Move over MPEG4... H.264?

EE Times has an interesting article about an emerging codec called H.264, that threatens to stall interest in the current MPEG-4 standard.

Nevertheless, H.264's potential impact on MPEG-4 is causing some discomfort in the industry. The codec was intended as an extension of the MPEG-4 standard (hence the "MPEG-4 Part 10" moniker embraced by some). But with the newest video codec emerging so quickly, the budding MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile video spec might wind up dead on arrival or at least instantly irrelevant in certain parts of the world.

As simply an emerging codec, it should be relatively easy to adopt into future versions of Quicktime, and in fact, Apple's vice president of their interactive-media group, Tim Schaaff, endorses H.264 by stating that it is "no doubt the best codec there is, offering a great coding efficiency" according to this article. It appears that this emerging codec will also provide stiff competition for Microsoft's Windows Media.