Mobile MPEG-4 Resistance in Asia

MacRumors has this post about the problems that high licensing costs are causing to the acceptance of MPEG-4 as the standard for mobile video content delivery.

"CNet Asia reports that Japanese firms are unhappy with MPEG-4's terms:

Japan's mobile video content providers are threatening to snub the MPEG-4 compression format--touted as crucial technology for delivering video to mobile handsets--unless the cost of using it comes down.

Similar objections emerged with the announcement of the MPEG4 standard -- with specific reservations from Apple regarding licensing fees for content providers. The solution provided a total cap as well as a minimum subscriber threshold below which no fees are required.

Alternative solutions mentioned in this particular article include H.264 and MPEG-1. H.264 is an up and coming standard which has not yet been finalized, but has been described as threatening MPEG-4's adoption. H.264, however, appears to be an extension of the MPEG-4 and is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10. It appears that licensing for this new standard will also be handled by the MPEG LA -- the same organization who set the licensing requirements for MPEG-4."