The Internet Streaming Media Alliance, which Apple co-founded, has released its first specification for streaming MPEG-4 audio and video over the Web to computers, cell phones, and other devices. MPEG-4 is the successor to MPEG-1 (which includes the MP3 audio format) and MPEG-2, which is used in DVD encoding. The format is capable of streaming higher quality content over significantly less bandwidth. Apple, which plans to release a version of QuickTime with support for the format, hopes MPEG-4 will bolster its position in the streaming industry.
