All The Big Names Are Joining A New Alliance For Open Media

[Klassic Six]

"Microsoft" didn't label Linux as cancer, a Microsoft CEO did. One who is now gone.

Did you hear anything about "Halloween Documents"?

[Luke_Wolf]

Did you hear anything about "Halloween Documents"?

Ballmer is gone... Let it go, and actually watch this new CEO and see what he does.

[M@yeulC]

Did that Microsoft have termed Linux a cancer?

Yeah. Turned out it was contagious, after all.

Michael, I must say the image embedded in the article is awkward at best.

Now, I hope something really good will emerge from this alliance (and that Microsoft will actually contribute something... For now, they just seemed leechers, the last example being with the krhonos group).

[EmbraceUnity]

Apple is noticeably absent as usual, because they feel their Quicktime codecs are threatened. They've failed to add support in Safari for Vorbis, Opus, VP8, you name it. They consistently held back open media more than any company.

[Gusar]

*This* is how you do things. Not Google going it alone like with VP8/9, thus not going anywhere outside Youtube. By giving VP10 to this new alliance, their tech, along with Cisco's and Xiph's, will see wider adoption. Especially considering Microsoft is on board.

To those mentioning Apple... not an issue. Youtube, Netflix and Amazon can simply keep h264 around (which they'll need to do anyway), while focusing on this new codec effort for everyone but iUsers.

[shmerl]

Where is Apple? They will not succeed if Apple is not supporting them.

Apple hate free codecs. They are members of patent trolling group which manages H.265. They never even added support for FLAC to their platforms.

[duby229]

FSF just cringed.

That's a good thing IMO. True freedom only happens when nobody gets what they want.

[89c51]

Tegra X1 has fixed hw vp9 decoder, it's kind of odd that desktop gpus does not have it(not that vdpau supports vp8/9 anyway...).

Skylake has hybrid vp9 decoder(don't really know how effective it is and knowing hybrid decoders, getting software support for linux is quite slim).

All desktops -and mobile- need it if someone wants it to succeed. Any codec. Not just vp9. So far the closed codec guys seem to be doing a far better job.

[Marc Driftmeyer]

On what planet are these all the big names. Here is a reality check, Michael: None of these players have H.265 patents to come to the table and negotitate with MPEG-LA. Cisco had H.264 skin in the game and was at the table. They don't have H.265 now.

Mozilla? Don't make me laugh.

Amazon doesn't have the IP. They aren't a big player.

Microsoft has nothing anyone wants, so they have no skin in the game.

Ditto with Google. Their inferior offerings aren't getting traction with OEMs producing content.

This is a group of wannabes getting nothing from MPEG-LA.

PDF Patent List for HEVC: http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/.../hevc-att1.pdf

Not a single player on your Big List has a patent for it.

They have ZERO LEVERAGE.

It seems obvious to me the only way in is to buy out a member and they aren't selling.

[Marc Driftmeyer]

Apple is noticeably absent as usual, because they feel their Quicktime codecs are threatened. They've failed to add support in Safari for Vorbis, Opus, VP8, you name it. They consistently held back open media more than any company.

Read the patent list: http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/.../hevc-att1.pdf

Apple has patents, none of these wannabes do. Samsung, JVC, and more have tons of patents for it. This is about R&D paying out. Stop whining about Apple is against this or that. Boo hoo.

Large list of licensees: http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/...Licensees.aspx