Apple Previews New QuickTime Broadcaster Software
Free Application to Complete Apple's Comprehensive Solution for Streaming
Live Events
QUICKTIME LIVE, LOS ANGELES-February 12, 2002-Apple=AE today previewed
QuickTime=AE Broadcaster, a new addition to the QuickTime product family tha=
t
allows live broadcasting of events over the Internet. The new QuickTime
Broadcaster, which when released will be distributed as a free download,
will capture and encode QuickTime content, including MPEG-4, for live
streaming via the web. When used in combination with Apple's existing suite
of QuickTime products-QuickTime Pro, QuickTime Streaming Server and
QuickTime Player-QuickTime Broadcaster provides customers with an
inexpensive, end-to-end solution for producing live events.
QuickTime Broadcaster supports the broadcast of MPEG-4, but as with
QuickTime 6 (see related release "Apple Previews QuickTime 6 with MPEG-4"),
the distribution of QuickTime Broadcaster is being delayed until MPEG-4
video licensing terms are improved. The MPEG-4 licensing terms proposed by
MPEG-LA (the largest group of MPEG-4 patent holders) includes royalty
payments from companies, like Apple, who ship MPEG-4 codecs, as well as
royalties from content providers who use MPEG-4 to stream video. Apple
agrees with paying a reasonable royalty for including MPEG-4 codecs in
QuickTime, but does not believe that MPEG-4 can be successful in the
marketplace if content owners must also pay royalties in order to deliver
their content using MPEG-4.
"QuickTime Broadcaster will make it incredibly easy and affordable for
businesses, educational institutions or individuals to produce
high-quality, live Internet or Intranet broadcasts," said Philip Schiller,
Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "When
combined with a free QuickTime Player and a free QuickTime Streaming
Server, QuickTime Broadcaster is the most cost-effective Internet
broadcasting solution offered anywhere."
Live internet broadcasting is an increasingly popular and cost-effective
way to reach large numbers of viewers for corporate meetings, online
courses, keynote addresses, entertainment and other special events.
Standards-based QuickTime products are an ideal solution for creating,
distributing and viewing content without the limitations of proprietary
formats. Additionally, when the QuickTime Broadcaster and QuickTime
Streaming Server are running on Apple's PowerBook=AE G4 or iBook=AE laptop
computers, the combination provides a uniquely flexible, mobile broadcast
solution.
Features of QuickTime Broadcaster include:
* live encoding with real time preview;
* the ability to record and hint in real time to the computer's hard disk
for quick video-on-demand posting;
* support for all QuickTime codecs;
* AppleScript=AE support;
* the ability to create custom settings;
* support for reliable communication via TCP between Broadcaster and
Server; and
* auto configuration of connection between Broadcaster and Server.
System Requirements
QuickTime Broadcaster will be distributed as a free download and requires
QuickTime 6, Mac=AE OS X (v10.1 and later), Mac OS X Server, QuickTime
Streaming Server and compatible servers.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple
II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.
Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to
students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world
through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
