LOS ANGELES At the second-annual QuickTime Live! conference, Apple released public previews of QuickTime 5 and QuickTime Streaming Server 3, the next generations of Apples industry-leading software for creating, streaming and playing high-quality audio and video over the Internet.
QuickTime 5s many new innovations include an updated media player with a new QuickTime TV (QTV) network channel display and new audio controls; a new component downloader for adding plug-ins on the fly; and support for new web codecs including Macromedia Flash 4, Cubic VR and Shoutcast.
QuickTime 5, in combination with the new open-source QuickTime Streaming Server 3, offers Skip Protection, a collection of Apple-invented technologies that ensures a higher quality experience for watching and listening to Internet streams. Skip Protection protects against media skipping, or dropping frames, caused by the unpredictability of Internet transmissions.
QuickTime is the standard for Internet audio and video and is being used to deliver the latest in Internet content to millions of surfers around the world, said Philip Schiller, Apples vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. The new technologies in QuickTime 5 enable a new generation of web-based audio and video solutions delivered with greater reliability than ever before.
In addition to the updated media player, the new in-place component downloader and Skip Protection, QuickTime 5 also features: In addition to the updated media player, the new in-place component downloader and Skip Protection, QuickTime 5 also features:
- Hot Picks guide highlighting cool, new QuickTime TV content;
- support for Sorenson Video 3*;
- easy developer support for delivering new user interfaces, or skins*;
- an improved digital video codec for improved iMovie playback performance;and
- real-time professional video editing support for professional applications such as Apples Final Cut Pro.
Leading web developers whose technologies take advantage of the new component download feature include:
- DDD, which takes existing video and encodes it in 3-D for viewing with 3-D glasses;
- Pulse 3D, which provides playback of low-bandwidth 3D interactive animations;
- BeHere, which delivers 360-degree streaming and on-demand video;
- SealedMedia, which allows content developers to seal their media and set up digital rights
- management (DRM) solutions for streaming live or on-demand content;
- On2, which provides high-quality broadband video, encoding and playback; and
- iPIX, which makes virtual reality software that provides dynamic imaging solutions for creating 360-degree spherical images and movies.
Availability
The public previews of QuickTime 5 for the Macintosh and QuickTime Streaming Server 3 are available immediately for download from
www.apple.com/quicktime and
www.apple.com/quicktime/servers, respectively. The public preview of QuickTime 5 for Windows will be available by the end of the year. QuickTime 5 and QuickTime Streaming Server 3 will be available in early 2001.
On October 18, 2000, Apple Computer has instituted a hiring freeze as part of its effort to keep costs under control and address a number of operating problems.
Apple, which reported fourth quarter earnings that fell short of analysts' already reduced earnings, said that weakness in a number of key product areas contributed to the shortfall.
Although its quarterly revenues of US$1.87 billion came in exactly in line with forecasts, those forecasts had been reduced about US$180 million from earlier forecasts.
Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson said that more than US$90 million of the US$180 million revenue shortfall came from weak sales of its G4 Cube computer and another US$60 million of the shortfall resulted from disappointing education sales.
* Features expected to be available with the release of QuickTime 5 in 2001.
