Intel, Sony to deliver quality video to MS smart phones

Emuzed not bemused

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 25th February 2004 11:33 GMT

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Intel's "strategic relationship" with Sony's music division has borne fruit, with Microsoft coming out as a beneficiary of the pair's partnership.

The alliance, announced last October, has yielded client and server components of an application that delivers high-quality video on mobile devices designed around Intel's Xscale chip family.

The system, due to go on sale to network operators next quarter, allows Musiczilla and others to sell video clips, songs, ringtones and the like to handset owners. Chipzilla's goal is to sell more processors on the back of it - not only handheld-oriented parts but the Xeons and Itanics that will (it hopes) power all the extra servers required to store and deliver the content, not to mention the machines that will encode and optimise it.

Microsoft wins because the client app only runs on Windows Mobile for Smartphones 2002 and 2003 - and undoubtedly the 2004 release, when it's officially announced.

The code itself was developed by US-based (though its R&D is done in India) mobile media specialist Emuzed, which lists support for other operating systems, including Palm, Symbian (UIQ and Series 60), Linux and Nucleus, on its web site. That at least gives the 'zillas the chance to promote the applications on other, significantly more popular client platforms.

Emuzed systems and codecs support industry standards such as RTP/RTSP, MP3, AAC, JPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and H.263.

Intel yesterday released the developer tools necessary to write client apps that will support its Wireless MMX technology, the Xscale version of the multimedia-oriented instructions the company developer for its Pentium processors. Wireless MMX is set to debut in the next generation of Xscale, 'Bulverde', during the second half of the year.

Intel did not say whether the Emuzed client applications have been optimised for Wireless MMX or require the technology to run. ®