Apple has announced that a public beta of QuickTime 6 is now available. MPEG-4 support is there, as well as support for other technologies, such as JPEG2000, and Flash 5. The beta expires in October. An interesting in the FAQ's says that, '... because QuickTime 6 will include royalty-bearing technologies, a new QuickTime Pro key will be required to unlock pro functionality in the final release.' Press Read More for further info and new features.
Welcome to QuickTime 6, featuring MPEG-4, the next-generation of the most advanced digital media technology on the Internet. This latest release of Apple?s cutting-edge digital media software for both Mac and Windows-based computers delivers unparalleled quality for creating, playing and streaming audio and video content over the Internet.
When first released over ten years ago, QuickTime revolutionized the industry. Today, with QuickTime 5 reaching over 100 million Mac and PC users in its first year alone, the revolution continues. And with the introduction of MPEG-4, QuickTime again redefines the future of digital media.
Here?s what?s new with QuickTime 6 (in addition to all of the stellar features in QuickTime 5):
MPEG-4 File Format (.mp4): Since the QuickTime file format is at the foundation of MPEG-4, QuickTime 6 supports .mp4 files as first-class citizens. So with QuickTime 6, you can author professional-quality, ISO-compliant MPEG-4 audio and video files that can be played back not only by QuickTime 6, but by any other MPEG-4-compliant player. Learn more about MPEG-4.
MPEG-4 Video: The high-performance MPEG-4 video codec included in QuickTime 6 provides the highest quality results across a wide spectrum of data rates ? from narrowband to broadband and beyond. This revolutionary codec offers compression times and video quality that rival those of the best proprietary codecs, yet it provides interoperability with other MPEG-4 players and devices. Tour the MPEG-4 Video Gallery.
AAC Audio: AAC is the new standard in professional audio. It provides more efficient compression than older formats such as MP3, yet delivers quality rivaling that of uncompressed CD audio. The QuickTime AAC codec builds upon new, state-of-the-art signal processing technology from Dolby Labs, and brings true variable bit rate (VBR) encoding to QuickTime. Listen for yourself in the MPEG-4 (AAC) Audio Gallery. Learn more about MPEG-4 AAC audio.
Instant-On: Instant-On means instant gratification for broadband users. Instant-On gives you an immediate and smooth playback experience ? and instant access as you jump or ?scrub? through a movie using the time slider. Tour the Instant-On Gallery.
Skip Protection: Apple's patent-pending technology for preventing interruptions or skips in streaming media just got better. QuickTime 6 and QuickTime Streaming Server 4 iron out the bandwidth bumps on the ?information super-highway.?
Updated User Interface: QuickTime 6 includes up-to-date access to the best in QuickTime content as well as a new, easy-to-use ?Favorites? interface.
And Much More: QuickTime 6 also includes a new DVC Pro PAL video codec, support for Macromedia Flash 5, a new JPEG 2000 still image codec for Mac OS X, enhanced AppleScript support, and a host of new developer application programming interfaces (APIs).
Feedback: We?re determined to make QuickTime 6 the best it can be, and we welcome your suggestions. Please let us know what you like and what you'd like to see changed.
If at any time you want to go back to QuickTime 5, QuickTime 5 for Mac OS 9 (or earlier) and Windows users is available. Mac OS X users need to download and install the Mac OS X QuickTime 5 Reinstaller.
News Source: Apple
Direct Link: QuickTime 6 Public Beta Available
When first released over ten years ago, QuickTime revolutionized the industry. Today, with QuickTime 5 reaching over 100 million Mac and PC users in its first year alone, the revolution continues. And with the introduction of MPEG-4, QuickTime again redefines the future of digital media.
Here?s what?s new with QuickTime 6 (in addition to all of the stellar features in QuickTime 5):
MPEG-4 File Format (.mp4): Since the QuickTime file format is at the foundation of MPEG-4, QuickTime 6 supports .mp4 files as first-class citizens. So with QuickTime 6, you can author professional-quality, ISO-compliant MPEG-4 audio and video files that can be played back not only by QuickTime 6, but by any other MPEG-4-compliant player. Learn more about MPEG-4.
MPEG-4 Video: The high-performance MPEG-4 video codec included in QuickTime 6 provides the highest quality results across a wide spectrum of data rates ? from narrowband to broadband and beyond. This revolutionary codec offers compression times and video quality that rival those of the best proprietary codecs, yet it provides interoperability with other MPEG-4 players and devices. Tour the MPEG-4 Video Gallery.
AAC Audio: AAC is the new standard in professional audio. It provides more efficient compression than older formats such as MP3, yet delivers quality rivaling that of uncompressed CD audio. The QuickTime AAC codec builds upon new, state-of-the-art signal processing technology from Dolby Labs, and brings true variable bit rate (VBR) encoding to QuickTime. Listen for yourself in the MPEG-4 (AAC) Audio Gallery. Learn more about MPEG-4 AAC audio.
Instant-On: Instant-On means instant gratification for broadband users. Instant-On gives you an immediate and smooth playback experience ? and instant access as you jump or ?scrub? through a movie using the time slider. Tour the Instant-On Gallery.
Skip Protection: Apple's patent-pending technology for preventing interruptions or skips in streaming media just got better. QuickTime 6 and QuickTime Streaming Server 4 iron out the bandwidth bumps on the ?information super-highway.?
Updated User Interface: QuickTime 6 includes up-to-date access to the best in QuickTime content as well as a new, easy-to-use ?Favorites? interface.
And Much More: QuickTime 6 also includes a new DVC Pro PAL video codec, support for Macromedia Flash 5, a new JPEG 2000 still image codec for Mac OS X, enhanced AppleScript support, and a host of new developer application programming interfaces (APIs).
Feedback: We?re determined to make QuickTime 6 the best it can be, and we welcome your suggestions. Please let us know what you like and what you'd like to see changed.
If at any time you want to go back to QuickTime 5, QuickTime 5 for Mac OS 9 (or earlier) and Windows users is available. Mac OS X users need to download and install the Mac OS X QuickTime 5 Reinstaller.
News Source: Apple
Direct Link: QuickTime 6 Public Beta Available
