SAN JOSE - Steve Ballmer kicked off the Streaming Media West event here Tuesday, outlining Microsoft's next generation of media software applications. Ballmer, Microsoft president and CEO, touched on the important role he believes media will play in keeping the PC central to consumer and corporate computing.
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"The digital media phenomenon is one of the engines that will fuel increased activity and excitement around the personal computer," he said during the event's opening speech.
Microsoft's Windows Media Audio and Video 8 are key to Microsoft's entertainment and media services plan. Ballmer showcased features in the Media Player 8 beta - due out with the operating system codenamed "Whistler" at the end of next year - such as a file format that allows users to store more compressed media files. Ballmer claimed the new format allows users to store three times as much music as the current MP3 file format.
Ballmer also highlighted a deal with Japan's NTT DoCoMo in which NTT will deliver Windows Media over wireless devices. NTT's Eggy device made an appearance on stage as one example of the Media Audio and Video player in the real world. Eggy allows a user to wirelessly watch videos and to film video clips via a camera mounted on the wireless device. Eggy started shipping in Japan last week and should arrive in the U.S. in 1 to 2 years.
Ballmer showed a number of features built into the Whistler operating system that are aimed at taking the media application to the next level. The new version of the media player should bring near-DVD-quality movies over less bandwidth than current applications, as well as a number of Internet-enabled features for content.
"Two years ago we were at Version 4, and now we are at Version 8," Ballmer said. "I guess this industry is moving pretty quickly."
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