(Japanese Site)
|
|
| Toshiba to Sell System to Handling MPEG4 Image Data
|
|
June 8, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Toshiba Corp. on July 1 will start selling what it
claims is the world's first commercially available software capable of handling
MPEG4 data.
|
It will allow users to create MPEG4 image and sound data, and to transmit it
over the Internet or corporate intranets. The new product is called
MobileMotion.
MPEG4 is a new technology that can be used to compress image, sound and
other multimedia data so that it can be handled more effectively. It has been
developed as the new standard to follow the previous MPEG1 and MPEG2
formats, and it is capable of coping with both high and low data transmission
speeds.
Work to standardize it is still ongoing and is not yet complete, but Toshiba has
decided to go ahead with the release of its new product in order to gain a head
start over the rest of the field.
MobileMotion can deal with data transmission speeds ranging from 6kbps up
to 384kbps. For that reason, it can be used in mobile communications, even
over low-speed analog telephone lines, to receive and play back image and
sound data in real time by making use of its data streaming ability.
The frame rate of moving image can range between 1 and 30 frames per second,
and the image size can range from CIF (352 x 288 dots) to SQCIF (128 x 96
dots). Sound data transmission speeds can be 6.4k, 8k or 16kbps for monaural,
and 20kbps for stereo.
Toshiba is planning to target sales of MobileMotion mainly at business users.
The pricing system adopted for the product means that costs will differ
depending on factors such as the scale of the organizations that purchase it and
the applications for which it is to be used.
In general terms, it should be possible to construct a system for using the
MobileMotion software products that includes all the necessary PCs and other
hardware for about 5-6 million yen (US$36,200-43,500).
It is also expected that MobileMotion will be employed in conjunction with the
existing networks to enable companies to use moving image data for
applications such as their in-house education systems, sales support systems
and product promotion activities.
Teijin Ltd., a major manufacturer of polyester fibers, is already using
MobileMotion to advertise a new range of its own-brand swimsuits at http://www.teijin.co.jp/JEG/SWSHOW/SHOW/MOVIE.htm (in Japanese).
The range of different products that make up the MobileMotion package
includes a MobileMotion Producer, used for converting moving image files
stored in other formats, such as MPEG1 and AVI, into the MPEG4 data format.
There is also a MobileMotion Server, which is used for transmitting MPEG4
data over the Internet, and a MobileMotion Player, used for playback and to
save motion picture data.
The MobileMotion Set Up Support Service provides user support that covers
everything from introducing the system to running it.
In order to watch playback of MPEG4 moving images created with
MobileMotion, then it is necessary to use either special software called the
Viewer, or else the MobileMotion Player, which is capable of downloading and
then playing images.
The Viewer will be available from Toshiba's Internet homepage, free of charge,
from July onwards. For a limited time period, until the end of June, it will be
possible for users to download and play several samples of moving image data
from http://www2.toshiba.co.jp/mmoti
on/ (note that the information on this home page is available in
Japanese language only).
According to Toshiba, over the next three years it aims to supply MobileMotion
to around 1,500 companies, and anticipates that sales of the product will reach
about 9 billion yen mark (US$65 million).
(Nikkei Multimedia)
|
|
|
