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REDMOND, Wash. -- Jan. 7, 2003 -- Today Microsoft Corp. announced the immediate availability of Windows Media® 9 Series, the next-generation digital media platform that offers benefits for hardware and software vendors, the media and entertainment industry, consumers in the home, and organizations looking to communicate and train more effectively.

Microsoft also announced a new licensing program for Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series that enables device manufacturers and software developers to build high-quality digital audio and video features into a broader range of their products -- with longer terms and lower prices than those of other technologies such as MPEG-4 and MPEG-2.

Windows Media has been widely adopted by device manufacturers, software vendors and content providers, with more than 170 devices, hundreds of applications, and hundreds of thousands of popular songs and movies currently available supporting it. Today's release of Windows Media 9 Series and the new licensing program delivers on Microsoft's long-standing vision of enabling digital media everywhere. With innovations such as high-definition video at up to six times the resolution of DVD, the first 5.1-channel surround sound streaming audio, and a faster, more-televisionlike experience with media on the Web, Windows Media 9 Series provides dramatically improved media playback for all users and offers the most comprehensive platform features for hardware and software manufacturers, enabling them to build their own unique products and services.

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News source: Microsoft Presspass

"The unmatched audio and video quality of Windows Media 9 Series is now available under the most flexible and attractive license terms in the industry," said Will Poole, corporate vice president of the Windows New Media Platforms Division at Microsoft. "This combination of best-in-class technology and compelling licensing means the entire digital media ecosystem -- from lens to screen -- can grow and thrive more easily and cost effectively."

New Windows Media Licensing: Unleashing the Full Potential of Digital Media

The new licensing terms available today cover the following key components of the Windows Media Format:

• Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series codecs , which provide state-of-the-art audio- and video-compression technologies for digital media content


• Windows Media file container
  (also known as the Advanced Systems Format, or ASF), which enables digital content to be both stored and delivered over a wide variety of networks


• Windows Media streaming protocols , which enable playback of streamed content

The terms enable licensees to develop implementations of Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series codecs in a wide range of environments, including hardware devices and non-Windows® -based computers, and to include the Windows Media codecs in their products in any file container and at costs significantly lower than for other technologies, such as MPEG-4 and MPEG-2. For example, unit pricing for Windows Media Video 9 (WMV 9) on devices and non-Windows platforms is 10 cents per decoder, 20 cents per encoder and 25 cents for both encoder/decoder. By comparison, MPEG-4 video is more expensive, with a unit price for decoder, encoder and encoder/decoder licensing of 25 cents, 25 cents and 50 cents, respectively. There is also a significant content use fee for MPEG-4, while there are no content use fees for the Windows Media Audio and Video codecs.

The duration of the licenses has been extended so they provide an optimal match for the planning, design, release and support cycles of manufacturers in the consumer electronics industry. Microsoft also committed to maintain backward compatibility to help ensure that content created using future versions of the audio and video codecs will play back in earlier generations of devices, yet still deliver the additional quality improvements offered by the new codecs.

By enabling the use of Windows Media codecs independently of ASF, software vendors that support encoding, editing or playing back content in containers such as AVI or MPEG can quickly and easily include support for the superior compression of Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series in their applications.

In addition, software vendors that develop applications on non-Windows-based platforms now have the option of licensing the Windows Media codecs to build high-quality digital media encoding and playback support into their products. This will allow them to extend the reach of their Windows Media-based solutions and increase the interoperability of their products.

For several years Microsoft has led the industry in offering proven, flexible digital rights management technology to enable new business models and a fair exchange of value between consumers and content owners. Microsoft is also offering DRM licensing on similar terms to the new Windows Media licensing program, either for use in conjunction with the Windows Media Format components or independently, for consumer electronic devices.