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Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) release of a preview version of its QuickTime 7 Player and QuickTime 7 Pro streaming solutions for Windows at the company's World Wide Developers' Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco last week, promises to keep the company on track as the leading provider of streaming media solutions.
Both releases are expected to highlight stronger, standardized streaming for high definition (HD) video on the Windows platform.
Keeping QuickTime Ahead
Gartner (NYSE: IT) analyst Mike McGuire told MacNewsWorld the new QuickTime technology has some interesting new features, such as the ability for content developers to customize content with the "skin" of their choice.
McGuire also said Apple has positioned itself well with its advanced streaming technology. Users, he said, are both increasing their broadband connectivity and showing more willingness and desire to stream content, as opposed to downloading it.
"That notion of increased streaming and control is crucial," he said. "Keeping QuickTime at the forefront is going to be important for [Apple]. Evolving the platform is very important to them."
Personalized and Portable
McGuire pointed out that the better control tools of QuickTime would help drive the value of the platform, in light of surveys indicating users are also interested in a more active experience than they have had in the past.
"There's going to be more and more content available through the Web and there's going to be a lot of streaming," he said.
The analyst observed there are more MPEG-4 standard devices coming to the market, but when considering the link to "portable stuff," Apple's technology is especially compelling.
"QuickTime in a mobile phone is pretty interesting," McGuire said.
Leader of the Pack
Apple says its QuickTime software, with nearly one billion downloads, is the industry's first mainstream and most standardized solution for developing, producing and delivering audio and video by streaming it over IP, wireless or broadband networks. The company's new H.264 video codec technology can deliver video for mobile devices, video conferencing, HD broadcasts or DVDs.
"By utilizing the superb H.264 codec to deliver gorgeous video content, QuickTime 7 will change the way users experience video on their computers, mobile phones and televisions," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a statement released last week.
Improved Features
Touting features of the new software, the company highlighted support for playing as many as 24 channels of audio, and new and improved playback controls such as jog shuttle and variable speed options. For QuickTime 7 Pro, Apple said the H.264 encoding would allow easy creation of "pristine video for any use, from 3G [third-generation wireless] to HD and everything in between."
Apple also said the Pro version of its streaming software will provide full-screen controls for easy access to player controls in full-screen mode, background exporting and new settings for easier movie authoring.
The company said QuickTime's standards support would give a range of mobile operators the ability to use the hardware and software-based mobile streaming solutions without the cost and complexity of "multiple proprietary technologies."
Apple is providing a free download of the QuickTime 7 Player and charging US$29.99 for QuickTime 7 Pro for Windows at its Web site. The company has indicated final versions of the software will be available this summer.
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