Unlike most other portable media players on the market, the device will play EPAC files instead of MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3) files, the companies said.

CNN: Lucent's digital music player to challenge MP3

MP3.com in the past six months has gained notoriety as a proponent of MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3), a format for compressing audio data so that it can be downloaded easily over a network.

CNN: Digital grunge? MP3.com adds indie record label to roster

Each layer offers a small slice of your personality to each group, leaving only close friends and family members to really understand us.

FORBES: American Business Needs To Shed Its Paper Tiger Reputation

Now the group questioned whether adding GAIA as an additional layer to the qualifications for Earthwards would raise the bar for other products competing for the recognition.

FORBES: Diving Deeper: How High Should We Set the Bar?

On its second quarter call, GE announced its plans to streamline its energy group by dividing it into three distinct activities and eliminating a complete layer of management at the top.

FORBES: GE's Immelt: Natural Gas Now Much Cheaper Than Nuclear

Their Helicon Double Layer Thruster uses radio waves to ionise one of the inert, or noble gases - a group which includes krypton, xenon and argon.

BBC: Glow from argon plasma. Image: LPTP, Ecole Polytechnique

Tort lawyers and the advocacy group Public Citizen say there's nothing wrong with letting state law provide a second layer of protection for consumers.

FORBES: Can you sue a company for a product the feds approved?