It is true that data rates in wireless cellular networks will jump significantly in the near future. In europe, where the 3rd generation system is known as UMTS, 2 MB is the maximum data rate, however this would only be available if you where a single user in cell (and a small cell at that). With the expected growth in cellular use, from an network operators point of view, it would be desirable to have as much capacity per cell as possible. A reduction in the data rates required to provide these new multimedia services would therefore be appreciated, so the more compression, the better.
That is ok if you are physically connected, but i've some rumours about the internet via wireless technologies (read cellular phones) becoming popular, where this kind of compression would be particularly useful, given the limited transmission speeds.
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An ex-colleague of mine also was working on something similar. The homepage for his player can be found at http://www.go.to/soundbastard
It is true that data rates in wireless cellular networks will jump significantly in the near future. In europe, where the 3rd generation system is known as UMTS, 2 MB is the maximum data rate, however this would only be available if you where a single user in cell (and a small cell at that). With the expected growth in cellular use, from an network operators point of view, it would be desirable to have as much capacity per cell as possible. A reduction in the data rates required to provide these new multimedia services would therefore be appreciated, so the more compression, the better.
That is ok if you are physically connected, but i've some rumours about the internet via wireless technologies (read cellular phones) becoming popular, where this kind of compression would be particularly useful, given the limited transmission speeds.
It also has low-loss properties, reducing the need (and therefore cost) of optical amplifiers.