OZ163 AudioDJ™
Thursday, April 6, 1998
Contact: Jim Keim, O2Micro
408-987-5920
General Inquiries
Santa Clara, CA - Tuesday, April 6, 1998 - O2Micro is pleased to announce a significant new patent pending OZ163 AudioDJ chip. The AudioDJ unleashes the power of music in notebooks by allowing CD play while the notebook is OFF. This unique non-intrusive chip design works with traditional ISA/PCI based audio chip-sets while minimizing the notebook power consumption to just the CD-ROM portion. This design significantly extends CD playtime and conserves battery power.
Playing music CDs on traditional notebook PCs requires a 3-step process; 1) the unit must be fully powered 2) wait for the system to boot up, and 3) load a software application which plays the CD. It is now possible for leading edge notebooks designed with the OZ163 to play a music CD simply by placing it in the CD drive and pressing a CDPlay button while the system is powered off. There is no need to wait for the system to become ready.
Unlike newer keyboard/microprocessor based solutions, the OZ163 music experience begins instantly. The OZ163 simplifies the entire process while extending the hours of listening pleasure since there is no unnecessary draining of notebook battery power.
The OZ163 is enabled via a separate control switch, which is used to put the unit into the CDPlay mode. The OZ163 supports a switch control interface for standard CD functions such as Play/Pause, FForward, Rewind, and Stop/Eject, as well as support for an LCD status icon display. The CDPlay switch enables only the key components required to play music CDs, i.e., the CD-ROM drive and audio subsystem. When in CDPlay mode, the CD buttons, volume, and headphone jack provide a simple and convenient way to listen to music.
"O2Micro continues to provide the notebook market with innovative design solutions such as the AudioDJ." Says Reginia Chan, O2Micro Vice President. "With the headphones plugged in and a typical fully charged battery, a notebook designed with the OZ163 can provide greater than 10 hours of CD music listening pleasure. This is a truly revolutionary solution for leading edge notebook designs."
O2Micro designs integrated circuits for portable applications which maximize the notebook's system power. Product lines include battery-management ICs, CCFL backlight inverter ICs and modules, CardBus controller ICs, GPIO and CDPlay ICs. O2Micro's products address the system designers' increasing requirements for high-performance, low power solutions that are easy to use.
Additional company and product information can be found on the O2Micro website at www.o2micro.com.
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