Apple interim CEO Steve Jobs announced some serious new initiatives Wednesday: QuickTime TV (QTV), a network for Web-based video and audio and Apple’s AirPort Wireless Network for cordless laptop Net access.
QTV integrates Apple’s QuickTime 4 Player software, Streaming Server software, the Apple/Akamai Technologies streamed content delivery service, and features streaming video content from leading providers such as ABC News, Disney, FOX, HBO, RollingStone.com and VH1.
The QuickTime 4 Player is available as a free download, and can be used by both Macintosh and Windows users to view QTV content.
“QuickTime TV is the first killer network on the Internet,” said Jobs. “Viewers are going to experience high quality video and audio over the Internet for the first time.”
The goal of the new technology is to bring “multimedia on the Internet without interruption,” with each long-distance transmission broadcast by a local Akamai server, Jobs said in a television interview today.
Apple Wednesday also rolled out AirPort, a wireless local area network (LAN) solution produced in conjunction with Lucent Technologies. The AirPort Network provides cordless Internet access for the new iBook portable computer.
The solution includes the AirPort Card, which fits inside Apple’s new iBook, and the AirPort Base Station, which contains a 56K modem and a 10BASE-T Ethernet port. AirPort is based on the industry standard IEEE 802.11b, and operates at 11 megabits/s.
Designed for wireless networking, iBook includes two built-in antennas and a slot for the optional AirPort Card, which enables data to be transmitted between iBooks and the AirPort Base Station. Up to ten iBooks can share a single station simultaneously from up to 150 feet.
“It’s a liberating experience to surf the Internet from your iBook while freely moving about your home or classroom — without any power or networking cables to tie you down,” said Jobs.
“Apple’s decision to pioneer mainstream wireless networking is as significant as its pioneering of the graphical user interface,” said Rich McGinn, Lucent’s chairman and CEO.