Microsoft to release Web audio, video improvements

NEW YORK: Software titan Microsoft Corp is releasing several Internet audio

and video improvements that highlight a new race to exploit faster

communications and pocket-sized devices, the Wall Street Journal reported in its

electronic edition Tuesday.

The product rollout represents continuing pressure by Microsoft on rival

RealNetworks Inc., the paper noted.

At a trade show in San Jose, Calif., Microsoft president Steve Ballmer will

demonstrate an updated version of its Windows Media technology on Tuesday, the

paper said.

The company says the updated technology approaches the image quality of

digital-videodisk (DVD) movies at a transmission speed of 500 kilobits per

second, which is available to some subscribers to broadband communication

services, the paper said.

The company says the development will make video-on-demand services more

feasible for millions of homes, according to the report.

Microsoft said the latest Windows Media Video and Audio 8 software can store

high-quality audio recordings in about a third of the file space typically used

by the popular MP3 format and can be downloaded 60 per cent faster, the paper

said.

Ballmer also is expected to demonstrate multimedia features of its

forthcoming Whistler operating system as well as a wireless service, the paper

said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.