October 2001

Digital Fun Box

By Technology Review

Researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA, are developing a device that could consolidate all of our digital media in a single 150-gigabyte box. You'll be able tap into the device, which IBM calls Casa, through your TV, laptop, handheld or any other digital player.

Casa will convert a file to whatever format is needed to play it on a given device. Songs from CDs, for example, will convert themselves to MP3 music files when you access them from an MP3 player. Digital photos will automatically adjust their quality based on the type of screen you're looking at them on. IBM is building a prototype and projects commercialization in two to five years.