Live Nature -

What is Nature Phone?

The Nature Phone is a custom designed Internet appliance that will collect audio information from four 90 degree quadrants. It incorporates a small, low powered and light weight PC. The most important feature of this PC is that it does not have a fan that would interfere with the audio reception of the microphone array. The second most important feature is that this PC with USB sound adapters consumes only 45 Watts of power. This appliance is weatherized and is designed for outdoor use. It will provide high quality sound surveillance.

If the PC is powered with DC 12V, it will draw about 4.0 amps of power. If the PC is powered by the power adapter with AC 120V, it will draw about 0.4 amps of power. The AC adapter that comes with this PC will operate from 100 to AC 240V and will operate at 50Hz or 60Hz. 24 gauge copper wire in an enclosure is rated for 2.1 amps of current. In other words very small copper wire can be used to connect the AC power to this device.

360 Degree Microphone Array

The incorporation of the computer with the microphone array allows for extremely short connections between the analog microphones and the USB sound adapters. This short connect limits the amount of noise that can be introduced to the source signal before the analog signal is converted to digital. Once the surround sound signals are digitized, they are then compressed and streamed out of the PC via a LAN cable or wirelessly.

The operating system is Linux. All of the software required to have the Nature Phone function will be contained on a USB memory. This means there are no moving parts in the computer other then the power switch. The software is set-up so that the microphone array powers up as soon as power is applied. This will be a plug and play device that will not require a keyboard, mouse or display to operate. Code updates will be provided via a download over the internet.

The anticipated retail pricing for the complete 360 degree microphone Internet appliance will be $5999.00USD. Sound Source Providers for Live Nature Songs will be granted a 75% discount for providing sound data to the LNS website. (See the sound source providers section on this website for compensation allowances for providing a sound source.) The non discounted units will include the broadcast server address programmed to the location of the purchaser's preference.

The first Nature Phone is now functional. Sound Source Providers will always have shipping preference on available units. We will sell only one Nature Phone to a customer. Sales of more then one unit per customer will require a sales contract. Indicate interest at: lns@austin.rr.com