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Tuesday, January 14, 2024 12:33 PM PST - Digest Weeks 1-2, 2003
Dear MPEG-4 News Reader,
After a brief absence, the MPEG-4 News Digest returns to your inbox, following popular demand.
A late Happy New Year.
I have never in the past announced that "this is the year of MPEG-4" and I won't do so now, but CES has surely provided us with an exciting preview of the many innovative MPEG-4 products that are being launched.
Indeed, there has been a lot of MPEG-4 news recently, mostly related to CES. The Microsoft/MPEG-4 licensing news has received attention (more about that below), but much more importantly, many devices were announced with MPEG-4 support. These devices underscore exactly what MPEG-4 was designed to be: a platform-independent representation of multimedia content, supporting multimedia 'convergence' in the form that MPEG predicted it to take place. Not one device and one network, but many devices and many types of connections and content being able to move from mobile devices to personal computers, consumer electronics and home server. This is the central vision behind MPEG-4's architecture, and MPEG-4 is at the heart of the 'convergence' that is now beginning to unfold.
Then still a bit about Licensing. Several news reports have compared Microsoft's license for the Windows Media 9 codecs to the licenses offered by MPEG LA (MPEG-4 Visual) and Via Licensing (MPEG-4 AAC). Hardly anyone noted that Microsoft offers a technology license while MPEG LA and Via Licensing offer patent licenses. The difference is obviously relevant.
That said, while MPEG-4 is a great standard, that needs to prove itself in a competitive market. Although there is no single alternative to MPEG-4, there are alternatives in the majority of MPEG-4's individual markets. Witnessed by its latest meeting resolutions, M4IF is still concerned about the complexity of the visual license and the use fee in specific environments (e.g., asking the same use fee for an add-supported non-profit site as for high-valued, money-making DVD content raises questions.)
But let's not forget that the licenses (both patent and technology licenses) are only a part of the equation, only a part of the cost of providing services and products. There is great value in the use of open standards. MPEG-4 offers an integrated approach to the representation of audio, video, graphics, text, synthetic content, and includes an interaction and application engine. No single other framework offers this level of functionality. What this all comes down to is that the licenses need to be reasonable, allowing the building of products and services that can compete in the market.
As there are so many links, I will provide them without comments this time.
Best Regards,
Rob Koenen
President, M4IF
MPEG-4 News
- Samsung's MiniDV / 4 mp stills 'Duocam' [DP Review, 11 Jan
03]
- Smaller, slicker, smarter gadgets [Financial Post, 11 Jan
03]
- Glaser: Open Source Is the Answer to the DRM Question
[ExtremeTech, 10 Jan 03]
- National displays nexgen Geode processor [Silicon
Strategies, 10 Jan 03]
- Sigma Tunes Into HDTV with Decoder Chips
[siliconvalley.internet, 10 Jan 03]
- Microsoft Challenges MPEG LA With Release of Media 9 Series
[e-inSite, 10 Jan 03]
- Samsung’s Digital Camcorder, Home Theater System Win CES
Awards [Korean Times, 10 Jan 03]
- Sony unveils new 1G-byte Memory Stick format [IDG News
Service, 10 Jan 03]
- Toshiba unveils new DVD players, prototypes [IDG, 10 Jan
03]
- Gadgets get the good times rolling [Guardian Unlimited, 10
Jan 03]
- DVD Drive
Manufacturer Met to Show Cirrus Logic DVD Recorder Platform At CES [Yahoo,
10 Jan 03]
- Claims to first MPEG-4 chip for HDTV [Electronics News, 10
Jan 03]
- A835 - The
new 3G phone from Motorola that streams MPEG-4 [Infosync, 09 Jan
03]
- Real's
DRM secures media in multiple formats [IDG News Service, 09 Jan
03]
- CES: Intel, Microsoft pitch portal video player [InfoWorld,
09 Jan 03]
- Panasonic Launches Tiny A/V Recorder [ExtremeTech, 09 Jan
03]
- Emuzed unveils
Series 60 video application [PMN Publications, 09 Jan 03]
- Sony announces
advanced new CLIE [PMN Publications, 09 Jan 03]
- MPEG-4 backers
protest Microsoft license [News.com, 09 Jan 03]
- New HDTV Decoder Chips Feature MPEG-4 Capabilities
[e-inSITE, 09 Jan 03]
- Apple releases QuickTime 6.1 [MacCentral, 09 Jan
03]
- Automated Avatars Take the Strain Out of Animation [NY
Times, 09 Jan 03]
- D-Link Introduces Real Video Conferencing for the Masses [PC
Magazine, 09 Jan 03]
- RealNetworks Unveils DRM for MPEG-4, MP3 [InternetNews.com,
09 Jan 03]
- Video Over Radio? Yes, They're Sirius [ExtremeTech, 08 Jan
03]
- S3
Graphics Dives Back Into (DirectX 9) Display Arena [earthweb, 08 Jan
03]
- RealNetworks
eases rights management [CNET, 08 Jan 03]
- Microsoft Pits Windows Media 9 Vs. MPEG-4 [InternetNews, 07
Jan 03]
- Samsung plans
camcorder phone [ZDNet, 07 Jan 03]
- Stepping through the processing requirements for MPEG-4
[EETimes, 07 Jan 03]
- Emerging H.264 standard supports broadcast video encoding
[EETimes, 07 Jan 03]
- MS takes
digital media beyond Windows [ZDNet, 07 Jan 03]
- Web Radio Interview with M4IF President: MPEG-4 Developments
[Streaming Media, 06 Jan 03]
- DSP algorithms up the beat in in consumer electronics
[EETimes, 06 Jan 03]
- Real-Time High Definition H.264 Decoder to Take CES Bows
[e-inSITE, 06 Jan 03]
- Samsung Set to Unveil Video Cell Phones [PCWorld, 06 Jan
03]
- Apple banks on
digital media harvest [News.com, 06 Jan 03]
- Cirrus and LSI Logic unveil SoCs to lower system costs
[ebnOnline, 06 Jan 03]
- New video coding standard delivers major advances in image
quality in 3G wireless [3GNewsroom, 04 Jan 03]
- New codec
due for MPEG-4 video, DVD [ComputerUser, 01 Jan 03]
- NTT
DoCoMo dumps Microsoft for open MP4 format [IDG, 18 Dec 02]
MPEG-4 Press Releases
- ESS
Technology Offers Innovative Digital Home Products to Enable ... [ESS
Technology, 09 Jan 03]
- Sharp Showcases High-Tech/High-Style Products at 2003 Consumer
Electronics Show [Sharp, 09 Jan 03]
- iVAST Challenges Microsoft to Work in the Best Interest of
Consumers [iVAST, 09 Jan 03]
- Cirrus
Logic Drives New Mustek DVD Recorder At CES [Cirrus Logic, 09 Jan
03]
- Samsung Electronics Introduces ITCAM-7 - The World's First HDD
Digital Camcorder ... [Samsung, 09 Jan 03]
- Samsung's New SCD5000: Complete MiniDV Camcorder & Digital
Still Camera in One Device [Samsung, 09 Jan 03]
- Intel, Major CE Companies To Bring 'Portable Media Players' To
Market [Intel, 09 Jan 03]
- DivXNetworks Partners With Freecom Technologies, Sigma Designs
to Create ... [Sigma Designs, 09 Jan 03]
- CES will preview Archos' latest technology innovations for
2003. [Archos, 08 Jan 03]
- Cirrus
Takes Aim at Digital Video Recording Leadership ... [Cirrus Logic, 08 Jan
03]
- e.Digital: New OEM Solution For Multi-Codec High Definition
Video Devices [e.Digital, 08 Jan 03]
- Industry's First HDTV Decoder Chips with MPEG-4 Launched by
Sigma Designs [Sigma Designs, 08 Jan 03]
- Apple Unveils Final Cut Express [Apple Computer, 07 Jan
03]
- Sorenson Media Showcases New Mac OS X-Compatible Video Encoding
Tools [Sorenson, 06 Jan 03]
- Seagate Consumer Electronics Expert Gives Keynote at
Entertainment Storage Conference [M4IF, 06 Jan 03]
MPEG-4 Events
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