"We already had an MP3 decoder in our CDMA code-division multiple-access chips, but Brew permits engineers to develop applications that operate on any handset," said Qualcomm's director of Internet services, Jeremy James. The chip acts as an intermediary that makes the phone's functionality available to applications without the source code being dependent on any particular handset manufacturer.

Likewise, MP3.com's Music InterOperating System (MIOS) was already in service streaming audio from the company's massive library of nearly all commercial audio CDs to mobile computers and dedicated MP3 players. But working together with Brew will enable future garden-variety cell phones to hear the music.

"Now you have to manually configure your computer's browser with plug-ins that match our MP3 streaming audio with your listening device, but marrying our MIOS to Qualcomm's Brew will let music follow subscribers from home to car to work without having to configure anything," said Michael Robertson, chairman and chief executive officer of MP3.com.

Since MP3.com recently settled its lawsuit with all major music labels, it has been legally streaming popular audio CDs over the Internet at two speeds — LoFi (24 kbits/second) and HiFi (128 kbits/s). All users have to do is "beam" their CD collections to MP3.com by inserting each CD into their computer's drive, at which time the MIOS verifies it is not a copy and "registers" it into the user's account in about 10 seconds. The initial beaming does not actually send the CD data. From that point forward the user can listen to the streamed audio originating from a CD in MP3.com's music library on any Internet-connected device.

For wired listening, an Internet-connected computer needs broadband connectivity for the HiFi data or a regular modem for LoFi. Users can also use a dedicated Internet radio such as Panja Inc.'s BMP-100. But for mobile listeners today, a computer in the car or preloaded MP3 tracks in a portable MP3 player are the only options.

With a Brew-enabled system, mobile listeners will be able to hear their music without a computer or even a dedicated MP3 player. By the end of the year, Qualcomm's Brew is slated for Leap and Verizon Wireless networks in the United States; and the networks of Japan's KDDI, Korea Telecom's Freetel and Mexico's Pegaso. Others are expected to follow.

Qualcomm also promises to make its Brew technology available to competing Global System for Mobile Communication and time-division multiple-access chip set makers, but has not inked deals with any suppliers yet.

"The key to innovation in the next generation of digital music is not to make the technology better, but to connect the pieces that have never been connected before," said MP3.com's Robertson.

As an example, Robertson showed how a new feature of the MIOS automatically matches portable players to its audio streams. Engineers at MP3.com set up profiles within MIOS for dedicated MP3 systems, such as Nike's new player in an armband for joggers. After connecting the player to the user's computer (for the Nike player, via the Universal Serial Bus), the user need only click a button on the MP3.com Web site, and the music file automatically streams into the MP3 player's internal memory.

For the future, Brew will streamline the process by enabling the audio stream to come right over a cell phone to the listener's ear. That will initially be possible only at LoFi data rates, but HiFi will become available when faster wireless connections become commonplace, the companies said. Until higher cell phone speeds are available, a HiFi audio stream can also load into a player memory in a Brew-enabled phone at 14.4 kbits/s for subsequent playback at HiFi.

"By the end of 2001, there will be some so-called 2.5-generation carriers offering speeds in excess of the 128 kbits/s you need for HiFi playback, with third-generation wireless networks running at over 2 Mbits becoming commonplace by 2004," Qualcomm's James said. "Any application designed using Brew today will run transparently on these faster wireless networks tomorrow."

On Thursday (Feb. 15), MP3.com will brief engineers on the new features being built into the MIOS (with free registration through MP3.com's Web site). The features let engineers integrate audio streams and management duties into freestanding applications or hardware devices.

For instance, MP3.com has already made public its MIOS application programming interface for its Beam-It technology. The Beam-It API provides C++ routines to log in and beam audio CDs into a user's MP3 account over the Internet. The source can be any hardware — such as a Bluetooth CD player — or a software application running on the user's computer.

Home to car to work

When users subsequently access their MP3 accounts, the newly beamed CDs will appear for immediate streaming to any device, even though they were beamed by virtue of the API from a different device.

MP3.com is also readying the companion My.MP3 API, which will enable a user's music to "follow" them from home to car to work. The My.MP3 API will let developers host playback from within their own software applications to virtually any Internet-connected hardware. An applet using the My.MP3 API downloads into the user's device, after which the playback controls with which the user is already familiar appear.

Other available interfaces include the Instant Listening API for retailers, which enables anyone to hear a new CD at the time of remote purchase. By incorporating the Instant Listening API into a retailer's application, a newly purchased CD can be automatically loaded into the user's My.MP3 account. Snail mail still brings the physical CD, but the customer doesn't have to wait for the mailman to hear it.

MP3.com is promising four new APIs by the end of 2001. The Transfer2Device API will enable dedicated MP3 playback devices to receive downloads automatically from a user's My.MP3 account even without a computer. A single command from the user, for applications using the Transfer2Device API, transfers the music stream from the MP3com library into the user's hardware playback device.

Other APIs are promised to provide engineers with access to MP3.com's vast music library, such as the Band/Song API for uploading and downloading music into and out of custom end-user applications. Likewise, the MusicDatabase API will let developers identify CDs and access information about songs, such as length and name. The company is also building XML access into its database so engineers can use information about artists, songs, calendar events and other information from the library of 500,000 songs by more than 100,000 artists.