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Quicktime 6 Becoming Mobile-Phone Standard?
k-hell writes "It seems like Apple's QuickTime 6 is becoming standard on some 44 million Japanese mobile phones. Apple and many other companies are pressuring hard to make MPEG-4 the industry standard for video-on-demand services in 3G cellular networks, and to keep Microsoft and its proprietary Windows Media out of the mobile phones market."
OK, so on Micrsoft phones windows media will be the standard and on the other phones quicktime will be? Don't you just love standards?
Martin
See this link.
It's just sorenson that sucks (Unless you pay $$$ for a good encoder...),
Standards, don't you love them, there's so many to choose from!
/* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
MPEG-4 is the open standard that they're adopting. That Quicktime 6 has support for MPEG-4 is incidental, and not at all the core issue. After all, if the mobile phones actually supported Quicktime, they'd be able to play a lot more than just MPEG-4.
If anybody present knows of any currently issued or applied for patent that may be applied to the use of MPEG4 video over a mobile data link, speak NOW - or forever hold your peace.
I'm confused. Quicktime 6 or MPEG-4?
.
Is it just because QT happens to play MPEG-4 video as well QT video?
I believe both Windows Media Player and Quicktime 6 are perfectly able to play MPEG4, which is kindof the point of this story.
Let's see....Windows Media Player or QuickTime. Someone please say that there is a third option!!
.mov format that makes us install QuickTime to watch them?? Any chance on that one going out with the Unisys LZW pattent?
Is there a pattent or something on the
When will more hardware venders start waking up to the idea, that working with standard and open protocols will be the most profitable in the long term. Why pay someone like Microsoft millions when you can own your own or share instruction set for far less?
Who owns your data?
Not sure which is better, Quicktime player that crashes my phone half the time and nags me to pay to upgrade it everytime I make a phone call, or a Windows Media Player on my phone that updates itself with pyschedelic screen patterns, making it slower and slower each time...
Well after the Sony post my guess is that chrisd and timothy combined there brains, to become the ultimate lemming... No surprise.
This way we could have OGG for audio and MPEG4 for video. Current MEDIA processors are very advanced and low cost. So computation power wont be a bottleneck if a standard is evolved which uses both OGG and MPEG-4. M$ may be king in OS domain, but in the Chip and Digital entertainment industry its the likes of TI/Intel/ST etc which rule the roost... and they are going to push for all its worth.
In fact it is a very good thing. Normally hardware guys are not so touchy about software rights(most of the times) they are concerned with mostly selling hardware and if you buy hardware you get most software goodies for free.My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
Interesting thing about that MPEG4 'standard.' There isn't one. MPEG4 for mobile devices is a lot different than MPEG4 for desktop computers, which is a lot different than MPEG4 for the professional video market. With every new iteration of MPEG, there's some company trying to shoehorn their proprietary standard into it so they can collect money on their intellectual property in licensing fees.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, while these companies fight tooth-and-nail with each other to get every little piece of tech they can into each 'standard,' they're all hoping that Philips doesn't come along and price the technology out of a reasonable profit margin.
I'm biased in that I work for Xiph, but selling a technology based on 'If you don't buy our crap, Microsoft will own your asses' is not exactly a proper technical evaluation criterion. It's like saying, 'Please buy Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, or TWIX WILL RULE THE WORLD!'
This is technology, not a run for Student Council. Whatever happened to releasing better technology and pimping the hell out of it? Sigh.
Emmett Plant
CEO, Xiph.Org Foundation
Go get yourself some free music.
I'll take MPEG, thanks. Microsoft is out for obvious reasons and I can't stand Apple's free quicktime software for Windows.
People may hate microsoft, but at least their media player doesn't harass you to upgrade and pay money for something you don't want.
Don't act like apple is some kind champion of open standards or something, they've been trying to cram QuickTime down everyone throats for years... and while the format itself may be open, some of the codecs are not (Sorensen Anyone?).
A lot of my dislike of QuickTime has to do with their shitty, buggy, windows viewer program (after all this time it still can't do full screen, wtf!?). But in all seriousness I know my life would be a lot nicer if everyone used truly open, independent file formats and codecs.
Apple is just as guilty of playing the proprietary crap game in terms of video as Microsoft, if not more so.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Now I know how my dad felt. I understand wanting a video hookup to see the person you are talking to, but bikini girls on a 1.2 inch screen??? My dad described to me the first time he saw a kitchen garbage disposer. He thought to himself, "why would anyone want to put garbage in their kitchen sink?"
Damn I'm getting old.
The headline should be "3GPP Becoming Mobile-Phone Standard", and it's not all that surprising, but it's very good news for everyone (including RealNetworks, where I'm from). We've been doing a lot of work in the 3GPP, and it's great to see that work paying dividends. If you really want to find out what this stuff is about, look at the spec (and yes, I hate the fact that these are Word docs in zipfiles as much as anyone).
.mov, .mp4, and .3gp. DoCoMo's announcement was good news for 3GPP, and given the support throughout the Helix platform for 3GPP formats, codecs, and protocols, we view it as great news for the Helix Community.
Much of the confusion around this subject comes from a lack of understanding of the difference between
As another poster pointed out, only a piece of 3GPP is based on Quicktime is the container file format itself (the bit that says "here's a 3000 byte chunk of data with this 32bit codec identifier"). Another piece (the protocol) is based on work RealNetworks pioneered (RTSP). Moreover, the Helix DNA Client supports the 3GPP specification today.
RealNetworks added MPEG-4 and 3GPP support 10 months ago with the RealSystem Mobile Server (see press release),
and MPEG-4 support will be included in the Helix DNA Server when it is released in the near future.
As for the speculation about Apple releasing 3GPP encoding support, we would welcome them to the party. In early November we announced that a version of our Producer product for creating 3GPP content will ship in Q1 of 03. (see press release) Moreover, we offer our encoding framework as open source (and naturally open APIs) so that you can add support for whatever format you want to. We've given you a head start by implementing Ogg Vorbis support.
Again, the new phones sound great. Lots of new devices for Helix encoders and servers to work with.
Simple - Because QuickTime is the basis for the Mpeg-4 file format.
Why is QuickTime the basis for Mpeg-4?
Because it provides a far far richer way to describe a media file.
Personally, I like being able to keep subtitles as a text track embedded in a file, or make simple edits on gigs of source data, and send a 900k file containing the edits to a friend (who already has the source data) rather than have to render the whole sequence out to a flat file.
here :-) enjoy
all posted by chrisd. 1 out of 4 ain't bad. Well its better than the Bengals.
NZ Electronics Enthusiasts: Check out my Trade Me Listings
You might want to check your facts...
1) As has already been pointed out, they didn't choose Quicktime, they chose MPEG-4.
2) Windows load times are utterly irrelevant to this discussion since we're talking about mobile phones here.
3) The latest version of MPlayer for Linux will play Quicktime (or more accurately, the Sorenson 3 codec), as well as RealVideo9 and WMA9.
Regarding Ogg + MPEG-4 video. The licensing terms for MPEG-4 Video are pretty gnarly. How about Ogg and H.263+ (which, incidently, is what the 3GPP standardized on). That combination nearly works today in Helix DNA Client. We're already committed to making this available in our mainline products like RealOne Player and Helix Universal Server.
Wouldn't MPlayer be an equally strategic choice for handset manufacturers?
I'm wondering.
...
The I-Motion service mentioned in the second article is a video on demand service. What videos would users demand ?
The next paragraph tells us that 100K was the maximum size until now, which results to about 15 seconds of video. The new MP4 standard would allow around 400K or 45 seconds.
You might be able to download a weather report as a video, or the finish of an important car race or something, but I don't see the point of 45 seconds moveis. It's not like you can watch the newest movei on your cellphone (not that I want to) or the news (since that's a little to long)
Linux hosting for $2.50/mo
Maybe it's the trendy thing now among /. readers to see who can post the most dupes of other posts.... ?
;^)
jesus...
this was previously posted at 1:11 for anyone who missed it the first time around and wanted to karma whore the great link provided by the poster a full 23 minutes previously.
So you can run Quicktime on your random OSed cellphone, but not your Linux PC?
Why don't they support the "alternative" OS crowd yet? It's obviously not for technical reasons...
I can only presume Apple thinks Quicktime is so important that Linux users will "switch" to Mac just to just it.
Real Networks has open sourced some of its code, creating the Helix Community. Also, the Helix Server is able to stream RealVideo, Quicktime, Windows Media and MPEG-4 from a single server running on a Linux box! Try that with any other server.
Has anyone actually written a third-party app to access QuickTime?
This is probably not what you are looking for, but cycling 74's Max/MSP has had a number of built-in and external interfaces to quicktime available for years. Nato.0+55 was for years the drug of choice for artists wishing to control quicktime with musical or other input in a live performance context, but it has recently been supplanted by c74's own Jitter, an industrial-strength matrix math library which includes quicktime media and openGL control as part of the package. Both packages take full advantage of pretty much every feature of quicktime, include compositing, matrix transformations, and so on.
sure you can if you're logged in
(after all this time it still can't do full screen, wtf!?).
They make you upgrade to Quicktime Pro. The free player doesn't play full screen.
Can't you imagine the horrors that await you if RealNetworks gets placed on cell phones? Unless the phone comes with a Registry Editor, you couldn't pay me to use it.
I advised a colleague in Hong Kong to buy a digital camera with Mpeg4 video.
I said, "Yes, Mpeg4 is good. It's a standard supported by Real & QT, and is meant to be a standard format like MP3. Although MS WMP will not play them, as they have their own proprietary version of something similar."
So he bought the camera. It says Mpeg4 on it. And nothing will play the files except WMP. The file name extension isn't mp4. QT couldn't play it or import it. Real - which apparently will now play all the formats - won't play it either.
Looks like it's going to be a successful format - 2 incompatible formats using the same product moniker.
apple's version of mpeg4 also has proprietary shit and protocols wrapped around the mpeg4 stuff. in essence it's not really any more or less proprietary than the versions of windows media or real player that also use mpeg4 since none of them use a format that is just a raw mpeg4 stream. it's all in the proprietary delivery...
no shit sherlock?
which is EXACTLY why quicktime sucks on pc's.
it's the SAME GODDAMN CRAP as why realplayer sucks.
realone lets me at least fullscreen.. and the nasa tv servers that feed in real don't go down everytime there's something intresting..
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
What do you mean the windows viewer won't do full screen? I have 6.0.2 (the free download) and it does full screen just fine on my XP box.
A lot of people seem to dislike Quicktime, bashing it as slow, buggy or just not feeling right on the Windows platform... like it's kind of not meant to be there or something...
I fully understand these comments, QT on Windows is not too good (although I still prefer it to WMP). So it's so much more of a shame that on OSX QT is a totally different app - it works pretty damn well, and QT6 is fairly remarkably good. I have all three main media players on my Mac, WMP, RealOne, and QT, and you really do notice the difference when you are forced to use WMP or RO, buggy choppy playback now and then, nasty interfaces, streaming doesn't work as well, no instant on streaming etc.
Apparently QT is the number 1 downloaded media player, and this is great, but Apple should get the Windows port up to scratch, and show the Windows guys a little something about Apple's quality.
As for mobile phone related media - I think Apple saw this coming all along, I mean look at their recent courting of Sony Ericsson (sp?) at the Macworld expo, they had the CEO of the group up to talk, and exclusively showed off the T68i. I think Apple wants a piece of this market, and we'll be seeing them diversify more and more (as they have been doing very well recently at both ends of the scale, with the iPod and XServe, both new products in new areas for the company.).
This sig has been deprecated.
Really? Then what does Ctrl+F do?
I dont know about the windows player, but on the Mac you only get to do full screen when you purchase Quicktime Pro. Where you also unlock a plethera of other goodies.
chris at darkrock dot co dot uk
http colon slash slash www dot darkrock dot co dot uk
Incredibly off-topic, bot:
just have your cake and eat it
mplayer plays quicktime( even sorensen ), wma, mpeg4, realaudio, just about everything I've tried.. (Fink support missing) Fullscreen, scaled, whatever you wish. And no annoying startcenters, spyware, "register this", "buy the pro version", DRM or any other shit realplayer/quicktime/ms media player player try to stuff in our throat.
Still missing the fink support...
signatures pending - ansa@kos.to - (dont mail there)
Mpeg-4 is not QuickTime
:-)
Mpeg needed new spanky features, so they sought out a really good format. Many companies submitted their formats (Apple, Microsoft, Real, etc...).
Quicktime was the best. Mpeg chose QuickTime as the file format.
Think of a MPEG-4 file as being a quicktime file, but a QuickTime file is not a MPEG-4 file. (I just loved those logic classes in college too much.)
Quicktime 6 is a container format defined by Apple that might be used with a huge number of proprietary codecs, as well as a software infrastructure implementing multimedia encoding, decoding, and transport using that format; saying that something uses "Quicktime 6" doesn't tell you much about whether you can read it or not; it's like knowing that you can plug into a wall socket without knowing that the voltage is right.
MPEG4 generally refers to a specific bitstream based on a specific, standard set of codecs. Apple's Quicktime 6 happens to be able to represent MPEG4, but that's where the relationship ends. The difference between Quicktime 6 and MPEG4 is the difference between being able to encode and decode streams or not.
If phone manufacturers are actually using Quicktime 6, with multiple codecs and all, then that's a major victory for Apple and a major loss for open source and interoperability. If phone manufacturers are actually using MPEG4 but Apple calls it "Quicktime 6" for PR reasons, then that's a major PR victory for Apple, but it is hard to see what that kind of usage of MPEG4 has to do with Apple. In fact, a lot of video-based devices are already using MPEG4.
In fact, the NetworkWorldFusion article suggests that the latter is the case: NTT is switching specifically to MPEG4, not to Quicktime 6. And that's actually good.
The facts are : Apple never sabotaged other formats ont its platform, so yes, so far, Apple behave better than MS. Hands down.
You say Sorenson is proprietary. Sorenson is not Apple. Don't confuse. If open formats can't serve as platforms for proprietary ones, then they're useless. Quicktime bears both open and proprietary codecs. There lies its beauty, and the MPEG interest.
Buildind on MPEG, you can suit most of the particuliar needs... And a multi-proprietary PLUS open standard is a LOT better than strictly MS-only-owned one.
Apple has been quite aggressive with its quicktime technology. By choosing to host all major motion picture trailers, it has made a good move. I always go for the quicktime trailer rather than windows media trailer. I get to play (ffw and rwd) with my quicktime trailers, whereas for the windows media trailer, once it's looped it has to start from the beginning.
All players play mp3z these days. The why choose winamp over sonique? That's why, I think this article makes sense. I would be happier to see quicktime on my mobile, rather than MS.
|/________
|\A|ALYS|
Really? Then what does Ctrl+F do?
Not a thing.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
See, if MPEG-4 is the standard and Quicktime decoding and playing software will handle that then what we have is not only a winner for Apple but a winner for us all. Any ol Mom and Pop (or Hacker Bob) MPEG-4 player would work with these phones' video then. However if we are to replace the proprietary Windows Media format with the (by definition) proprietary Apple Quicktime media format then I fail to see how the consumer is benefiting. All I want is to for the industry to standardize on one format, thus allowing the software set to be much smaller while keeping said standard completely open, thus allowing anyone with any software that can read that format be happy and free of any legal or tort suit. If that happens then there is no problem, however if what happens is that you must have the Quicktime players (or perhaps an "Officially Approved by Apple" player) then we are back to square 1.
C'mon - I'd have to say that 80% of the time I download a QT piece I need yet another upgrade of QT itself. Currently I have 4 different versions of QT on my machine and each one has been upgraded or patched numerous times. This is unacceptable for a computer let alone a phone.
This isn't news. However, I'll bet confusion is stemming from the fact that the Quicktime *file format* was selected for the MPEG-4 standard. Take JPEG for example... JPEG speciifies encoding and decoding procedures, not what to do with the data. The standard (though I believe alternatives are emerging) file format for a JPEG encoded image is called JFIF. So, in the above instance, Apple created the file format (like JFIF), but not the codec standard (like JPEG).
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The QuickTime file format is open. Which means nothing because AVI and ASF are documented as well, and at least for AVI Microsoft doesn't want royalties.
MPEG-4 is covered by more patents than the International Space Station. How anyone can call this "open" is beyond me. Maybe it's "open" as in "open your wallet any pay up, damnit!!!"?
But then, I don't get how anyone would want to watch movies on one of those tiny displays knowing that the CPU will drain the batteries within minutes.
Judging from your use of profanity, I'm guessing that this is flamebait, but I'll go for it anyway.
I'd like to leave you with one final thought. Apple develops primarily for mac. Microsoft develops primarily for Windows. Quicktime for mac is less buggy, and fits better with the OS than its windows counterpart.
By the same token, WMP and RealPlayer seem to fit in better with Windows than Mac.
Since there seems to be so much confusion about Quicktime 6 and MPEG4.
.mov or .qt) is just a container. It has preferred codec. Think of it as the equivalent of .avi in Windows. In the past, it was common that the codec was some variant of Sorenson. Since Quicktime 6, the standard is ISO MPEG4.
.mp4 and be a Quicktime container file with AAC audio and ISO MPEG4 compatible video. These are all open, documented standards (even the Quicktime file format) that anyone can use assuming they're willing to license the patents, just like for MPEG1 and MPEG2.
Quicktime is not a codec, it's a framework. Much like DirectShow in Windows, it's the video conduit of MacOS.
Quicktime is also a file format. This file format (usually
"Quicktime files" can contain and of a myriad of codecs just like AVIs can. One of these is MPEG4, of which there are a plethora of partially compatible codecs, like DIVX, MS MPEG4, Xvid and ISO MPEG4.
The MPEG people have decided that the universal MPEG4 format should be called
Hope this clears this all up for those of you unwilling to do two seconds of research.
If you really want people like Texas Instruments to do something that would make a lot more sense, you would push for them to release an expanded line of DSP's and hardware that is container and codec agnostic. Demand more from your chips. Don't tell TI 'design a chip for MPEG-4,' tell them to stop making chips that require hideously expensive compilers and NDA's.
That looks sensible, but then you say:
I don't want TI to make chips that just support Ogg. I want TI to make chips that support stuff today, and give me at least a fighting chance on supporting tomorrow's Codec du Jour. People freak out if they buy a home computer that won't last them for a year.
I'm floored. Why don't you want TI to build Ogg chips? There's little in the electronics industry more general than a home computer, and you know that the reason most won't last for more than a year is a matter of abusive prorgraming by certian software vendors. Would'nt a little hardware support for patent free technology help fix things? While stuff like this is nice, would'nt it be great to have $2.00 OGG players hanging out in the toy section at Wal Mart? Is there something I don't know about those $2.00 MP3 players?
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
ah may I make a suggestion..
check facts..
Quicktime 6 Media does run on mobile phones.. at least one version..
How? The phones being described run Java JVMs..Java Media Frameworks can play quicktime media inlcuding mpeg 4
it snot the ap pthat runs on the phone but the java apps that play the qt6 media files including the streaming formats...
There already demos out in Japan...
Don't Tread on OpenSource
Hmmm... not so sure about this. Yesterday, I discovered that Quicktime Pro exports to all sorts of different file formats, but MPEG1 doesn't seem to be included. It's a real bummer since my coworkers are demanding MPEG1 video instead of MPEG4-type Quicktime videos.
I believe you are mistaken on this "fact" 1) As has already been pointed out, they didn't choose Quicktime, they chose MPEG-4.
They chose *both* they chose Quicktime as the player software. Apple is actually working with them to write the mobile phone version of the software - AND they are going to be using MPEG-4 as the codec.
Since when is quicktime non-proprietary?
You say this and a lot of other negative stuff about Apple:
A lot of my dislike of QuickTime has to do with their shitty, buggy, windows viewer program
What do you expect? It's windows, right? Try getting Media Player to behave. I'll spare you, it looks something like this. Broken OLE, poorly implemented file system, non implemented portable net graphics rendering, look at my advert, download my crap, ad nauseum (that's latin for party till you puke).
You don't work on libpr0n, do you? Nah, no one running win2k has a real clue, though you do seem to be catching on (if that's you) how painful sounding. Wait, this is you, "But in all seriousness I know my life would be a lot nicer if everyone used truly open, independent file formats and codecs." Bing, bing, bing, Gold Star for you.
Oh well, thanks for crapping on Apple. It's always nice to see a postive post, full of insight on how to make things work right. It's almost as good as a porn meta site that crams banner adverts accross real porn sites. To be fair, the ratings system is value added, but some people might get the impression you are simply pimping pimps. That's much better, however, than pimping M$ especially by simply crapping on everyone else.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Quicktime 6 Becoming Mobile-Phone Standard.
Now all they need is to somehow push users to watch films on their cellphones and then it should be profit.
Tat Tvam Asi
Some clever people have already thought about that.
--
"to keep Microsoft and its proprietary Windows Media out of the mobile phones market."
so instead we get apple and its proprietary Quicktime Media format.
I can play wma in dozens of different players, quicktime however only works in quicktime & that player is horrendous
Yep, you're right. What they definitely didn't choose, though, was the Quicktime player, which the original comment implied...
The Sorenson CODEC is not open because Sorenson doesn't want it to be. Once MPEG-4 is more established, I think we can expect to see a shift away from Sorenson in QT files.
As for full-screen, you can get it if you pay (I know, I know, paying for software is worse than eating babies, but suck it up).
Apple's 'proprietary crap' game is horrible, I agree. Everything they do, from opening the QT file specs up to releasing their streaming server as open-source has been totally anti-consumer. Even their support of MP3 (a very established file format, though not 'open') in the iPod has to be evil somehow, because, well, it just is, right? That ties in somehow with their anticompetetive use of MP3 in iTunes too. They've got to be up to SOMETHING!
Let's face it, Apple is a corporation trying to make money, but as corporations go, I think it's a pretty good one. They're not anti-competetive or anti-consumer. Of COURSE they want people to use their stuff instead of MS's, but that doesn't mean they're evil. If we have to have a dictator, let's have one that likes us, not one that regards us with contempt like Microsoft does.
--Dan
MPEG-4 is based on Apple's QuickTime.
.mov format as well as the new slightly different .3gp file format.
.mov files... which is exactly why I can't stand Quicktime, (10 mb download just to play movies...) And it is slow and a resource hog...
.mov player, maybe you can, but who has done it?)
Really? I though MPEG-4 was a video compression codec standard not a digital video player... Quicktime uses codecs like cinepak, Sorenson, etc... Quicktime itself is not a codec... what am I missing here?
Apple's decision to be MPEG-4-compliant gives it the strength...
This seems to be a contradiction... Cause it just said that MPEG-4 was based on Quicktime...
The modified QuickTime 6 that supports 3GPP, as yet unnamed, will output both the current
Maybe I am dumb, but how is this mpeg4 with Quicktim any better than mpeg4 with MS? The hosts are both proprietary...
It seems that no matter how you paint this, you still have to have Quicktime to play
I want video files I can play with what ever player I want. (and don't tell me you can make your own
-v
MPEG-4 is! Get off your high horse Apple, and take your stupid proprietary technology and go home!
God bless MPlayer!
The only reason they keep trying to add such technology to phones is so they can continue to rip you off with their charges. Do you really want to pay air-time rates to watch tiny tiny tiny movies?
Here in the UK the mobile phone companies need their clients to spend an average of £50 per month ($70-$80) just to allow them to recover from the enormous debts of the 3G licences they lumbered themselves with.
My bill is much less than that a month, and I really don't intend to use any gimicky technology they offer me to tempt me to pay them stupid amounts of cash.
"So this is what it feels like
Now I can capture an MPEG-4 sourced video stream and then name the file .mov or .qt and it will work great with QuickTime. This is in many ways superior to how I could take a MS Word document and after changing it to .wpd be able to play it in my older Word Perfect program. Hey! If anyone wants to grab some paint and join me, I will be painting my car gray and attaching some vertical and horizontal stabilizers and then it will be an F-18! YEEEEEHAAAAAW! Quick, find me the nearest aircraft carrier!
As is just about every major manufacturer of media player software, OSes, DVD players, cellular phones, and video cameras.
So... they've left themselves an escape route, at the very least. Or perhaps they're just prepared to "embrace, extend, and extinguish" yet another industry standard.
Linux, for when you want superior quicktime support. It still feels weird saying that.
Everything will be taken away from you.
I don't like Quicktime. However, I don't like it less than I don't like Windows Media Player, so go Quicktime!
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
...is that I just use it to *talk* to people, rather than watch videos, take photos, listen to MP3s, play games, control the space shuttle or whatever. Does this mean I'm no longer cool/geeky enough to visit /.?
You must think in Russian.
The writers of the articles that /. mentioned have no idea what they're talking about. QuickTime 6 is not being adopted as a mobile phone standard -- MPEG-4 (as part of 3GPP) is. The writers basically just copied Apple's spin.
For the no-B.S. story, see the DoCoMo and MPEG-4 and QuickTime (oh my?) story from last week.
stop your whinning, get a copy of the QT API and write a little java app (10 lines) to display your movie fullscreen.
FYI, AVI is a horrible container and only ASF v2 is openly documented by Microsoft. MS uses ASF v1 everywhere and to date I have not seen a ASF v2 file. Did you ever try to make a ASF v1 encoder? I doupt it as VirtualDub once allowed the export of ASF v1 files but they got a nasty letter from MS and had to discontinue the support.
I do support the Quicktme container (Apple got it right the first time) but (unfortunally) I also support MPEG-4. There is no way to get around the patents for video as they extend way too far. VP3 stinks compared to MPEG-4 and other codecs like WMV9 and RealVideo9 either suck and/or are closed tighter than the RIAA's fist on congress. I am giving lots of hope to Tarkin cause just maybe they might pull through with a codec that can compete. Best of luck to them.
As to your last point, people might want to watch a newscast or some other simple video service (a review of a game prehaps?) on thier phones. These services is where video on phones make sense.
For more information on QuickTime and its connection to MPEG4 follow these links.
Why QuickTime?
MPEG4
I have a website. It's about Macs.
Why are programmers non-productive?
Because their time is wasted in meetings.
Why are programmers rebellious?
Because the management interferes too much.
Why are the programmers resigning one by one?
Because they are burnt out.
Having worked for poor management, they no longer value their jobs.
-- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"
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