Tags: car navigation systems, cprm, ctia 2007, digital rights management, enabling technologies, global inventures, global market opportunity, japanese consumers, mediaflo, mobile tv, portable dvd players, principal analyst, regional success, sd cards, sd memory card, sd memory cards, sdhc memory cards, three quarters, tv success, tv technologies,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Alisa Hicks
Global Inventures
(775) 720-5071
ahicks@inventures.com
JAPAN'S SD-ENABLED PHONES DELIVER RECORDABLE
BROADCAST MOBILE TV TO MILLIONS
SDHC memory cards record television programming for mobile TV viewers
ORLANDO, Fla. March 26, 2007 -- The SD Card Association announced today at
CTIA 2007 that the 5 million Japanese consumers who watch mobile TV programming
on their phones and can record the programming with SD High-Capacity (SDHC) and
SD memory cards will more than double in 2007 to 12 million mobile TV viewers.
Thirteen handset models feature SD recording technologies today and three-quarters of
all mobile phones in Japan are equipped with SD slots.
"The remarkable regional success of mobile TV in Japan provides a glimpse into the
global market opportunity for video content," said Paul Reinhardt, executive director of
the SD Card Association. "SDHC memory cards provide the recording technologies and
digital rights management protection to support worldwide mobile TV success."
Both SDHC and SD memory cards enable consumers to securely store and watch video
when they want. SDHC and SD cards have built-in specifications for copy protection
rights management (CPRM) and SD-Binding specifications tie stored content to
authorized devices from carriers.
The SDA is working with the leading mobile TV technologies, including MediaFLO,
DVB-H and DMB, to increase the portability and interoperability of content in and
between devices such as mobile phones, car navigation systems and portable DVD
players.
"The SDHC standard helps to promote broad adoption of mobile TV by enabling
technologies that satisfy consumer demand while protecting content providers and
carriers," said Joseph Unsworth, Principal Analyst at Gartner. "And by working to
provide SD standard specifications to support all leading mobile TV technology
standards, which tend to be adopted by region, the SD memory card format will continue
to position itself as the most widely adopted standard."
In Japan, One Segment spectrum broadcast, commonly referred to as "One-Seg," delivers
mobile TV via a digital terrestrial broadcast. The handsets are equipped with mobile TV
tuners to receive the signal and SD specifications to record the programming. Terrestrial
broadcasts provide a viewing experience comparable to traditional television viewing.
About the SDA
The SD Card Association is an open industry standards organization established in
January 2000 by Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), SanDisk and Toshiba, and is supported
by a consortium of over 900 companies. The SDA's mission is to set industry standards
and promote SD Memory Card acceptance in a variety of applications. SD Memory Card
standards are currently being built into a wide range of digital products such as cellular
phones, audio players, automotive multimedia systems, handheld PCs and digital video
and still cameras. For more information about SDA, please visit the association's web
site, www.sdcard.org. Parties interested in joining SDA are encouraged to visit the web
site or contact helpdesk@sdcard.org. Another SDA web site, www.sdcard.com,
showcases available SD products worldwide and SD interoperability between devices.
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