Dolby Laboratories announced that its technology will be incorporated into Windows 8 tablets and PCs. This news comes almost a year after Microsoft hinted that Dolby would not be in Windows 8.
Dolby Laboratories has announced
that Microsoft has selected Dolby Digital Plus for the audio for Windows 8 on
tablets and PCs.
Dolby officials said the addition of
Dolby Digital Plus enables the playback of Dolby-encoded content across a
growing number of devices. And the May 3 announcement underscores the role that
Dolby Digital Plus plays in delivering high-quality sound for online
entertainment services and personal media applications.
"Dolby's goal is to deliver the
best possible entertainment experience, wherever content is delivered through
broadcast, broadband or wireless networks," said Ramzi Haidamus, executive
vice president of sales and marketing at Dolby, in a statement. "We are
pleased to be working with Microsoft to address the growing demand for
high-definition content delivered across a broad range of services and devices.
Widespread availability of Dolby Digital Plus on Windows 8 will enable more
people to enjoy cinematic sound anytime, anywhere, and on any device."
"With the incredible growth of
online download and streaming media, particularly for video content, this
agreement ensures a great audio experience for those consumers who wish to
download or stream TV and movies containing Dolby Digital Plus," said Tami
Reller, chief financial officer and chief marketing officer for Windows and
Windows Live at Microsoft, in a statement. "Additionally, all of their
existing and future home videos recorded with Dolby Digital Plus audio will
work great on Windows 8 right out of the box."
Developers will be able to deliver
immersive experiences and cinematic sound through Windows 8 APIs in desktop and
Metro-style apps, including those developed for x86 and ARM architectures,
Dolby said. Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel decoding and Dolby Digital two-channel
encoding will be supported in all PCs and tablets licensed to run Windows 8,
Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT editions.
Dolby said Dolby Digital Plus is
used in more than 640 million devices and is a standard for high-quality audio
on many types of products, including smartphones, tablets, PCs, connected TVs,
Blu-ray Disc players and game consoles.
Microsoft has used Dolby encoding
since the shipment of Windows Vista in 2007. However, in August of 2008, Dolby
warned investors that Windows 8 might not feature Dolby technology. That
warning sent Dolbys stock down 18 percent. So todays announcement is good
news for Dolby investors.
Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.
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