Ericsson, Sun and Apple partner for next-gen applications

Ericsson, Sun Microsystems and Apple Computers announced they would jointly support a new format for next-generation streaming media over wireless devices.

The format is based on Apple’s QuickTime media player, which supports MPEG-4, a format that Apple is pushing as the Internet industry’s open platform for multimedia applications. A number of incompatible audio player platforms exist in the Internet world such as Real Player and Windows MediaPlayer, but Apple says it’s time competitors agreed on a single standard.

“We’re moving toward streaming media standards based on MPEG-4 so everyone has access to that standard,” said Brian Croll, senior director of software product marketing with Apple. “This will allow us to start marrying different industries together.”

The three companies plan to develop an end-to-end platform that includes Apple’s QuickTime media player, Sun’s software and systems to enable content distribution, and Ericsson’s wireless infrastructure.

“We’ll support this fully in our products together with Sun because it’s the preferable platform among carriers,” said Jan Olin, strategic product marketing manager with Ericsson Content Delivery Systems. “Apple has an enormous reaching in the media industry.”