New Windows Media Player Debuts at Pocket PC 2002 Launch

State-of-the-Art Mobile Media Player Offers Wireless Streaming Of Audio and Video Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- In conjunction with the launch today of Pocket PC 2002, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) also unveiled the new Microsoft(R) Windows Media(TM) Player for Pocket PC 2002. This latest version of Windows Media Player for Pocket PC is the first all-in-one media player for Pocket PC 2002, with support for digital audio and video streaming over high-speed wireless networks,* playback of downloaded audio and video content, and support for MP3 playback. The player also includes breakthrough Windows Media Audio and Video 8 codec technology, providing the best-quality audio and video in the smallest file size.

"Today's unveiling of Windows Media Player for Pocket PC 2002 offers the state of the art in mobile digital media," said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "Professionals on the go not only can get the best digital music experience on a portable device, they can now wirelessly stream the latest news and use their Pocket PC as a mobile video album of their home movies."

Windows Media Player for Pocket PC 2002 -- The All-in-One Mobile Media Player
Windows Media Player for Pocket PC 2002 brings the most common digital media activities together in one player for Pocket PC users and sets the standard for mobile digital media. Other key features include full-screen video playback (including landscape mode) for home movies or streamed video, and updated support for Windows Media digital rights management technology. Improved Pocket PC support on a PC using the upcoming Windows Media Player for Windows(R) XP also enables easy transfers of Windows Media and MP3 digital music collections, or digital home movies made with Windows Movie Maker in Windows XP. Other key improvements since the launch of the first Windows Media Player for Pocket PC include the following:

• Easy, automatic playlist creation lets users easily manage their favorite Windows Media or MP3 files, or watch a movie or video**, all in a single playlist.
• New intelligent media discovery locates digital media files anywhere on the Pocket PC or on CompactFlash or other extra storage media, and adds them to the user's media library automatically. It also can discover digital media located in e-mail attachments.
• New skins and an integrated skin chooser allow users to easily and quickly customize their player with new built-in skin management combined with new skin designs. Users can also download additional skins or create custom skins.
• New background playback lets users work and play the way they want to and maximizes battery time and productivity. Users can listen to music on the Pocket PC device while reading e-mail or an electronic book. Windows Media Player for Pocket PC 2002 offers background playback of music, allowing users to work on other tasks or activities while preserving precious memory resources and battery life. In addition, users can easily program a button on the Pocket PC to switch off the screen while listening to audio to prolong battery life.

Availability
Windows Media Player for Pocket PC 2002 is available as a feature of the new Windows Powered Pocket PC 2002 operating system launching today. Customers can choose from devices offered by the 22 hardware vendors that have announced support for Pocket PC 2002. These vendors now include Acer Inc., Audiovox Corp., ETEN, Fujitsu, Inventec, Itautec, NEC USA Inc. and O2 (formerly BT Cellnet), which will be using Microsoft Pocket PC Software to power their upcoming lines of personal digital assistants. These companies join existing Pocket PC device manufacturers Casio Computer Company Ltd., Cesscomm, Compal Electronics Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Hi-Tech Wealth Electronic Product Co. Ltd., HTC, Intermec Technologies Corp., Legend, Mitsubishi Electronic Group, SAGEM, Siemens AG, Symbol Technologies Inc. and Toshiba Corp. More information about the new lineup of Pocket PC 2002-based devices is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/pocketpc2002/default.asp .

About Windows Media
Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing unmatched audio and video quality to consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations. Windows Media offers the industry's only integrated rights-management solution and the most scalable and reliable streaming technology tested by independent labs. Windows Media Technologies includes Windows Media Player for consumers, Windows Media Services for servers, Windows Media Tools for content creation, and the Windows Media Software Development Kit for software and hardware developers. Windows Media Player, available in 26 languages, is the fastest-growing media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/ .

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.

* Wireless capability available via separately purchased modem and/or other wireless accessories. See Pocket PC device manufacturer for details.

** May require purchase of additional RAM for full-length feature films.

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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.