``According to Wencor, its purchase of IMS is the subject of a letter of intent and should be finalised in September. APS and IMS will then be merged into a single entity.

The Wencor announcement raises many more questions than it answers, starting with how one product range will accommodate both digEplayer and the more capable but physically similar PEA. Informed sources suggest that there will probably be three product lines differentiated by screen size – 7in, 8.9in and 10.4in – and functionality. If that proves to be the case, today’s digEplayer and PEA identities could soon be a thing of the past.

Other questions relate to the application of PEA technology to the semi-embedded digEsystem, currently in development, and the continuing involvement, if any, of eDigital, the Californian company originally responsible for the industrial design of digEplayer.``