LATEST ADDITIONS

A merger announced Wednesday, July 12 by Columbia, Maryland&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.usadr.com/">USA Digital Radio</A> and <A HREF="http://www.lucentdigitalradio.com/">Lucent Digital Radio</A> of Warren, New Jersey may hasten the creation of a unified US standard for terrestrial digital radio, according to industry analysts. The merger was approved by the National Radio Systems Committee, which is in charge of developing a set of digital radio specifications for the US. It was also backed by 15 companies involved in the rollout of digital radio, including Viacom Inc.'s Infinity Broadcasting Corp. and Clear Channel Communications, Inc.

Chip Stern notes that, "as often as not, it ain't the heat&mdash;it's the stupidity. When confronted by the smattering of self-referential dilettantes, acrimonious Internut wannabes, and obsessive-compulsive types who suck the air out of our aural fun-house, I find myself overcome with the desire to program my phaser for Clip." And fire away he does in "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/246/">Snobs, Slobs, & Marley's Ghost</A>," added to the Archives this week.

By their very nature, most audiophiles seem perpetually restless, never content with that last tweak. Following in that hallowed tradition, <A HREF="http://www.psaudio.com">PS Audio</A> has been trying to reinvent the technologies traditionally used in power-line conditioners to optimize those pulses of alternating current that juice our audio systems. The company made waves with the introduction of their Power Plant line of products last year (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10317/">previous report</A>); their P300 garnered a very positive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//accessoryreviews/181/">review</A&gt; from <I>Stereophile</I>'s Robert Deutsch.

With <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10793/">Napster</A&gt; as the little red devil with a pitchfork prodding them on, the third-largest record company in the world, <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com">EMI</A&gt;, making good on its <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10745/">earlier announcement</A>, last week became the first major label to begin releasing music online. In a move the company hopes will silence the critics who say that Napster has become successful because the big labels have provided no Web-based alternatives, EMI put over 100 albums and 40 singles online "through all the normal retail websites."

<I>Who the heck </I>is<I> this guy? Is he David Johansen, the lipstick-wearing front man of the seminal glam-rock, proto-punk New York Dolls? Is he Buster Poindexter, the pompadoured and tuxedoed "Hot, Hot, Hot" soca stylist? Is he a lounge singer? A Latin artist? Johansen is all of the above, having achieved success in each incarnation.</I>

Now that SACD and DVD-Audio players are available, it's time to hear your predictions for the new formats.