Philips DS9/37 Product brochure - Page 7

The CD revolution Just as the popularity of the compact cassette was at its peak, Philips was preparing to unveil yet another ground-breaking innovation in audio. From 1974, a team of researchers at Philips' labs in Eindhoven,The Netherlands started work on a project to develop a 20cm optical audio disc with sound quality superior to that of the large and vulnerable vinyl record. What they ultimately revealed to the world in 1979 was a smaller 11.5cm optical audio disc they named the 'compact disc' in line with the Philips compact cassette. Aware that international standardization was key to the success of this product, later that year Philips joined forces with Sony and the two companies collaborated on establishing the global Red Book standard for digital audio discs. Philips' researchers had succeeded in their objective: the music reproduction was of an unprecedented quality; without interference and noise, insensitive to light fingerprints, dust and scratches. The first album to be manufactured in the new CD format was The Visitors, ABBA's eighth and final studio album in 1981. By 1983, what is considered the 'Big Bang' of the digital audio revolution took place as CD players and discs were widely released in the United States and other markets. Many of the early adopters of the new technology were classical music enthusiasts which benefitted Philips due to Polygram's strength in the classical genre. As prices for CDs came down and they became more affordable, the CD would revolutionize the record industry and the way the world listened to music at home thanks to improved sound quality, durable materials and the ability to skip whole tracks in an instant. All these improvements helped Philips firmly establish its reputation as an undisputed global leader in audio. CD-100 - The world's first CD player, 1983 (Invented by Philips in cooperation with Sony). 9 Streamium MC-i250 - The world's first wireless broadband internet micro Hi-Fi system, 2003. Pioneering connected audio Hot on the heels of the compact disc came the FW-i1000 - the world's first integrated audio device connecting to more than a thousand internet radio stations.This was shortly followed in 2003 by Philips Streamium MC-i250 - the world's first wireless broadband internet micro Hi-Fi system. Designed for the emerging 'connected home', this wireless product was a pioneer in connected entertainment and the forerunner of wireless speakers we enjoy today. It was the first audio product to offer access to multiple online music services and streaming of digital music from multiple devices on a home network. The MC-i250 was followed by a number of products marketed under the 'Streamium' name with the slogan 'Don't dream it, stream it!'.These provided traditional home entertainment combined with access to audio and video content from a PC, media server or thousands of on-demand online entertainment services. 10