Crown Castle Mobile Media, a subsidiary of Crown Castle International Corp., and Microsoft Corp. today announced that Crown Castle Mobile Media has selected Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Video 9 and Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) 10 for its Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) broadcast service deployment. As a preview of the exciting possibilities this relationship will deliver, Crown Castle Mobile Media will be demonstrating with Microsoft live mobile TV on Windows Mobile (TM) -based devices at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas from April 16 to April 21, 2005.
Windows Media helps enable the secure delivery of high-quality digital entertainment services over IP and other digital networks. The components of the Windows Media 9 Series platform are available from Microsoft in source code format, may be ported to mobile devices based on any operating system, and are licensed under published terms that provide significant commercial advantages for device manufacturers compared with alternative solutions. Windows Media Video 9 is Microsoft's implementation of VC-1, the proposed Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) standard.
"Windows Media is a superb solution for delivering audio and video services over mobile broadcast networks like DVB-H because of its quality and efficiency," said Michael Schueppert, president of Crown Castle Mobile Media. "We are excited to work with Microsoft on this endeavor."
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"Delivering television to mobile devices is a great example of the innovation that Crown Castle Mobile Media's upcoming DVB-H service deployment will make possible," said Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of Windows Digital Media at Microsoft. "This is a testament to Crown Castle Mobile Media's expertise and vision in delivering mobile solutions, and we're excited that they have chosen Windows Media and Windows Media DRM as part of their next-generation services."
"We are delighted to see the collaboration between Crown Castle Mobile Media and Microsoft and believe this will accelerate the deployment of DVB-H," said Peter MacAvock, executive director of the DVB Organization.
DVB-H is currently expected to become the global standard for mobile television and has been formally adopted by both the DVB Organization and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Crown Castle Mobile Media intends to build and operate a dedicated DVB-H network for broadcasting digital television content to mobile devices including cell phones. The proposed network will utilize 5 MHz of unencumbered nationwide spectrum acquired by Crown Castle through Federal Communications Commission Auction 46 in 2003.
The demonstration will be available at the Microsoft Booth SL332 during regular exhibit hours and will use Windows Media Audio and Video 9, Windows Media streaming protocols, and Windows Media DRM 10 to deliver services over a DVB-H network. In addition, the demonstration features the DVB-H chip and Windows CE-compatible driver for Windows Mobile-based handsets from DiBcom, the complete RF transmission system, including an Axcera Innovator LX-UHF DVB-H transmitter from Axcera, and Windows Mobile-based devices from HTC Corp.
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