Audible Gets Cash Infusion - Microsoft Sells Some Of Investment

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Symbol=US:ADBL&Feed=BW&Date=20030804&ID=2763019">http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Symbol=US:ADBL&Feed=BW&Date=20030804&ID=2763019</a><br /><br />"Audible Inc., today announced a $6 million investment made by global private equity firm, Apax Partners, and international media company, Bertelsmann. In conjunction with this investment, Apax Partners has acquired from Microsoft Corporation its Series A Preferred Stock and has agreed to revise the terms of those Series A shares."<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2002/20020715-audible.gif" /><br /><br />Microsoft didn't sell everything though and seems to remain committed to Audible's technology. "Microsoft will continue to partner with Audible," noted Dick Brass, Corporate VP Emerging Technologies at Microsoft, which will retain its common stock position in Audible after the sale of its Series A Preferred Stock holdings. "Microsoft and Audible share a vision of digital media delivery and mobile access to information and entertainment."<br /><br />The investment by Bertelsmann could also mean in increase in their library now having access to the DirectGroup Bertelsmann book club. Audible stock is up nearly 50% on the news today.

[Brad Adrian]

I think this is great. I know that Audible has had some ups and downs during the past few years, but this should help them keep some momentum going. I would hope that this signals an even stronger commitment to enterprise offerings and rollouts. For instance, why not provide your employees with training materials this way?

[quidproquo]

Great news.... maybe they can improve their player and setup configuration. I didn't have audible on my new phone edition since changing from the iPAQ - and I "deactivated" like the directions say and when I paid for another book and downloaded it to take on a trip -- the program says I can't have more than one machine/PDA activated.
:evil:

Then when I deactivate it again - it says I need to call their support - which of course was closed for the night (8 PM eastern) and they are not open on the weekend - and it was Friday evening...... :twisted:

I hope they can upgrade their system and get a bit more of a user friendly player and configuration system.

I couldn't even listen to my book for my trip because of the hiccups in their system. (I know - I should have downloaded it earlier than the night before I left - but hey...that is what procrastinators do!)

[CoreyJF]

I will admit the activation can be a pain with handhelds since the so often need to be hard reset. It is old same old intellectual copyright song and dance again. But I love audible. I will love it even more next week when I start a new job which requires a 45 minute to hour commute. I just renewed my NY times audible subscription. At least I will learn something in traffic.

[ChristopherTD]

The activation process is very flaky, and I am never sure whether I have actually managed to activate or deactivate whatever device I am trying to use.

Fortunately, the ephPod software I use to transfer Audible files to my iPod doesn't require that the iPod be "activated". I am not sure how it does this, but it does make life much easier.

Audible books are great for commuting.

[CoreyJF]

Can you play it on your ipad with out it being actiavated? I can move files to my pocketpc with out it being activated. Just not play them.

[asok007]

I sure hope they invest some of that money in software developers. I've used audible for a couple years now, occasionally having to play the activiation game. I've been pretty satisfied since I've only had minor issues. But last week I got my free (thank you Microsoft) Viewsonic V37 and I've been fighting their crappy software trying to get it activated ever since. I use Audible all the time, but after numerous uninstall/reinstalls, phone calls to reset my account, and even a hard reset, I'm getting pretty close to just calling it quits.

[ChristopherTD]

Can you play it on your ipad with out it being actiavated? I can move files to my pocketpc with out it being activated. Just not play them.

I can play them happily on the iPod (Apple's MP3 player) and the iPod has never been activated. I haven't tried playing them on the iPaq yet, I suspect some form of activation would be required first.