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The following information is true and accurate at the time of publication.
March 11, 2003
ACD
Systems International, Inc.
Ahead Software AG
ArcSoft, Inc.
Eastman Kodak Company
HP
LG Electronics, Inc.
Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
Planetweb, Inc.
Roxio, Inc.
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
Sonic Solutions, Inc.
Sony Corporation |
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Leading Companies Back MPV Standard for Music, Photo and Video Digital Media Collections
CeBIT 2003, Hannover, Germany (March
11, 2003) - Leading PC, consumer electronics and digital
imaging companies announced their support today for MPVTM
(MusicPhotoVideo), a new open standard format to enhance
the way consumers store and enjoy collections of personal
music, photo and video content on storage media, such as
data CDs and DVDs. Some companies will release the first
MPV creation applications and players in the second half
of 2003.
Companies announcing support for the MPV standard include
Eastman Kodak Company, HP, LG Electronics Inc., Olympus
Optical Co., Ltd., Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics
Co. Ltd, and Sony Corporation.
Also announcing implementation of the MPV format in future
products are companies developing leading software and firmware
applications for creating multimedia discs. These applications
include ACD Systems ACDSee, Ahead Software's Nero, ArcSoft
PhotoBase, HP Memories Disc Creator, Planetweb Digital Photo
and Audio Managers, Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator, Sonic Solutions
MyDVD and RecordNow Max.
CURRENT ISSUES FOR MULTIMEDIA CONTENT ON STORAGE MEDIA
Consumers are already assembling collections of hundreds
of files of personal music, photos and video clips and storing
them on storage media such as CDs and flash memory cards.
Currently, each creative application organizes and records
the files with unique structure and naming. There is no
standard way for CD and DVD players to recognize and playback
the content.
Without a standard method for organization and access, the
consumer electronics (CE) device can take minutes to read
through large collections of multimedia content and cannot
provide convenient ways to select from among hundreds of
songs or photos. Consumers get frustrated with trying to
find and quickly access their desired music, photo or video
content.
HOW CONSUMERS WILL ENJOY MPV
The MPV control file provides a table of contents of the
storage media such as CDs and DVDs which a MPV-enabled device
can quickly recognize and use to navigate and access the
multimedia content. Additions and edits to playlists and
multimedia content can be made easily without rewriting
the entire disc.
Storage media, like CDs and flash memory cards, containing
MPV playlists can be enjoyed on a PC or in any consumer
electronics product that supports content in formats used
on PCs such as MP3 and JPEG files. This will provide unprecedented
ease of use and a much enhanced user experience.
MPV TECHNOLOGY
Manufacturers can add MPV support in new products by adding
a small MPV reader. Similarly, most application software
requires only modest enhancements to support MPV.
Storage media such as data CDs and DVDs with an MPV playlist
are compatible with existing CE devices that already play
files on recordable data discs. MPV is compatible with the
ISO 9660-1 and Joliet file systems on CD and supports multisession
CDs.
The Common Picture Exchange Environment (CPXe) provides
a standard way for MPV photo collections to be used with
online photo printing services. CPXe was recently announced
by the International Imaging Industry Association along
with Eastman Kodak Company, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd and
HP.
MPV is an open industry specification developed under the
leadership of the Optical Storage Technology Association
(OSTA) and available from OSTA at no cost. OSTA will manage
a MPV logo licensing program for software application developers
as well as CE device manufacturers. Conformance and support
of the defined media formats will provide users with a guarantee
of compatibility; test suites will be self-administered.
Information regarding the MPV specification, SDK for software
developers and logo licensing program can be found at www.osta.org/mpv.
MESSAGES FROM SUPPORTING COMPANIES
With today's announcement, MPV gains significant support
in the PC, consumer electronics and digital imaging industries.
"The development of the MPV format is a major boost for
the consumer as it addresses the widespread problem of media
navigation," said Jim Corbett, Executive Director of Ahead
Software AG. "We are excited to be adding MPV support in
Nero Applications starting in 2003."
"Kodak is focused on making all aspects of digital photography
easy, not only taking and organizing pictures, but sharing
them with friends and family through electronic display,
e-mail, and high quality printing," said Daryl Hunt, Director,
Strategic Standards, Eastman Kodak Company. "The MPV standard
complements our infoimaging vision and will extend sharing
to an even broader audience."
"HP's support for the open MPV standard will provide consumers
with a rich imaging experience anytime and anywhere," said
Mary Peery, Senior Vice President, Digital Imaging and Publishing
Organization, HP. "MPV will make it convenient and easy
for consumers to cherish the digital experience."
"MPV takes a major step forward for the industry by defining
a new way to facilitate use of well-established and open
media formats," said Cesar Vohringer, Chief Technology Officer,
Philips Consumer Electronics. "Philips will add MPV support
to its line of DVD players."
"MPV is an essential step towards making it easier for consumers
to access their personal digital content quickly and easily
- anywhere, on any device," said Ken Soohoo, president and
CEO of Planetweb Inc., the leading developer of software
applications, tools, and technology for consumer electronics
devices. "Our focus at Planetweb is to add easy-to-use enhanced
digital audio and photo features to CE devices like DVD
players. Open standards like MPV will allow this to happen
more quickly."
"MPV makes it easier to exchange digital media contents
across different platforms," said Young-Yoon Kim, Principal
Engineer, Software Platform Lab, Digital Media R&D Center,
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. "Consumers will take advantage
of MPV's capabilities for exchanging media between PCs and
CE products. Samsung hopes that MPV will continue to evolve
under the open process managed by OSTA."
"MPV fills a critical need to standardize and simplify the
way media files are stored and accessed," said Jim Taylor,
General Manager, Advanced Technology Group, at Sonic Solutions.
"Sonic is dedicated to producing CDs and DVDs that have
the best compatibility with the broadest range of players.
Combining MPV support with OpenDVD, Sonic's technology for
making CDs and DVDs easily revisable, will provide even
more flexibility and varied playback options for consumers."
"We find it very important to provide customers the environment
where they can easily and quickly navigate personal music
and video content with electronic devices and enjoy it anywhere
in any device seamlessly," said Koichi Tagawa, General Manager,
Corporate Technology, Sony Corporation. "Therefore we are
very happy to support this open standard technology, MPV,
and expect it to spread widely."
MESSAGE FROM THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION
"As the leading advocate association for consumer electronics in the U.S., the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is pleased to work with OSTA in its efforts to address real problems faced by consumers by encouraging industry-wide media and drive compatibility and interchange," said Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA. "During the past decade, OSTA has developed several key compatibility specifications, including the Universal Disk Format (UDF), which enables file interchange among different operating systems. OSTA continues to facilitate easier exchange of multimedia content between PCs and CE devices with the MPV specification."
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