REDMOND, Wash., and LUND, Sweden, March 21, 2001 — Microsoft Corp. and Ericsson today announced they will unveil their first step in integrating Microsoft® Windows Media™
Audio and Video support on Ericsson handsets tomorrow at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, Germany. Ericsson will demonstrate for the first time an Ericsson prototype, which when added to the R520 handset can play back personal music collections and streamed Internet radio using Windows Media Audio. The prototype is being demonstrated at Ericsson’s exhibition area at CeBIT (hall 26, stand 68) and illustrates the rapid progress both companies have made in collaborating to bring richer media experiences for consumers to the mobile Internet.
“Multimedia and streaming services are key mobile Internet applications that will further strengthen Ericsson’s mobile Internet offering,”
said Anders Torstensson, vice president and general manager for the GSM and UMTS business unit at Ericsson.
“This collaboration as well as our ongoing standardization efforts carried out in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) around wireless multimedia, illustrates Ericsson’s commitment to offering richer digital multimedia experiences for our mobile phone customers.”
“Microsoft and Ericsson share a vision of delivering digital media to our customers any time, any place and on any device,”
said Will Poole, vice president of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft.
“Ericsson’s selection of the high-quality audio and integrated Digital Rights Management of Windows Media will give Ericsson customers access to vast amounts of existing Internet digital media content already available from some of the leading content providers worldwide.”
Ericsson has a history of driving industry standards, such as Bluetooth, and is active in the ongoing standardization efforts carried out in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) regarding wireless multimedia. The collaboration around Windows Media will bring a vast amount of information and entertainment content to Ericsson phone users and also offer operators the opportunity to generate traffic in their high-capacity networks.
As wireless networks throughout the world are upgraded to enable the delivery of high-speed, two-way data, customers will be able to access new wireless digital media services using wireless handsets. These new mobile Internet-based services will enable consumers to send and receive personal digital audio and video, access downloaded and streamed digital music, Internet radio, and short-subject video clips such as movie trailers, news clips, financial information and even weather reports. Japanese consumers connected to 2G networks are already using Windows Media for watching and sharing video today.
Windows Media delivers the highest-quality audio and video at any bandwidth and hits critical thresholds for wireless delivery. The Windows Media Audio 8 beta release, announced in December 2000, delivers FM-quality audio and can achieve near-CD-quality downloaded music in files nearly one-third the size of an MP3 file. The Windows Media Video 8 beta version, also announced in December, will enable delivery of the highest-quality mobile video experience, offering the same high-quality video in a file or bandwidth that is nearly 50 percent smaller than other video compression technologies. This is ideally suited for the GPRS networks being built today in Europe, Asia and the United States as well as networks upgraded to the third-generation (i.e., UMTS) standard. The Windows Media Video 8 beta delivers near-VHS-quality video at rates as low as 250 Kbps and near-DVD-quality video at rates as low as 500 Kbps.
About Ericsson
Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and the Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. More information about Ericsson is available at http://www.ericsson.com/pressroom/ .
About Windows Media
Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing unmatched audio and video quality to consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations. Windows Media offers the industry’s only integrated rights-management solution and the most scalable and reliable streaming technology tested by independent labs. Windows Media Technologies includes Windows Media Player for consumers, Windows Media Services for servers, Windows Media Tools for content creation, and the Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK) for software developers. Windows Media Player, available in 26 languages, is the fastest-growing media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies 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.
Microsoft and Windows Media are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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