Microsoft Renames Streaming Media Division to Digital Media Division

In a week that saw Bill Gates step down as CEO and speculation growing about the DOJ splitting up the company, Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com) announced that it was changing the name of its Streaming Media Division to the Digital Media Division.

Microsoft says the new name better reflects the company's goal to bring digital media to the mainstream. But could this portend a change in whole industry? Not relying on the word "streaming" means that Microsoft isn't hedging all its bets on that word. They're looking into other digital media technologies like music, digital video and other consumer applications.

They believe that digital media is the "next major wave of technology, sweeping through the computer, consumer electronics, media and telecommunications industries." Streaming, say company officials, is just a part of the digital media experience. Naturally, Microsoft is pushing their software and their OS into the digital media world.

The Streaming Media Division was created April 1999 around the time of Microsoft's big reorganization. Since then, Microsoft has made big strides in digital media, and has recently been showing off their own consumer-level video editing software called Movie Maker at major trade shows. Movie Maker will catapult Microsoft into the burgeoning digital video market and put it in direct competition with companies like Digital Origin, MGI, Apple, and others. During a recent demo, Gates said that Movie Maker would be incorporated into the next consumer release of Windows.

The Digital Media Division will continue to be headed by vice president Anthony Bay.