Digital Home Thoughts: CES: Understanding Media Transfer Protocol

"Tonight during his Consumer Electronics Show (CES) keynote address, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates helped demonstrate a Nikon D2X digital camera supporting Media Transport Protocol (MTP). There is simply no way to understate the importance of MTP to Microsoft's digital entertainment strategy. If adopted as Microsoft would like, MTP would enable numerous and disparate PC-to-device photo, music and video synchronization scenarios, including rights-protected content. Microsoft introduced the MTP concept at last year's CES and in September released the protocol with Windows Media Player 10. Creative and Samsung Portable Media Players support MTP. Newer and some updated portable music players are slated for MTP support. In September, Canon committed to offering MTP in future digital cameras."

Media Transfer Protocal or MTP works to simplify moving media around from your digital cameras and media players to you Windows PC. It seems like this platform is starting to take off with Nikon and Creative taking the lead, but most Microsoft partners seem to have dropped the ball. Being able to transfer you digital media over Wi-Fi or other network protocals should be as easy as connecting a USB cable.