MP3 Surround isn't really the same as MPEG Surround and could refer to a variety of different technologies, including the stillborn standard created for DVD and ATSC that was beat out, both times, by Dolby Digital. At one point "MPEG Multichannel" (MP3 Surround) was the standard audio system for European DVDs, causing a consumer revolt because of perceived poor quality compared to Dolby Digital, and very poor support by consumer receiver models.
MPEG Multichannel is, as you say, backwards compatible, but it's long in the tooth. MPEG Surround is a more interesting technology and can use better base codecs than MP3, like AAC - which is what Fraunhofer is encouraging. But it's not in the running for movie audio distribution, and nobody cares about surround for music.
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MP3 Surround isn't really the same as MPEG Surround and could refer to a variety of different technologies, including the stillborn standard created for DVD and ATSC that was beat out, both times, by Dolby Digital. At one point "MPEG Multichannel" (MP3 Surround) was the standard audio system for European DVDs, causing a consumer revolt because of perceived poor quality compared to Dolby Digital, and very poor support by consumer receiver models.
MPEG Multichannel is, as you say, backwards compatible, but it's long in the tooth. MPEG Surround is a more interesting technology and can use better base codecs than MP3, like AAC - which is what Fraunhofer is encouraging. But it's not in the running for movie audio distribution, and nobody cares about surround for music.