Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.ibd From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Computer & Automation Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 13:26:44 EST Message-ID: <4.1992Nov19.132644@AmeriCast.com> 11/19/92 TITLE Computer & Automation Microsoft Collaboration With Intel To Speed Evolution Of Desktop Video Kathleen Doler In Mountain View, Calif. After years of experimentation by niche players, Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. last week#m#cq#m# announced a technology colla- boration and software that will move desktop video out of obscure applications and into mainstream personal computing. The tech- nology is embodied in a $199 software package from Microsoft called Video for Windows. The software lets users create, edit and play back video clips as a standard piece of any Windows ap- plication program. Of particular interest, the product is the first mainstream Computers & Automation program that enables Windows users to play video clips without first equipping their PCs with special add-in video boards. "One year ago, (using desktop video) was a very laborious process," said Andrew Grove, Intel's chief executive. "Today, it's some- thing anyone can use." Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates added that three elements - in- creasing PC processor power, innovative software and new stan- dards - are allowing Microsoft and Intel to "pull video into the mainstream and make it part of what the PC delivers." Video for Windows is able to automatically adjust to the power and capabil- ities of each computer system, so video sequences can be played back on any 386- or 486-based PC equipped with the Windows graph- ical interface and an add-in card for audio and hooked up to a videocasette recorder or CD-ROM player. If the PC includes a video card and a fast processor, Video for Windows will allow the user to "capture" the images - digitizing and compressing them so the computer can easily process them - as well as to edit the video and play it back at full motion across the entire screen. If the PC is based on a less powerful processor and doesn't con- tain a video card, video sequences can still be played back, but not captured or edited. And the video will be played more slowly on just a portion of the screen. Other Players Microsoft isn't alone in the market. Many smaller companies have been offering desktop video cards and software for several years, and now all three of the PC industry's operating system titans are jockeying for position in the market. Apple Computer Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and Microsoft are pushing hard to grab a chunk of the emerging market. Apple announced a product called QuickTime for Windows on the same day that Micro- soft unveiled Video for Windows, and IBM has been busy promoting its own desktop video and multimedia software solutions. QuickTime For Windows allows Windows users to play back and con- trol QuickTime movie files and compressed still images. Because Apple has been selling a version of the QuickTime software for the Macintosh since January, many software developers have al- ready embraced it and built QuickTime titles. Apple claims more than 300 QuickTime products are shipping. But unlike Video Micro- soft, Apple officials say desktop video is a primarily technology for software developers to use to improve their programs, not a retail product. The sure winner in the desktop video market is Intel. Portions of Microsoft's new product were licensed from In- tel and Fremont, Calif.-based Media Vision Inc., a pioneer in video boards and software. Intel's contribution is Indeo, its video compression- decompression software. Compression software is an important part of any video application. Without compres- sion, even extremely short video clips consume vast quantities of a computer's storage capacity. Intel's compression technology also has been licensed by Apple for use in QuickTime and by IBM for use in its desktop video software. Video board makers also are excited about the new attention the PC titans are bringing to their market. These are the companies that build the PC add-in boards that allow users to capture and manipulate video clips and edit them using Video for Windows or other software tools. Several board makers will bundle Video for Windows with their video boards. Among them are Intel, SuperMac Technology Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., and Creative Labs Inc. of Milpitas, Calif. Prices for these bundles start at around $500. Analysts say the entry of the large players into the desktop video market and their support for a single compression technolo- gy will help move the whole multimedia market forward. Mul- timedia applications combine standard microcomputer functions, such as text and graphics, with other inputs, such as video, sound and animation. "One of the problems with multimedia and desktop video is there have been fragmented standards developed by individual companies," explained Bill Higgs, an analyst with market researcher InfoCorp, Santa Clara, Calif. Analysts say desktop video will allow software developers to enhance existing business applications and provide the technology for building training software that can be used across a corporate network. Desktop video standards also give software developers the impetus to build new, creative multimedia software titles for use in edu- cation, entertainment and business. Video Memos Nick Arnet, president of Multimedia Computing Corp., a research firm in Cupertino, Calif., thinks desktop video will be used ex- tensively by companies as a way to improve communications between top management and the work force. With the software-only play- back capabilities of Video for Windows, "management now has the ability to create video memos and shoot them out across the net- work to all their employees," Arnet said. This article is copyright 1992 Investors Business Daily. Redis- tribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM