|
ISO picks Apple standard
|
 |
February 11, 1998: 9:57 a.m. ET
QuickTime selected as standard for emerging MPEG-4 digital technology
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The International Organization for Standardization said Wednesday that it adopted a joint proposal to make Apple Computer Inc.'s QuickTime file format as the basis for the new MPEG-4 development.
The ISO is a non-governmental international organization that tries to reach a consensus among businesses about adopting technology standards.
MPEG-4 is an emerging digital media standard being defined by ISO's Moving Pictures Experts Group (hence the name MPEG) that eventually will allow users to view and manipulate audio and video digitally.
A consortium of groups including Netscape Communications Corp. (NSCP), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) put forward a proposal urging the ISO to make Apple's (AAPL) QuickTime the starting point for MPEG-4.
QuickTime is a software architecture developed by Apple that allows users to work with a variety of digital media formats.
The group contended that QuickTime best allows video and audio streaming across different network protocols and is flexible as a file format.
Additionally, it said QuickTime already is widely used among computer professionals.
The ISO and the participating companies said they now will work with other technology and industry interests to further refine the specification and move toward greater market acceptance for MPEG-4.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
