Werner Terreblanche wrote:

> <excerpt>
> Hi all  I have built myself a home phone management  system
> based on a PIC16C56. I would like to add an answering machine to it. I
> don't want to get involved with tape mechanisms and such and so I have
> decided  on a solid state solution. I wonder if anyone knows of a single
> chip solid state  answering machine. I imagine there must be some very
> cheap ones out there as  full digital answering machines with up to 15
> minutes message time sell for as  low as $AU70. I am looking for the
> cheapest solution with the simplest interface  for a PIC.  Thanks in
> advance.
> </excerpt>
>
> Unfortunately I'm not writing to provide an answer to your question, but
> it reminded me of my wishlist for a technology I'm sure will be with us
> within the next year or so, and I was wondering if there was someone on
> the piclist who had some more info about this...
>
> My wishlist is namely that we will sometime soon see a realtime MPEG3
> (MP3) decoder/encoder chip.  I have hundreds of redundant 1Mb Eproms
> lying in my attic just waiting for the right project.  And I believe
> that when the first small MP3 decoder chips becomes available, we
> piclisters will be able to make terrific CD quality speech boards
> cheaply and that is my main reason for still keeping all those EPROMS.
> :)
>
> So does anybody know if there is alreay a single chip MP3 decoder
> available on the market or if any such a device is on the design boards
> somewhere and when it will be available?  I just know its bound to
> happen sooner or later... I just wish they would hurry up with the
> technology!  ;)

It is already available.  A collegue of mine is playing with one.

--
Friendly Regards

Tjaart van der Walt
mailto:tjaart@wasp.co.za

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