As some have pointed out, mp3 is still the safest consumer audio compression technology, simply because it is so pervasive. It was developed and licensed as a technology to be used, and not as a cash cow, and that's why it only cost MS $16M to use outright, as opposed to Alcatel's troll award of $1.5Billion! Fraunhofer and the other companies that helped pushedthe standard forrward into application deserved to reap some reward from their efforts, and now the money grubbers have come out of the woodwork to try and glom a little cash - such as Alcatel, Texas mp3 et al. But if we switch to Ogg Vorbis, you can bet your ar** that someone will rise up and claim some sort of IP rights to some element inside that technology. Fight the patent trolls, and support the reasonable licensing of IP!! You are deluded if you think people will develop technolog yforever with no reward, so it's all about managing the rewards reasonably.

Way I understand it: the loss of Film Grain is one of the "casualities" of the compresion process. The H.264 codec allows for better compression quality, thus we get our films downloaded faster, more on a DVD, etc...However, when you see the Compressed film, it looks much "softer". Now, some people don't care about that smoother softer look, and in fact, as some baove say, it is preferable to some. However, some people want to see the film with a certain "look" that just feels more like classic film look, and that is what this technology does, it returns what HAD to be stripped out (the original grain), without making the file size so much larger. By including it in players, this gives filmmakers who want to include the grainy texture the security of knowing there is way to embrace new compression technology but still offer their film as they wish it to be seen, and it gives consumers the opportunity to select that option, if they so choose - sort of like Dolby Surround sound does for audio...I think my read on this is accurate, but if anyone knows better, let me know.

To answer Lenny - wha?: THe Sonos is a remote control/wireless music hub point system for the home. The Lyra is - if I understood it right - a mobile set-top-box. Your comment is like suggesting that the new Bentley is like the new Segway...