Sonic Ignites DVD-On-Demand Industry
Qflix-Ready Products Define New Entertainment Sell-through Businesses; Enable Companies to Apply Approved CSS-Recordable Format
September 27, 2007 —
Sonic Solutions® (NASDAQ: SNIC), announced today its technologies
and intellectual property are behind a range of products being introduced
to establish new businesses for the digital distribution of video
entertainment that can be burned on demand to protected discs. Sonic’s
DVD On Demand™ software platform and Qflix™ recordable
CSS program - based on the recently approved industry specifications
for recording electronic downloads set by the DVD Copy Control Association
(DVD CCA) - are being used in new products from DVD media makers,
optical drive manufacturers, retail kiosk vendors, and duplication
system suppliers. These products, combined with services and solutions
being delivered by additional Sonic partners in the consumer electronics,
entertainment distribution, and PC industries provide content owners
new, secure platforms to digitally distribute their broad entertainment
catalogs.
A veritable who’s who of companies
are using Sonic technologies to release new electronic sell-through
components and solutions for retail, factory, and home implementation
beginning next month and accelerating through the end of the year. Playing
an important role in home deployment will be Dell, which
is partnering with Sonic
on the Qflix technology and associated software as a new way to provide
its customers with more choice as to where, when, and how they are
entertained.
Other companies providing products
to allow consumers to conveniently purchase, download, and burn entertainment
at home include Internet
entertainment distributors, such as Akimbo and Movielink that will
provide direct access to a wide selection of premium content. Consumers
will be able to burn the content they download on new drives by companies
such as DataPlay, Pioneer, PLDS
(Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions Corp.), Plextor, TSST (Toshiba
Samsung Storage Technology Corp.), and others using special blank
discs being released by Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM)/Verbatim, and
RITEK. In addition, Sonic is working with set-top box, networked
DVD recorder, DVR manufacturers, and drive component manufacturers
such as MediaTek and Sunext to bring Qflix into the living room.
At retail, companies including
Lucidiom, MOD Systems, Polar Frog Digital, TitleMatch Entertainment
Group, and YesVideo are releasing products solutions that, combined
with the availability of licensed movie archives from studios, will
provide consumers touch-screen access to vast ‘virtual video shelves’
through special movie kiosks.
Other Sonic partners such as Allied
Vaughn, Elesys, Inc., Microtech Systems, Primera Technology, and
Rimage will play a key role in establishing factory systems capable
of manufacturing custom discs to fulfill online orders. Such systems
will help reduce inventory costs for Internet retailers, while allowing
content owners to make more of their entertainment catalogs available
for purchase.
“We are extremely pleased that
a universal standard has been defined by the industry and the stage
finally set for the launch of new download-to-burn solutions that
will provide consumers on-demand access to a wider selection of high-quality
video entertainment,” said Dave Habiger, president and CEO, Sonic
Solutions. “By creating a system that combines the convenience of
electronic delivery with the simplicity and compatibility of DVD,
we are helping the industry deliver to consumers a far greater range
of content than ever before – at home, online, or at their favorite
retail location.”
The rollout of DVD-On-Demand solutions
marks the culmination of Sonic’s three-year cooperation with movie
studios, consumer electronics manufacturers, IT companies, and content
distributors to establish a solution that allows digitally distributed
premium video content to be protected and recorded to optical DVD
media.
About
Qflix and Sonic DVD On Demand
Qflix offers a new means for content
owners to release titles for custom production and sale over the
Internet while maintaining the same level of copy protection used
on commercially mass-produced DVDs. Sonic’s Qflix licensing program
provides essential technology and IP for both the professional and
consumer markets. Qflix Pro, for professional and enterprise manufacturing
of DVDs “on demand,” allows production facilities to reduce the cost
of carrying physical inventory while simultaneously offering extensive
catalogs of content. Qflix Pro also enables retailers to broaden
the number of movies by augmenting physical product with on-demand
DVD creation kiosks in their stores. The consumer version of Qflix
provides a long-awaited downloading and burning solution for movies
and premium video content in computers and consumer electronic devices
such as set-top boxes, networked DVD recorders, and DVRs.
Sonic DVD On Demand is a complete
solution for custom preparation and burning of DVDs in industrial,
retail, and home environments. Sonic’s Extensible Media Protection
Architecture (XMPA) includes extensive Qflix support to enable secure
electronic delivery and burning of video encrypted with CSS (the
industry-standard Content Scramble System) to recordable DVD media.
For more information regarding
the Qflix technology licensing program, please contact Qflix Licensing
(licensing@qflix.com) or visit (www.qflix.com).
About Sonic Solutions
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC;
http://www.sonic.com) enables the creation, management, and enjoyment
of digital media content through its Hollywood to Home™ products,
services, and technologies. Sonic's products range from the advanced
authoring systems used to produce Hollywood DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray
Disc film releases to the award-winning Roxio®-branded photo, video,
music, and digital-media management applications. Sonic’s patented
technologies and AuthorScript® media engine are relied upon by leading
technology firms to define rich media experiences on a wide array
of consumer electronics, mobile devices, set-top players, retail
kiosks, and PCs. Always an innovator, Sonic has taken a leading role
in helping professional and consumer markets make the successful
transition to the new high-definition media formats and, through
the DVD On Demand™ and Qflix™ platforms,
Sonic is defining new models for the digital distribution of premium
Hollywood entertainment. Sonic Solutions is headquartered in Marin
County, California.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release
may contain forward-looking statements that are based upon current
expectations, including the distribution and market acceptance
of Sonic DVD On Demand platform and the Qflix program. Actual
results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including
those discussed in the Company's annual and quarterly reports
on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press
release should be read in conjunction with the Company's most
recent annual report on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other reports
on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contain
a more detailed discussion of the Company's business including
risks and uncertainties that may affect future results. The Company
does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.
Sonic, the Sonic logo, Sonic Solutions,
AuthorScript, Hollywood to Home, Sonic DVD On Demand, Qflix, and
Roxio are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonic Solutions
in the United States and/or other countries. All other company or
product names are trademarks of their respective owners and, in some
cases, are used by Sonic Solutions under license.
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