h.264

Microsoft and Motorola aren't even close to agreeing on how much the software giant should pay for the right to use patents held by its Google-owned rival.

In court filings released yesterday and obtained by Reuters, Microsoft indicated that it would be willing to pay as much as $502,000 per year to license Motorola's H.264 video patents. The company would also pay as much as $736,000 for Motorola's 802.11 wireless technology.

Motorola, meanwhile, insists that a simple fee isn't enough -- it wants Microsoft to pay a percentage of its revenues derived … Read more

Microsoft has won an important ruling in its patent battle with Motorola.

U.S. District Court Judge James Robart last week ruled that Motorola could not ban the sale of Microsoft products that the mobile maker alleges violate its H.264 patents. The ruling means that the Xbox and Windows, along with other Microsoft products, won't be banned from sale in the U.S. The ruling also blocks Motorola from banning Microsoft product sales in Germany.

Computerworld previously reported on the ruling.

Microsoft and Motorola are embroiled in a legal spat around the world over the software giant's … Read more

Handling many popular file formats, DivX Plus for Mac is the latest DivX player for the Mac platform. With its editing and conversion options as well, we found it to be a great potential addition to any user's Mac toolbox.

As you would expect, DivX Plus for Mac handles DivX format video files, as well as MKV and AVI files. This latest version of the player also allows for conversion from MP4 format, so you can format existing video files for use on the iPhone and iPad. You can also use DivX Plus for Mac as a streaming platform … Read more

Canon plans to release a notable firmware update to its high-end EOS 5D Mark III in April that will let videographers use the SLR to record uncompressed HDMI video.

As the successor to the 5D Mark II that jump-started the video SLR revolution four years ago, the 22-megapixel 5D3 has big shoes to fill. The new update surely will help professionals who need better quality, even if ordinary folks need not care much. Here's what Canon had to say about the news:

When shooting video, HDMI Output makes possible the recording of high-definition uncompressed video data (YCbCr 4:2:… Read more

Motorola Mobility has scored another patent victory over Microsoft in Germany.

Judge Holger Kircher of the Mannheim Regional Court today awarded Motorola an injunction against Windows 7, the Xbox 360, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player after finding them in violation of patents related to "adaptive motion compensation" and "adaptive compression of digital video data."

According to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, who was first to report on the story, the injunction would allow Motorola to ban the distribution of Microsoft's products, as well as recall and destroy Windows 7 and Xbox 360 units that are … Read more

Microsoft and Motorola Mobility are nearing two key decisions on patent infringement. But the software giant might have just played an important card to keep its products on store shelves.

Microsoft yesterday filed in U.S. District Court a motion to get a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Motorola Mobility in order to try to prevent Motorola from getting Microsoft's products banned from use in Germany until a U.S. court also rules on the matter. To make it right, Microsoft says that it will offer up a $300 million bond to guarantee any lost revenue Motorola … Read more

High-ranking Mozilla staff, believing they've lost a fight to keep patent-encumbered technology off the Web, have concluded it's time to change course and support H.264 video technology.

The H.264, a "codec" to encode and decode video for more efficient storage and streaming, is widely used in everything from video cameras to mobile-phone processors. However, it's encumbered by patent royalty payments that go against Mozilla's goal of fostering an open Web.

The patent issue led Mozilla to strongly endorse Google's alternative VP8 codec that's part of its royalty-free WebM project. But … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--H.264 is today's leader when it comes to mainstream video encoding technologies, but it will have to share the stage in 2013 with a successor called H.265 that can squeeze a video into nearly half the file size.

H.264, also known as the Advanced Video Codec (AVC), defines how a video can be compressed for reduced storage requirements and--very importantly given the online video explosion--for streaming across networks. H.265, also called High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC), uses new techniques to compress video even more.

Qualcomm, a San Diego-based chipmaker that's on the international standards group developing H.265, … Read more

MPEG LA, an organization that licenses digital video technology patents on behalf of their owners, has announced terms for using a 3D video encoding technology called MVC.

MVC (Multiview Video Coding) is used in Blu-ray disc players, personal computers, video cameras, software, and other situations calling for 3D video. It's what's known as a codec, a specification for encoding and decoding video so it can be stored more compactly or streamed more efficiently across networks.

MPEG LA debuted the MVC license agreement terms at the Asia-Pacific 3D Standards & IP (Intellectual Property) Forum in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. … Read more