MultiMedia for your Palm

By Michael Foley

(03/13/01, 03:10:56 PM EDT)

Generic Media has released the gMovie Maker and gMovie Player, enabling Macintosh and Windows users to easily convert and playback color video, animation, and still image files for any Palm OS handheld, including the Palm, Sony CLIE, Handspring Visor, IBM WorkPad, and TRGpro. The gMovie Maker and gMovie Player products build on Generic Media's media technology to enable delivery of digital content to devices beyond the desktop.

The gMovie Maker

The gMovie Maker application allows users to convert video, animation, and still images into the gMovie format using Macintosh or Windows-based personal computers. The gMovie files can be transferred to any Palm OS device using standard HotSync capabilities for viewing with the gMovie Player. The gMovie Maker features control settings for color depth, frame size, and frame rate. The gMovie Maker also provides features such as drag-and-drop batch processing, and exporting directly to the HotSync folder or the Memory Stick with Sony's CLIE. gMovie Maker supports popular media formats used by most websites and consumer video editing tools, including:

-- Video: AVID, DO, MPEG-1, QuickTime

-- Animation: GIF, Macromedia Flash, FLU

-- Still Images: BMP, JPEG, Photoshop, PACT, PING, Tara, TIFF

The gMovie Player

The gMovie Player enables video, animation, and still image playback in the gMovie format on Palm OS handhelds. With the release of the gMovie Player, consumers can enjoy rich media content anywhere on their Palm-Powered Pads. Content in the gMovie format, as well as the gMovie Player application itself, can be beamed from one Palm device to another for easy sharing of videos, animations, and still images. Originally released as the Media Player in September 2000 and bundled with the CLIE, Sony's Palm-Powered PDA, the gMovie Player expands the viewing of digital media to all Palm OS devices.

Pricing and Availability

The gMovie Player is available as a free download from Generic Media's site, www.genericmedia.com, starting March 1, 2001. The gMovie Maker is available as a free trial download from Generic Media's site, www.genericmedia.com, starting March 1, 2001. Users can upgrade to the full version of gMovie Maker for $29.97, using the "Upgrade" option from within the application.