In the latest challenge to Microsoft Corp, Netscape Communications Corp, Progressive Networks Inc and 40 other companies have signed up for a proposed open standard governing delivery of real-time multimedia information over the Internet. With Apple Computer Inc, Autodesk Inc’s Kinetix unit, Cisco Systems Inc, Digital Equipment Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co, IBM Corp, Silicon Graphics Inc, Sun Microsystems Inc and Macromedia Inc in the Netscape gang, Microsoft is about the only company among the industry’s great and the good to hold out against joining. The proposed Real Time Streaming Protocol is a standard for governing the flow of multimedia content that can be diplayed as soon as it arrives rather than the user having to download the entire complex file before watching and listening to the material. The RTSP evolved from work done at Progressive Networks, based in Seattle, and at Netscape. It incorporates aspects of the International Telecommunications Unions H323 videoconferencing standard – which is supported by Microsoft – and runs on top of standard internet protocols such as TCP/IP and UDP, while taking advantage of Internet and intranet infrastructure improvements such as the IP Multicast, RTP and RTCP real-time control protocols. It can be implemented across multi-platforms. The first draft was submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force on October 9th. The standard will be especially useful for vendors of low-cost, low-memory Internet devices and Network Computers. Progressive says that it is still possible that Microsoft will adopt the technology for the new protocol. Last week, Progressive Networks announced its own RealMedia architecture, a framework of client and server application programming interfaces for developers of streaming multimedia applications, with support from 13 toolmakers.
