In a surprise move announced at IBC, Microsoft submitted Windows Media Series 9 to SMPTE for standardization. This marked the first time Microsoft has submitted a technology for standardization instead of keeping the technology proprietary. Experts see this move as a way for Microsoft to support WM9 as a successor to MPEG-2.
"When you're looking at the pro audio/video space, this is a standards industry," said a Microsoft representative about the submission. "One of the ways to continue to grow this path is to submit this to a standards body."
While MPEG-4 has been looked at by many as the natural successor to MPEG-2, problems with licensing terms, business models, and different implementations have stood in the way.
