Microsoft, Nikon sign patent-sharing deal
Microsoft and Nikon have signed a cross-licensing deal that gives each company access to the other's patents.
The deal is one of a growing list from Microsoft, which has been seeking to establish the heft and significance of its intellectual property effort.Detailed terms of the Nikon deal weren't disclosed, but the companies said Nikon is compensating Microsoft through the alliance.
"The companies believe that this patent cross-licensing agreement will substantially benefit customers of consumer products including digital cameras," the companies said in a statement Wednesday. "Both parties will be able to innovate openly with each others' technologies, enabling new features and products to come to market."Nikon and Microsoft didn't indicate what new products and features would be enabled through the patent agreement, but they did point to existing cooperative efforts involving wireless cameras and raw image formats.
Raw images are taken directly from a camera's image sensor with little or no in-camera processing; the formats more detailed and flexible than JPEG, but they're also proprietary and specific to each camera model, and they require processing with software to become useful to most consumers. Windows Vista has the ability to display raw images as long as a camera maker supplies the necessary encoding and decoding software plug-in, called a codec.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
Personally, I'm just glad I use Minolta for my camera bodies.
- by jumpjetta August 28, 2008 4:11 PM PDT
- I started this thread off. This isn't about being a "fanboy", you M$ apologist sheep. It's about precedent. Examples? The #1 photo management software on the Mac or Windows used to be iViewMediaPro UNTIL MS bought the company. Now, the renamed "Expression Engine" barely runs on anything but Vista. MS and NBC formed a partnership a few years back and guess what? You pretty much had to use M$ technologies to watch coverage of the Olympics online, most of which barely worked outside of a Windows-based product. That's just two examples out of dozens. Name me one major M$ technology purchase, partnership or other "intervention" that has resulted in things working better for the users of the technology of M$'s competitors. And don't Say MS Office for Mac.
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- by ranpha August 30, 2008 12:04 PM PDT
- Olympic coverage by NBC can be watched Mac users too. Don't tell me you do not know that? research please next time.
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- by devodude6687 September 1, 2008 6:38 PM PDT
- Actually, my Mac was better for watching the Olympics than my mom's XP machine.
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(17 Comments)I don't need to know the details to know, based on precedent, people who do not swallow the blue pill will lose out.
And at least Apple writes all its major software (iTunes, Filemaker, Safari, Quicktime, etc) to run with equal features on both platforms. Regardless of what you think of those applications running on Windows (and that's usually based on M$-apologist FUD, too, I might add) the feature set is the same on both Macs and PCs. Not so with ANY M$ product that I know of. If Apple formed some partnership with Nikon regarding the processing of RAW files, there's a high degree of probability any new capabilities as a result of that pairing would make it into QT for Windows.
So yeah, I as a professional photographer with a substantial investment in Nikon hardware and who also uses Macs because a Mac-based workflow for image manipulation and storage works better for me (and well, many, many professional photographers)... I have a need to be concerned about this announcement. Maybe it amounts to nothing. But given the heavy hand of MS in the past, I doubt it.
And don't use iTunes as an example, it makes you look bad. For years, Windows Media Player holds the title as the most bloated media player in Windows OSes. Then Apple iTunes comes, grab the title and kicks WMP to the curbs. And the OSX and Windows version are not even comparable in features.
If you are concerned, dump your Nikon on eBay and buy Canon. Hahahaha.
I honestly don't think Nikon is going to oppress Mac users. That's close to suicide.
The Mac is where the best art happens. Nikon would be completely retarded to kill Mac support.