Technology Preview of Breakthrough Digital Media Content Creation Tool for
Business Now Available for Download
LONG BEACH, Calif., June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at Streaming Media West
2001, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced Microsoft(R) Producer, the
first comprehensive tool that enables enterprise media professionals and
everyday business users to create, edit and publish rich media presentations.
Rich media presentations combine the power of Windows Media(TM) audio and
video, HTML and PowerPoint(R) slide presentations to take the communication of
ideas and information to a new level. Microsoft also delivered today a
Technology Preview of Microsoft Producer, designed for evaluation by content
developers and technical evaluators. Microsoft Producer, a companion tool for
Office XP users, is a milestone in enabling broader use of digital media to
rapidly deliver critical information throughout large organizations right to
the PC desktop.
(Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
"While enterprise streaming has grown dramatically, we have just scratched
the surface on how streamed digital media communication will impact sharing
information and training," said Steve Vonder Haar, streaming media analyst at
The Yankee Group. "Microsoft Producer breaks new ground to solve a critical
blocking issue for the growth of digital media in large organizations -- easy
content creation and publishing."
"Customers have asked us for easier ways to create quality communications
and training content as they expand the use of digital media in their
organizations," said Will Poole, vice president, Windows(R) Digital Media
Division at Microsoft. "We designed Microsoft Producer to meet this need and
offer a dynamic new way to communicate that increases productivity and reduces
costs at the same time."
Unlocking the Power of Digital Media for Organizations
Corporate use of streaming media has doubled in the past 18 months. But
one of the key obstacles in advancing broader adoption of digital media in
organizations has been the lack of easy tools for creating content. This is in
part because creating content up until today has required specialized
knowledge and the ability to juggle a disparate set of tools to author and
combine varied elements such as digital audio and video, PowerPoint slides,
images and HTML. Microsoft Producer makes it easy for any media professional
or business user to create, edit, preview and publish rich digital media
presentations anywhere.
"There are no other tools like it right now," said Cindy Bandula-Yates,
manager of Solution Services at PPG Industries. "Microsoft Producer will be an
excellent vehicle to change traditional communications."
Media professionals, training specialists, sales and marketing
professionals, and business users of all kinds can now create engaging
external and internal digital media marketing communications, online training,
on-demand companywide executive broadcasts, and published archives of live
presentations. Then all of these can be quickly published with the click of a
button to intranet sites, the Internet or a CD. Microsoft Producer allows
users to easily do the following:
Create and Edit Dramatic Multimedia Presentations
-- Now combine and synchronize audio, video, PowerPoint slides and images
all in one place with one tool.
-- Easy-to-use Wizards make it easy for any PowerPoint user to learn how
to
-- Quickly develop a rich media presentation
-- Record their own audio and video narration
-- Synchronize their audio and video with their PowerPoint slides
-- Easy video capture features such as automatic "shot detection" of
imported digital video make it easy to arrange and edit video clips as
well as enable "live" events or content stored on videotape to be used
to generate high-quality rich media presentations.
Preview and Format Presentations Quickly and Easily
-- Producer's Preview tab provides users with an intuitive way to view
their presentation before publishing.
-- A variety of templates for Web page layouts can be easily selected and
changed dynamically throughout a presentation to create an engaging
playback experience.
-- A Table of Contents can be automatically created when importing
PowerPoint presentations. Users can easily add or delete Table of
Contents entries as they wish.
-- Publish Rich -Media Presentations Virtually Anywhere
-- Once users have completed their presentation, they can publish it
anywhere with the Publish Wizard. They can place their rich media
presentation on a CD, a corporate intranet, the Internet or their Local
Area Network with a click of a button.
-- Easy to administrate publishing rules help IT administrators and
service providers customize and control standard publishing points for
rich media presentations across a network.
Availability
Microsoft Producer is a companion tool for Office XP and is available for
download today (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/ ) as a
technology preview for technical evaluators. The final release of Microsoft
Producer is scheduled to be available for all Office XP users by the end of
this year. Final pricing has not been determined.
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 (SDK) for software 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.
NOTE: Microsoft, Windows Media, PowerPoint and Windows are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States
and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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Related links:
http://www.microsoft.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 212-782-2840
CONTACT:
press only, Jennifer Hatley of Weber
Shandwick Worldwide, 425-452-5400, or jhatley@webershandwick.com,
for Microsoft Corp.
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