Microsoft, who bought the iView MediaPro digital asset management application last year, has announced that it will become part of the Microsoft Expression Studio in 2007.
Set to ship in the second quarter, Express Studio will include iView MediaPro, whose name will then become Microsoft Expression Media. As with iView Media Pro, Expression Media will be cross-platform for Mac OSX, Windows Vista and Windows XP.
Expression Media will be a free upgrade for registered users of iView MediaPro 3 — on both Mac and Windows. A free download will be available for those users for a limited time. iView MediaPro 3 users will also be eligible to receive a discount on an upgrade to the full Expression Studio set of tools.
Expression Media will include a new tool, called Expression Media Encoder. Microsoft said it would be a complete solution for the preparation, encoding and deployment of rich video and audio for Web and Windows experiences.
Expression Studio also comprises the currently available Expression Web for creating Web sites; Expression Blend for designing interactive experiences for Windows; and Expression Design for the design of visual elements for Web and Windows experiences.
For more information, visit www.iview-multimedia.com.