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Details about "Corona," the codename for Microsoft's new media player, are expected to emerge in the coming months as the firm looks to wrestle control of the industry away from incumbent Real Networks and its suite of Real products.
While Microsoft has been somewhat tight-lipped about the new software, it is now being reported that Corona will facilitate video and surround-sound audio over the Internet, and its near-instant playback will eliminate the initial delay when streaming Web content. Perhaps more importantly, however, the Seattle-based company will allow users to download the software at no charge.
However, the software will most likely be of little use to millions of home users because many of the player's features will require a high-speed broadband Internet connection. Moreover, other advanced features in the software will require the latest audiovisual hardware on the user's PC.
Microsoft also plans to release software development kits, which will allow developers to develop their own software. Additionally it will release the media player with the latest digital rights management software, in order to prevent improper use of copyrighted digital content.
To make money on the scheme, Microsoft has said it hopes to sell its server software to facilitate the downloading of media content. The company also hopes to promote its own proprietary media standard, in opposition to the MPEG-4, which other media companies are promoting as an industry standard.
Microsoft currently has 14.4 percent of the digital software market, compared to the RealNetworks' 16.2 percent, according to Nielsen/Netratings. The Windows Media Player has 15 million users in the US, as opposed to 17 million US users of the RealPlayer.
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