FAQ | Jook - my music, your music, our music.

A: Jook is a wireless technology standard that allows any portable music player to act like a personal radio station, regardless of the music player device’s brand or type. In essence, Jook wirelessly broadcasts songs to people in the immediate vicinity.

Q: How much will it cost the end consumer?

A: Since Jook is a reference specification that will be given to manufacturers, the ultimate cost is left up to them. Each manufacturer of portable music players and accessories will decide how they will incorporate Jook into their products and how much their respective MSRPs are. We are working closely with our manufacturing partners to absorb as much of the cost as possible, so the consumer will pay as little as possible to use Jook.

Q: How will people use Jook?

A: Jook is all about connecting people through music broadcasts. People can now easily share their music with friends without the hassle of wires or having to be next to them.

Someone with an iPod can become a DJ and play music for someone sitting across from them on the subway listening to a Zune. Friends jogging together can all tune into one person’s music player and listen to the same songs at the same time - regardless of the type of portable music players being used.

Additionally, Jook is also designed to be a social networking tool that lets listeners later connect and talk about music they had previously heard. Users can create a profile, store it on their Jook enabled device, and share it with their listeners or broadcasters. These profiles provide more information about users, which can include anything from a personal web page to their contact information, as well as their music preferences.

Furthermore, music fans can rate a fellow Jook user’s song as well as the overall playlist the broadcaster chose to create and share.

Q: What sort of wireless protocol does it use?

A: Jook utilizes a proprietary wireless protocol – it is encrypted and runs on a 2.4 Ghz wireless signal that Jook Inc. has specially designed for broadcasting audio streams.

Q: Will Jook devices for different music devices be interoperable?

A: Yes, it is device agnostic and will work with any other Jook enabled device. Users will be able to interact with other Jook devices regardless if it’s attached to a Zen, iPod, Zune, etc.

Q: How can I tell who I am listening to?

A: Each Jook can access four channels of audio. The channels will be sorted in order of what signal is closest and strongest, so users will always have access to other Jook devices that their friends or acquaintances are carrying.

Q: Can my Jook download songs I like directly from the broadcaster?

A: No, Jook does not allow music downloads. Users can listen to a broadcaster’s music in real time, and later at home the user can access the software included with Jook that will show the song title, artist’s name, a timestamp of when the user heard the song, and other relevant info.

Users can then use this information to purchase the song from his or her favorite digital music outlet or find the original CD from a brick-and-mortar music store.

Q: When will it be available for purchase?

A: Manufacturers of portable music devices and accessories will receive development kits within the next few months. Consumers can expect to see Jook enabled devices by the end of 2008.

Q: Which manufacturer(s) can I buy a Jook enabled device from?

A: Jook Inc. will be announcing our manufacturing partners at a later date, but rest assured that users will have a wide assortment of manufacturers and product lines to choose from.

Q: Do I need a separate battery for my Jook?

A: No, Jook draws a minimal amount of power from your music player and will not need a separate battery.

Quality of Transmission

Q: What is the range that I can pick up a broadcast at?

A: Jook has an operating range of 10 yards. This may be slightly affected by large objects such as walls, furniture, and other large obstructions.

Q: How is the sound quality?

A: The sound quality is completely lossless. This means that that a user will hear exactly what the broadcaster does i.e. if the broadcaster has a CD quality track, listeners will also hear the track in CD quality.

Q: Is there any delay or do I hear the song at the same time the broadcaster does?

A: There is no delay, users will hear the song in real-time and at the same time that the broadcaster does.

Q: What’s the lag or latency?

A: The latency for Jook is 20ms. As a comparison, most wireless speakers operate at a latency of 100ms.

Q: What’s the maximum number of users that can connect to one broadcaster?

A: An unlimited number of users can connect to any one broadcaster as long as they are in range.

Social Aspect

Q: What can I expect to see on my computer when I get home?

A: Once a user syncs their Jook with their home computer, the Jook software will display their profile, music library, who connected to listen to the broadcaster, what ratings listeners gave to certain songs (or the entire playlist of songs), as well as the profiles of who listened in.

Q: What else can I see in my profile?

A: A user’s profile will display any information that he or she would like to choose to share with listeners or broadcasters. This can be as much as the user’s MySpace profile, Flickr account, e-mail address and any personal information the user wishes to divulge, or as little as his or her user name.

Users can also see information about songs that they listened to via broadcasts. This will include the song title, album name, artist’s name, length of the song, what rating the user gave it, a timestamp of when the user heard it as well as other pertinent information about the song.

Miscellaneous

Q: What makes Jook different from Bluetooth or other bidirectional wireless and broadcast technologies?

A: Jook uses an encrypted wireless protocol that keeps your audio stream safe and lossless. Jook is a proprietary narrowband technology that is dedicated to audio. The Jook reference standard is more power efficient and requires no separate batteries, has no dropped signals and better latency when compared to Bluetooth transmitting audio.

Another defining factor is the social aspect of Jook. Jook is not just about broadcasting music, but meeting new people and sharing experiences and thoughts about music with one another. Jook’s lighting scheme will help encourage users to interact with one another and identify each other quickly and without hassle.

Jook will also store information about songs you hear, as well as personal ratings given by you and the broadcaster and his or her profile will allow you to reconnect with the broadcaster later.

Q: Do I need to upload anything on to my music player to make it work?

A: No, Jook is a separate device and does not change or manipulate your music player in any way other than to broadcast songs to those around you.

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and / or it's affiliate companies, registered in the United States or other countries. Actual products may differ from pictures. Patents pending.