Microsoft goes for media market

Microsoft is now licensing its technologically superior Windows Media system for non-Windows platforms at half the price of MPEG-4. "They've come up with a licensing program that is bound to shock the industry in the first hours of the Consumer Electronics Show," Richard Doherty, research director for the Envisioneering Group, told the New York Times [free registration required]. "For use of the its video compression technology on non-Windows operating systems, Microsoft will charge 10 cents per decoder, 20 cents per encoder, or 25 cents for both. In comparison, MPEG-LA -- a consortium of companies holding patents attached to MPEG-4 -- charges 25 cents per encoder and decoder, or 50 cents for both," says CNet. As this report points out, Microsoft has already licensed its media technology to some manufacturers of DVD players and television set-top boxes, but this is not quite the same as publishing a price list and making it widely available. Update: Microsoft has put out a press release saying more than 200 devices will support Windows Media, including DVD players and car stereos announced at CES.