REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 10, 1999 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of the Microsoft® Windows Media TM Device Manager (WMDM), a new Windows® technology to manage and transfer secure digital media for hardware manufacturers and independent software vendors (ISVs). The Windows Media Device Manager gives manufacturers and developers a standard way to transfer secure digital media on portable music devices, PC applications such as digital music jukebox applications, and storage media such as flash memory cards. This new Windows technology also creates a standard way for a wide range products to become Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI)-capable, with integrated digital rights management.
The Windows Media Device Manager has rapidly gathered significant industry support from a wide range of hardware manufacturers and software vendors, including the following:
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Portable audio device manufacturers. Creative Labs Inc.; DB Tech; Diamond Multimedia, a division of S3 Inc.; DnCTech Inc.; I-JAM Multimedia Corp.; Kenwood; Kobe Steel (Kobelco); LG Electronics Inc.; Saehan Information Systems; Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.; and Thomson Consumer Electronics.
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Portable media storage. Iomega Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Sandisk and Toshiba
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Application developers. Audible, MusicMatch, RioPort, Sharp, Sonic Foundry and Toshiba
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Semiconductor manufacturing. Cirrus Logic
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Digital rights services. Reciprocal
“Windows Media Device Manager is a significant step in realizing the full promise of the digital media revolution,”
said Jim Allchin, senior vice president, Platforms Group, Microsoft.
“Adding this core technology for media transfer and rights management illustrates how Windows continues to evolve to meet the needs of the industry and consumers.”
Currently, companies must develop custom software interfaces to transfer digital media and integrate digital rights protection in their products. Just as Windows introduced a common printer driver model, WMDM adds a common Windows interface for the transfer of digital media and rights management. This standard interface in Windows for transferring media and maintaining security reduces development time and costs for the industry, helping to speed SDMI-capable devices and applications to market. WMDM also adds the flexibility to evolve with changing technologies and updates to SDMI guidelines.
“RioPort is the first application to support the Microsoft WMDM and reflects our goal of an open architecture for secure digital music transfer that includes seamless integration of platforms, software applications and a variety of external playback devices,”
said David Watkins, president of RioPort Inc.
Availability
Windows Media Device Manager, a component of the Windows Media SDK also announced today, is available for immediate download at the MSDN TM Online Windows Media Developer Center Web site, http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/ .
About Windows Media Technologies
Windows Media Technologies is the leading digital media platform that provides consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations with
unmatched audio and video quality. Windows Media Technologies 4, which includes Windows Media Player, Windows Media Services, Windows Media Tools and the Windows Media SDK, is available for free* download at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/ . More than 40 million copies of the free* Windows Media Player have been downloaded to date – and this number grows by more than one every second.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.
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