SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Dolby Laboratories Inc. announced that Windows 7 will support Dolby Digital Plus to offer high-quality multichannel audio.
Available on the Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions, Dolby Digital Plus will deliver home theater-quality audio to the PC, improving the listening experience of music, movies, or videos.
The next generation of Dolby Digital, the multichannel audio standard for DVDs and select HD broadcasts worldwide, Dolby Digital Plus is a high-efficiency audio codec that maintains the quality of Dolby Digital at a lower data rate and is fully compatible with all current Dolby Digital A/V receivers.
“As Windows 7 amplifies the entertainment experience on the PC, it makes sense that Dolby Digital Plus is selected as the audio format for delivering high-quality surround sound,” said Ramzi Haidamus, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Dolby Laboratories. “With Blu-ray Disc, DTV broadcasts, and rich multimedia delivered through the Internet, Dolby Digital Plus ensures that people will hear outstanding audio on any device.”
“Customers have told us that having a solid media experience is a critical part of their computing experience,” said Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management, Microsoft Corp.
“We are delighted to be working with Dolby Laboratories, the leaders in high-quality audio and surround sound, to provide Dolby Digital Plus to our mutual customers. Built into Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, and Windows 7 Ultimate, Dolby creates a richer entertainment environment at home or on the go.”
The Dolby Digital Plus audio format is a complete audio system that spans Internet-delivered content to terrestrial digital and HDTV services and optical discs. It provides support for up to 7.1 channels and advanced features like bitstream mixing for secondary audio tracks.
Dolby Digital Plus is also the broadcast audio standard for HDTV services in key countries including France, Italy, UK, Spain, and Sweden.
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Competitors scramble for hot features as PMP/MP3 player market loses steam
SCOTTSDALE, USA: As the worldwide PMP/MP3 market matures, with shipment growth of only 5 percent in 2009, competitors are scrambling to add features such as touchscreens and Wi-Fi connectivity to re-ignite demand reports In-Stat.
Just a few years ago, the PMP/MP3 player market was among the strongest growth segments in the portable consumer electronic (CE) industry. Today, the market is stalled due to a perfect storm of weak consumer demand, a poor economic environment, a stalled replacement market, and competition from the iPhone and other audio/video-capable smartphones.
“Among the lone bright spots in the PMP market is Wi-Fi enabled PMPs,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Unit shipments of Wi-Fi-enabled PMPs will grow more than four-fold by 2013 from the 14 million units shipped in 2008.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
* Total worldwide shipments of PMP players will reach 225 million in 2009, with Asia Pacific representing the largest geographic market.
* The market is decidedly shifting to video-enabled devices. By 2013, only 15 percent of PMP players will be audio-only devices.
* Among the key PMP competitors are: Apple, Archos, Creative Technology, iRiver, ZVUE Corporation, Microsoft, SanDisk, Samsung, and Toshiba.
* The total semiconductor opportunity for PMP/MP3 player suppliers has peaked and will decline below $5 billion by 2013. NAND Flash and Video processors make up the majority of semiconductor revenue.
* Among the key PMP Semiconductor competitors are: Actions Semiconductor, NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, Toshiba Semiconductor, Freescale Semiconductor (SigmaTel).
Just a few years ago, the PMP/MP3 player market was among the strongest growth segments in the portable consumer electronic (CE) industry. Today, the market is stalled due to a perfect storm of weak consumer demand, a poor economic environment, a stalled replacement market, and competition from the iPhone and other audio/video-capable smartphones.
“Among the lone bright spots in the PMP market is Wi-Fi enabled PMPs,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Unit shipments of Wi-Fi-enabled PMPs will grow more than four-fold by 2013 from the 14 million units shipped in 2008.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
* Total worldwide shipments of PMP players will reach 225 million in 2009, with Asia Pacific representing the largest geographic market.
* The market is decidedly shifting to video-enabled devices. By 2013, only 15 percent of PMP players will be audio-only devices.
* Among the key PMP competitors are: Apple, Archos, Creative Technology, iRiver, ZVUE Corporation, Microsoft, SanDisk, Samsung, and Toshiba.
* The total semiconductor opportunity for PMP/MP3 player suppliers has peaked and will decline below $5 billion by 2013. NAND Flash and Video processors make up the majority of semiconductor revenue.
* Among the key PMP Semiconductor competitors are: Actions Semiconductor, NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, Toshiba Semiconductor, Freescale Semiconductor (SigmaTel).
Friday, July 10, 2009
Google Chrome OS needs to prove itself
Laurent Lachal, Open Source Director at Ovum
Google as Linux champion on netbooks
UK: Google generates most of its revenues from advertising, but intends to diversify its revenue streams with offerings such as Google Apps, which have just (surprise, surprise) come out of beta and whose momentum the new OS aims to boost (along with Google Mail and Google Docs usage) in one of the only markets that is still showing some health: netbooks.
In a recent report entitled Netbooks: a Linux appliance opportunity we identified two main sequential trends in the netbook market.
The first is a shrinking netbook/laptop divide, with the average netbook price shooting up to $400. After a strong start in this market segment, Linux is now increasingly being distanced by Windows, although its performance is still outstanding compared to its overall performance in the desktop market. Google Chrome OS could potentially enable it to regain some of its lost ground.
The second trend is a reaction to the first, a back-to-basics backlash with ambition to deliver netbooks that are not only cheaper ($200 on average) but also designed as appliances/mobile Internet devices (MIDs) rather than would-be laptops. In this market Google Android, which is also Linux-based, is making good progress.
In response, Microsoft needs not only to push Windows 7 forwards but also to boost its Windows Mobile offering.
The battle is on price as well as user experience
Either free (as many expect) or low cost, the new Google OS will challenge Microsoft’s ability to maintain profit margins. It will also challenge Windows from a user experience perspective, which is key to Linux-based netbook uptake.
The objective is for it to “start up […] in a few seconds”, to provide a “minimal” user interface that “stay[s] out of your way” and to be secure “so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates”.
It could also be the starting point for a more integrated experience across Google applications/services and we expect it, like Android, to be linked to an online store of web applications not just to make it easier to consume these applications but also to prove that they can meet most needs.
Internet-centric but not dependent
Google dismisses OSs “designed in an era where there was no web.” The expectation behind its own OS is that “most of the user experience takes place on the Web”.
The key word here is ‘most’. With technologies such as Gears (that predates the Chrome browser and is embedded in it), and the Native Client plug-in and O3D API technologies that followed, Google is also working at enabling online applications to run offline. It needs to points this out more aggressively.
Keep things in perspective
The proof of the Google Chrome OS pudding will be in its eating. When the Google Chrome browser was released, in a report entitled Google enters the open source web browser fray we warned “don’t fall for the hype; Google Chrome still has everything to prove.” A few months later, despite Google claiming 30 million regular users, the browser has not made much impact.
Similarly, we do not expect Google Chrome OS to take over the world -– it is a bit late for that. With Windows 7 about to ship, it would have been better for Google to release, rather than simply announce, an alternative for the netbook market.
Key to Google’s OS success will be its ability to create a strong community around it. This is going to be difficult. A rethink of the project based on an alliance/convergence effort with the Ubuntu community could help.
Google as Linux champion on netbooks
UK: Google generates most of its revenues from advertising, but intends to diversify its revenue streams with offerings such as Google Apps, which have just (surprise, surprise) come out of beta and whose momentum the new OS aims to boost (along with Google Mail and Google Docs usage) in one of the only markets that is still showing some health: netbooks.
In a recent report entitled Netbooks: a Linux appliance opportunity we identified two main sequential trends in the netbook market.
The first is a shrinking netbook/laptop divide, with the average netbook price shooting up to $400. After a strong start in this market segment, Linux is now increasingly being distanced by Windows, although its performance is still outstanding compared to its overall performance in the desktop market. Google Chrome OS could potentially enable it to regain some of its lost ground.
The second trend is a reaction to the first, a back-to-basics backlash with ambition to deliver netbooks that are not only cheaper ($200 on average) but also designed as appliances/mobile Internet devices (MIDs) rather than would-be laptops. In this market Google Android, which is also Linux-based, is making good progress.
In response, Microsoft needs not only to push Windows 7 forwards but also to boost its Windows Mobile offering.
The battle is on price as well as user experience
Either free (as many expect) or low cost, the new Google OS will challenge Microsoft’s ability to maintain profit margins. It will also challenge Windows from a user experience perspective, which is key to Linux-based netbook uptake.
The objective is for it to “start up […] in a few seconds”, to provide a “minimal” user interface that “stay[s] out of your way” and to be secure “so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates”.
It could also be the starting point for a more integrated experience across Google applications/services and we expect it, like Android, to be linked to an online store of web applications not just to make it easier to consume these applications but also to prove that they can meet most needs.
Internet-centric but not dependent
Google dismisses OSs “designed in an era where there was no web.” The expectation behind its own OS is that “most of the user experience takes place on the Web”.
The key word here is ‘most’. With technologies such as Gears (that predates the Chrome browser and is embedded in it), and the Native Client plug-in and O3D API technologies that followed, Google is also working at enabling online applications to run offline. It needs to points this out more aggressively.
Keep things in perspective
The proof of the Google Chrome OS pudding will be in its eating. When the Google Chrome browser was released, in a report entitled Google enters the open source web browser fray we warned “don’t fall for the hype; Google Chrome still has everything to prove.” A few months later, despite Google claiming 30 million regular users, the browser has not made much impact.
Similarly, we do not expect Google Chrome OS to take over the world -– it is a bit late for that. With Windows 7 about to ship, it would have been better for Google to release, rather than simply announce, an alternative for the netbook market.
Key to Google’s OS success will be its ability to create a strong community around it. This is going to be difficult. A rethink of the project based on an alliance/convergence effort with the Ubuntu community could help.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Forecasts for video game and interactive entertainment industry
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Worldwide Market Forecasts for the Video Game and Interactive Entertainment Industry" report to its offering.
This series of reports provides detailed worldwide five year forecasts for the video game market and includes one year of updates and new forecasts. The price includes most recent updates (June 2008) plus one year of updates and Historical Retail Sales Report.
Executive summary
Report forecasts video game market to reach $57 billion in 2009
A series of new reports forecasts worldwide video game and interactive entertainment industry revenue to reach $57 billion in 2009. This forecast includes revenue from video game hardware and software, dedicated portable system hardware and software, PC games, and online PC and console games in 25 countries. According to DFC, there are now 11 countries that have annual video game revenue in excess of $1 billion.
With high spending on expensive hardware and a slumping economy, there was some concern that consumers would not have enough money to buy software products. This does not appear to be the case.
"Consumer spending on software is at record levels and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment," said DFC analyst David Cole.
The report forecasts sales for each of the major game platforms. The Nintendo Wii is expected to be the number one selling console system of this generation. "The Wii does not appear to be a fad and it has the chance to be one of the best selling systems of all-time" says Cole. However, that does not mean the other systems will not do well. The Sony PlayStation 3 is expected to equal the Wii in annual software sales by 2012. Meanwhile, the Microsoft Xbox 360 remains a leading player in some of the top markets, most notably the US and UK.
This series of reports provides detailed worldwide five year forecasts for the video game market and includes one year of updates and new forecasts. The price includes most recent updates (June 2008) plus one year of updates and Historical Retail Sales Report.
Executive summary
Report forecasts video game market to reach $57 billion in 2009
A series of new reports forecasts worldwide video game and interactive entertainment industry revenue to reach $57 billion in 2009. This forecast includes revenue from video game hardware and software, dedicated portable system hardware and software, PC games, and online PC and console games in 25 countries. According to DFC, there are now 11 countries that have annual video game revenue in excess of $1 billion.
With high spending on expensive hardware and a slumping economy, there was some concern that consumers would not have enough money to buy software products. This does not appear to be the case.
"Consumer spending on software is at record levels and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment," said DFC analyst David Cole.
The report forecasts sales for each of the major game platforms. The Nintendo Wii is expected to be the number one selling console system of this generation. "The Wii does not appear to be a fad and it has the chance to be one of the best selling systems of all-time" says Cole. However, that does not mean the other systems will not do well. The Sony PlayStation 3 is expected to equal the Wii in annual software sales by 2012. Meanwhile, the Microsoft Xbox 360 remains a leading player in some of the top markets, most notably the US and UK.
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