DigEplayer
Encyclopedia
The "digEplayer" is a product line of "digEcor." digEplayers are self-contained, portable audio video on demand (AVOD) hard-disk based digital entertainment devices. Similar in size to a portable DVD player
, digEplayers are pre-programmed with movies, television
shows, cartoons, videos
and music
, as well as airport
maps, destination information, promotions and advertising.
The digEplayer was the first portable self-contained AVOD In-flight entertainment
(IFE) device and created a whole new IFE product category.
of Tacoma, Washington
native and entrepreneur
Bill Boyer Jr.
, who at the time was a baggage handler
at SeaTac
-based Alaska Airlines
. In response to information posted about in-flight entertainment
challenges on the Alaska Airlines employee website, Boyer conceived of a portable hard-disk based audio video on demand media player that he later named the digEplayer.
On behalf of Aircraft Protective Systems (APS), a Washington corporation he founded earlier to commercialize other products he developed for the aircraft industry, he obtained $2.5 million initial financing from family and an Angel investor
to fully develop and market his conceived product, which became the first self-contained portable AVOD in-flight entertainment
(IFE) device.
Boyer/APS contracted with San Diego-based e.Digital Corporation
to develop and manufacture the original digEplayer, dubbed the digEplayer 5500. e.Digital engaged Korea
n OEM
Digitalway to do the industrial hardware design
. Additionally, e.Digital licensed video encoding and encryption security from DivX, Inc.
and licensed other media player technology from Ittiam Systems
. Digitalway was also the original manufacturer of the digEplayer 5500 until e.Digital transferred manufacturing to Maycom Co.
Boyer was able to convince 20th Century Fox
and later other studios to provide first-run movies and other content for the player. Boyer's employer, Alaska Airlines, became the first customer for the digEplayer, Based upon the apparent success of the Alaska Airlines digEplayer implementation, APS was able to sell the digEplayer to additional airlines.
digEcor later created the digEplayer XT and digEplayer XLP products as part of the digEplayer product line. The digEplayer XT was originally designed by Triad System Engineering but was revamped and extended by digEcor.
In February 2011, Minneapolis-based Sun County Airlines announced that it would introduce the digEplayer L7 for domestic flights longer than three hours. The carrier will also begin offering the digEplayer L7 on flights to London on May 27, 2011. Azerbaijan Airlines, Thomas Cook and Danish charter airline Jet Time have also announced plans to introduce the digEplayer L7 on their flights.
originally as Aircraft Protective Systems, Inc. (APS) - a Washington corporation. Boyer and his investors sold all stock in APS to Utah
-based Wencor, an international aircraft parts distributor, in October, 2003. Wencor re-named Washington-based APS "digEcor" and moved its headquarters to Springville, Utah
.
digEcor's ownership was later donated to three non-profit organizations - the Intermountain Healthcare
foundation, which promotes healthcare in the greater Salt Lake City area (48%); the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation
, which preserves historical sites (48%), and The America Foundation (4%).
received the "Airline IFE Service of the Year" based upon the implementation of the digEplayer 5500.
In May 2006, digEcor, filed a lawsuit against e.Digital regarding non-delivery of the purchase order placed in November, 2005. digEcor sought, among other things, actual damages of $793,750 and consequential damages of not less than $1,000,000. e.Digital eventually delivered the players to digEcor without batteries in October 2006 and the parties entered into a partial settlement agreement reducing the actual damages claim to $80,000 for the undelivered batteries.
digEcor also sought an injunction barring e.Digital from engaging in any competition with digEcor until after 2009, alleging violation by e.Digital of an April 2002 agreement not to compete with digEcor for a period of 7 years it entered into with Bill Boyer Jr.
, original owner of digEcor (then named APS) and conceiver of the product and business model.
On September 10, 2009, the Court ruled against digEcor and dismissed all of its remaining claims against e.Digital. On October 15, 2009, the court modified its previous summary judgement to reflect the court’s award of $80,000 in favor of digEcor and against e.Digital for undelievered batteries.
Portable DVD Player
Portable DVD Player is the name given to any portable device whose primary function is the playing of DVDs.-History:...
, digEplayers are pre-programmed with movies, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows, cartoons, videos
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, as well as airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
maps, destination information, promotions and advertising.
The digEplayer was the first portable self-contained AVOD In-flight entertainment
In-flight Entertainment
In-flight entertainment refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2½ day flight between Europe and America...
(IFE) device and created a whole new IFE product category.
Product history
The digEplayer was the brainchildIdea
In the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
of Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
native and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
Bill Boyer Jr.
Bill Boyer Jr.
Bill Boyer, Jr. is a 50% owner and former CEO of Hawaii's Mokulele Airlines. In March 2009, he was replaced as the airline's CEO and was put in charge of expanding sales and marketing efforts after Republic Airways became a 50% shareholder...
, who at the time was a baggage handler
Baggage handler
In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage , and other cargo for transport via aircraft...
at SeaTac
SeaTac, Washington
SeaTac is an American city in southern King County, Washington, and an outlying suburb of Seattle, Washington. Incorporated in February 1990, the City of SeaTac is ten square miles in area and has a population of 26,909 according to the 2010 census...
-based Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is an airline based in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac, Washington in the United States. The airline originated in 1932 as McGee Airways. After many mergers with and acquisitions of other airlines, including Star Air Service, it became known as Alaska Airlines in 1944...
. In response to information posted about in-flight entertainment
In-flight Entertainment
In-flight entertainment refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2½ day flight between Europe and America...
challenges on the Alaska Airlines employee website, Boyer conceived of a portable hard-disk based audio video on demand media player that he later named the digEplayer.
On behalf of Aircraft Protective Systems (APS), a Washington corporation he founded earlier to commercialize other products he developed for the aircraft industry, he obtained $2.5 million initial financing from family and an Angel investor
Angel investor
An angel investor or angel is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity...
to fully develop and market his conceived product, which became the first self-contained portable AVOD in-flight entertainment
In-flight Entertainment
In-flight entertainment refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2½ day flight between Europe and America...
(IFE) device.
Boyer/APS contracted with San Diego-based e.Digital Corporation
E.Digital Corporation
e. Digital Corporation is a public company based in San Diego, California. Founded in 1988 as Norris Communications, it is one of the publicly traded companies started by inventor/entrepreneur Elwood "Woody" Norris...
to develop and manufacture the original digEplayer, dubbed the digEplayer 5500. e.Digital engaged Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n OEM
OEM
OEM means the original manufacturer of a component for a product, which may be resold by another company.OEM may also refer to:-Computing:* OEM font, or OEM-US, the original character set of the IBM PC, circa 1981...
Digitalway to do the industrial hardware design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
. Additionally, e.Digital licensed video encoding and encryption security from DivX, Inc.
DivX, Inc.
DivX, Inc. , based in San Diego, California, now part of Sonic Solutions, a division of Rovi, was the corporation behind the MPEG-4 Part 2-based codec, DivX. The company's codec has been downloaded over 240 million times since January 2003...
and licensed other media player technology from Ittiam Systems
Ittiam Systems
Ittiam Systems is a venture capital funded company founded by ex-Managing Director of Texas Instruments' India Srini Rajam in 2001, developing Digital Signal Processing Systems. It is headquartered in Bangalore, India and has marketing offices in the US, UK, France, Japan, China, Singapore and...
. Digitalway was also the original manufacturer of the digEplayer 5500 until e.Digital transferred manufacturing to Maycom Co.
Maycom Co.
Maycom Co., Ltd. is a S. Korean electronics equipment manufacturer and seller primarily in the field of radio/communications and audio equipment....
Boyer was able to convince 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and later other studios to provide first-run movies and other content for the player. Boyer's employer, Alaska Airlines, became the first customer for the digEplayer, Based upon the apparent success of the Alaska Airlines digEplayer implementation, APS was able to sell the digEplayer to additional airlines.
digEcor later created the digEplayer XT and digEplayer XLP products as part of the digEplayer product line. The digEplayer XT was originally designed by Triad System Engineering but was revamped and extended by digEcor.
In February 2011, Minneapolis-based Sun County Airlines announced that it would introduce the digEplayer L7 for domestic flights longer than three hours. The carrier will also begin offering the digEplayer L7 on flights to London on May 27, 2011. Azerbaijan Airlines, Thomas Cook and Danish charter airline Jet Time have also announced plans to introduce the digEplayer L7 on their flights.
Company history
digEcor was founded by Bill Boyer Jr.Bill Boyer Jr.
Bill Boyer, Jr. is a 50% owner and former CEO of Hawaii's Mokulele Airlines. In March 2009, he was replaced as the airline's CEO and was put in charge of expanding sales and marketing efforts after Republic Airways became a 50% shareholder...
originally as Aircraft Protective Systems, Inc. (APS) - a Washington corporation. Boyer and his investors sold all stock in APS to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
-based Wencor, an international aircraft parts distributor, in October, 2003. Wencor re-named Washington-based APS "digEcor" and moved its headquarters to Springville, Utah
Springville, Utah
Springville is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 20,424 at the 2000 census, while the 2008 estimates placed it at 28,520. Just minutes south of Provo, Springville is a bedroom community for...
.
digEcor's ownership was later donated to three non-profit organizations - the Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Health Care, Inc., DBA as Intermountain Healthcare, and formerly known as Intermountain Health Care , is a non-profit healthcare system and is the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West. Intermountain Healthcare provides hospital and other medical services in Utah and...
foundation, which promotes healthcare in the greater Salt Lake City area (48%); the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation
Mormon Historic Sites Foundation
The Mormon Historic Sites Foundation is an independent organization that seeks to contribute to the memorialization of sites important to the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, which preserves historical sites (48%), and The America Foundation (4%).
Recognition
The digEplayer 5500 received the "IFE Product of the Year" award at the March 2004 IPEC/LARA Inflight Online Awards Dinner. Alaska AirlinesAlaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is an airline based in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac, Washington in the United States. The airline originated in 1932 as McGee Airways. After many mergers with and acquisitions of other airlines, including Star Air Service, it became known as Alaska Airlines in 1944...
received the "Airline IFE Service of the Year" based upon the implementation of the digEplayer 5500.
digEcor vs. e.Digital Corporation
In March 2006, digEplayer supplier e.Digital announced that its contract manufacturer, Maycom, was either unwilling or unable to fulfill a purchase order it had placed to fulfill a fully paid order from digEcor for 1,250 digEplayer 5500s and batteries.In May 2006, digEcor, filed a lawsuit against e.Digital regarding non-delivery of the purchase order placed in November, 2005. digEcor sought, among other things, actual damages of $793,750 and consequential damages of not less than $1,000,000. e.Digital eventually delivered the players to digEcor without batteries in October 2006 and the parties entered into a partial settlement agreement reducing the actual damages claim to $80,000 for the undelivered batteries.
digEcor also sought an injunction barring e.Digital from engaging in any competition with digEcor until after 2009, alleging violation by e.Digital of an April 2002 agreement not to compete with digEcor for a period of 7 years it entered into with Bill Boyer Jr.
Bill Boyer Jr.
Bill Boyer, Jr. is a 50% owner and former CEO of Hawaii's Mokulele Airlines. In March 2009, he was replaced as the airline's CEO and was put in charge of expanding sales and marketing efforts after Republic Airways became a 50% shareholder...
, original owner of digEcor (then named APS) and conceiver of the product and business model.
On September 10, 2009, the Court ruled against digEcor and dismissed all of its remaining claims against e.Digital. On October 15, 2009, the court modified its previous summary judgement to reflect the court’s award of $80,000 in favor of digEcor and against e.Digital for undelievered batteries.
- General reference for section: eDigital Corporation Annual Report (10-K), 6/29/2007
Source articles
- ‘Sky's the limit for a baggage handler's in-flight entertainment system” - Seattle PI, September 10, 2003
- “Alaska To Become First Carrier to Offer APS DigEPlayer Portable Video On Demand Entertainment System”- Alaska Airlines Press Release, 9/9/2003
- “DigEplayer Portable VOD Big Hit With Alaska Air Passengers” – AIRFAX.com, February 2004
- “Flight of fancy? Launching a high-tech product can be a technical and financial challenge. Try these tips to get yours off the ground” - Entrepreneur, August, 2004