Microsoft Corp. today announced that its new Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) will be supported by Canon Inc., a leader in the field of professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems. Canon, one of the market leaders in adopting and promoting Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), now plans to incorporate support for MTP into its future digital camera product offerings. This announcement coincides with next week's 2004 Photokina trade show and signifies a premier industry relationship for Microsoft, introducing one of the most advanced technologies yet for image acquisition to a Windows�-based PC.

Based on the popular PTP, MTP enables the transfer of media such as images to and from a broad range of devices, while delivering enhanced device management and significant performance improvements for today's new classes of portable media devices. MTP over IP (MTP/IP) extends the applicability of this exciting technology to networked and wireless devices. Canon's adoption of MTP/IP for its future wireless digital cameras will significantly improve the image acquisition experience for both consumers and professionals, enabling ubiquitous, high-performance connectivity. Among its benefits, MTP/IP provides vastly improved support for transferring large quantities of data from a device, while also enabling faster thumbnail viewing for photographers with large storage media in their devices. MTP/IP also eliminates much of the complexity inherent in wireless connectivity for professional photographers and will enable new scenarios for all enthusiasts.