The companies are considering using IBM_s microdrive as a component in portable MP3 player devices.

At least three companies are considering using IBM_s microdrive as a component in portable MP3 player devices. "There are at least three different companies we are working with at the design level to ... evaluate [the drive_s] functionality" in "MP3 type" portable player products, said J. Osterhout, program director in IBM_s storage systems division. IBM_s microdrive -- unveiled last September -- allows for much more data to be stored in a small drive the size of a matchbook. This could give a boost to the memory capabilities of all kinds of handheld computers, cellphones, PDAs, and portable player devices. The microdrive could hold up to six hours of CD-quality music in a music playback device, or 300 hefty novels in an e-book, or 1,000 compressed photographs in a digital camera. MP3 is a widely used audio compression format that offers near-CD quality and is used for distributing files over the Internet. The existing Diamond Multimedia Rio MP3 player is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the RIAA against Diamond last October. The RIAA accuses the Rio of ruining the marketplace for digital distribution online. Diamond countersued last December,saying the Rio player is protected by the First and Fifth amendments.