 |
| New
technology halves the download time and size of MP3
files, according to MS ------------------- By Connie Guglielmo, Interactive Week |
|
| New
technology halves the download time and size of MP3
files, according to MS ------------------- By Connie Guglielmo, Interactive Week |
Microsoft announced plans to help accelerate the
market for digital music distribution over the Internet, claiming
Tuesday it developed new compression technology that cuts in half
the download time and file sizes of music being distributed today
in the popular MP3 format.
Jim Allchin, Microsoft senior vice president served as the master
of ceremonies, playing guitar on stage after introducing the beta
version of Windows Media Technologies 4.0, which will be released
in final form later this year. An update of the companys
cross-platform audio and video player, which Microsoft said in
now in the hands of 35 million users, WMT 4.0 supports new
compression technology, code-named MSAudio, that enables artists
and record labels to deliver FM-stereo-quality, streaming audio
to users at even low-end, 28-kilobit per-second bandwidth
connections.
Microsoft promises it can deliver music files that are half the
size of the 128K MP3 tracks being exchanged across the WWW today
- without compromising audio quality.