP-2 (serial bus protocol), the mechanism used by computers to access peripherals such as hard disks, CD-ROMS, printers and cameras.
The hardware platform is based on an Intel Celeron processor, 32MByte SDRAM, 10GByte HDD, and a 1394 OHCI-based subsystem for high bandwidth transfers of asynchronous and isochronous data.
Zbox demonstrates the use of all three sets of TNF protocols with a configurable application that provides three simultaneous functions:
1. A personal video recorder that can appear to be either a camcorder or an AV HDD. This function allows the Zbox to connect to movie editing system, such as an iMac using iMovie or a PC using MovieMaker. This application can also be configured to appear to be an EIA-775-compliant set top box so that a digital television can tune to various sources of digital streaming.
2. A 1394-to-Ethernet internet router. This function allows a Windows ME-based computer to use 1394 to connect to the internet, even if the computer does not have an Ethernet interface. It also allows legacy PCs that don?t have a 1394 interface to attach to a 1394-based home network.
3. A standard SBP-2 HDD. This function allows the Zbox to connect to either a Windows 98SE/2000/ME or Mac OS computer as a standard Firewire disk.
But could it be that Apple was really after the TNF Software and Silicone? That's what the Zbox was really designed to showcase (from best I can understand)... I dunno but either way I still don't buy the PR that Apple wanted Zayante just to have it's CEO as a FireWire evangelist (or whatever his title was)...
Dave
The work they did for Kenwood was impressive, and they had lots of prototype AV equipment around. They were all hooked together through FireWire, no nasty RCA, optical, or special control cables anywhere. Then they had a box that was a radio transceiver that communicated with the coolest remote control I've ever seen. It was built on a plywood board, but it sported a 4" touch screen LCD and an antenna. The remote would auto-detect every device on the FW network and show a custom control panel. The disc changer let you scroll through albums and songs, the receiver let you change stations and select the input, etc.
They were also doing work work Yamaha that I think ended up in some mLan products. Basically is was a 1394 stack with built-in audio features. You could pull an audio stream from FW right on the chip and send PCM data to an DA converter without having to implement mLan in software. This reduces latencies a lot.
There were some other things too, but those two were the most revelant. The remote could one day turn into a product. I don't think it was using 802.11, but I'm sure they'd go with something like that now. You wouldn't need the base station anymore because it could be implemented in software. All you would need is a Mac and AirPort. Well... and some equipment that supported A/VC. It'd also be nice to implement home automation this way, maybe an X10 bridge, or something new.
The audio chip would fit well with a Mac. If Mac's could pull audio from FW at the hardware level, giving you much, much lower latencies, this would be a huge advantage over PCs in pro audio for working with FW audio devices. It seems a little tricky though because then you might be limited in the number of channels, configurability, effects, upgradability.