Microsoft Corp. today announced that together with imaging industry leaders at Photokina 2004 in Cologne, Germany, it will unveil new technologies that use the capabilities of Windows® XP to make digital photography easier for all users, from hobbyists to professionals. These new technologies will include the new Microsoft® Media Transfer Protocol (MTP), which Canon will support in its future digital camera offerings. A variety of other demonstrations for consumers, professional photographers, and hardware and software vendors will be on display at the Microsoft booth: Hall 10.1, stand A-010. Photokina 2004 runs from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3.

Microsoft announced it is working with leading digital camera manufacturers that are supporting two new technologies, MTP and Windows Connect Now (WCN), to simplify and enhance the connectivity of digital still cameras to Windows-based PCs.

MTP solves many of the problems inherent to both wireless and wired transfer of digital media such as digital photos, eliminating much of the complexity for photographers and reducing the difficulty for manufacturers of developing device drivers. Implementation of MTP in digital still cameras improves the user experience for digital camera owners and enthusiasts by enabling easier image acquisition to a PC with native support for the technology.

WCN, currently available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, simplifies the installation and configuration of wireless networks as well as the setup of wireless devices that have a limited or no user interface.