Microsoft Brands Corona, Announces Launch Date
July 15th, 2002, 11:58 PM ET
By: Nate Mook, BetaNews
Story URL: http://www.betanews.com/article.php3?sid=1026791919

Microsoft on Monday announced that its next-generation digital media
platform, code-named Corona, would go by the official moniker Windows
Media 9 Series. A public beta release, including new audio and video
compression, a streaming server, a new encoder and software development
kit will be released September 4 at a launch event in Los Angeles.

"Digital media has the potential to redefine the possibilities for new
experiences and services over the Internet, in the living room and in
companies around the world," said Microsoft's vice president of the
Windows Digital Media Division, Will Poole. "Windows Media 9 Series is
designed to deliver the major step forward in functionality and
performance the industry needs to realize this potential."

Microsoft will follow up the beta launch with a two-day conference to
promote development with Windows Media 9 Series. According to Microsoft,
the "Windows Media 9 Series Technical Summit will provide content
producers, IT professionals and application developers with an
opportunity to learn in depth about the dramatic improvements and new
opportunities offered by the Windows Media 9 Series platform."

The news from Redmond comes as Apple releases an updated QuickTime
platform before Macworld begins Wednesday. QuickTime 6 supports full
MPEG-4 playback and authoring, in addition to a new streaming standard
promising instant-on capabilities.


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