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ATLANTA-- May 26, 2005-- Mobile Video Leader Purchases Intellectual Property
Rights to Smartphone Games from Pixiem, Adding First Games to Current Lineup of
Content That Includes Live TV and Video On Demand Programming
Expanding its content offerings beyond mobile television and short films, SmartVideo
Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: SMVD.OB) announced today that five new games developed
specifically for smartphones are now available for download and play through SmartVideo's
links at the Microsoft WindowsMedia.com/mobile site, SmartVideo's Web site, and
all partner sites. SmartVideo has purchased the intellectual property rights for
these games from Pixiem, as well as the gaming engine necessary to build and distribute
additional games under the SmartVideo brand. The first new games developed by
SmartVideo will be available on June 15, 2005.
The 50 million smartphone users and millions more PDA owners around the world
now have access to mobile games including Smart Golf Plus, Metalion, Fun2Link,
Bubble Mania and Crash Bomb. These games are available for download and play at
both www.smartvideo.com and www.Handango.com, for $5 per game or all five for $19.99. Despite the continuing explosive growth
of video games, there have so far been few available for Web-enabled mobile devices.
SmartVideo and Pixiem believe this alliance is the beginning of a booming market
as gamers access their favorite contests anywhere and anytime they find themselves
with spare time.
"We feel strongly about SmartVideo's ability in rolling out smartphone games
due to the capabilities of its mobile entertainment offerings, and its strong
distribution and marketing relationship with Microsoft," said Hongsuk Lee, president
of Pixiem. "Smartphone games offer a high quality 3D look and feel compared to
standard mobile games, giving serious gamers a quality experience, anywhere. SmartVideo
is an ideal partner to introduce smartphone games. We plan to work more closely
with SmartVideo in co-developing additional, well-known, branded smartphone games
using SmartVideo's distribution channel."
According to research by Alexander Resources, games are set to become the largest
and most important mobile entertainment application for cellular devices, with
the increase in mobile gaming helping to drive the expansion of other new data-oriented
wireless services. Additionally, Frost & Sullivan is projecting the market
to reach $9.3 billion by 2008.
"The worldwide gaming market appears to be growing at an exceptionally fast pace,
and the Pixiem technology we have purchased will enable us to capture a significant
portion of that market by developing and offering unique games designed for smartphones
and other mobile devices," said Richard E. Bennett, president and CEO of SmartVideo.
"In addition, it appears from recent market research that gamers are early adopters
of data-oriented wireless services. Gamers should prove to be a significant percentage
of the estimated 250 million smartphone users in 2008, and having acquired the
intellectual property for smartphone based games, we are looking forward to building
a library of new exciting games for the smartphone market."
The addition of games to SmartVideo's lineup of mobile entertainment content
continues to position the Company as a leader in this growing industry. SmartVideo
is the only company in the world that can deliver state-of-the-art, high-quality
live television at a minimum of 15 frames per second to low bandwidth devices
operating on today's existing 2.5G cellular networks. Thanks to the successful
launch and fast growth of the more robust 3G networks in the U.S., SmartVideo
can provide 3G-capable phones with a minimum of 24 frames per second and virtual
broadcast-quality of at least 28 frames-per-second on Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
Smartphone and PDA users who subscribe to SmartVideo's service - beginning at
a monthly rate of $12.95 - have access to industry-leading mobile content from
ABC News, ABC NewsNow, NBC Universal (CNBC, MSNBC and NBC Mobile), The Weather
Channel, FOX Sports Network, IFILM, Fashion TV, DIC and dozens more.
About Pixiem Inc. (Formerly ZIO Interactive USA, Inc.)
Pixiem is a leading developer and publisher of wireless games and applications
for the growing worldwide mobile entertainment market. Founded in early 2004,
Pixiem has attracted best-of-breed partners in order to develop these applications,
and license content and top brand names for game titles. Pixiem publishes and
distributes to a global marketplace through North American, South American, Asia
and European carriers. Pixiem is headquartered in Rochelle Park, NJ, with offices
in San Francisco, CA, and Seoul, Korea.
About SmartVideo Technologies, Inc.
SmartVideo Technologies offers the first and best-in-class services for broadcasting
live, on-demand and download-and-play television content for mobile video consumers
around the world. SmartVideo's television solutions deliver sharp video images
with fully synched audio for broadcast to video-enabled cell phones and other
handheld devices, via current and next-generation cellular and Wi-Fi systems.
SmartVideo's proprietary technologies include a full suite of television content
management services for wireless telco carriers as well as content owners, to
provide an end-to-end mobile television broadcast and business solution. SmartVideo's
robust library of content includes news, weather, sports, children's programming
and more, from such leading international brands as ABC News, NBC Universal, Fox
Sports, The Weather Channel and dozens of others. SmartVideo's mobile video solutions
provide exceptional image quality on all existing 2.5G and Edge cellular networks,
and near-broadcast quality on 3G and Wi-Fi networks. SmartVideo is a Microsoft
Windows Media(R) 9 Series Certified Hosting Provider. For additional information
and to subscribe to SmartVideo's Live TV content packages visit www.smartvideo.com or using your www.windowsmedia.com/mobile.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking"
statements, usually containing the words "believe," "estimate," "project," "intend,"
"expect," or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that
would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to,
the inability of SmartVideo to obtain the additional financing needed to fund
operations, the failure of SmartVideo to convert its present and future customer
contracts into profitable arrangements for SmartVideo, unexpected costs, delays
and other difficulties related to the timing and success of product development
and marketing plans, adverse changes in the market for the delivery of full-motion,
streaming video content, the failure of SmartVideo's hosting infrastructure, the
complexity of SmartVideo's services and delivery network, pricing and other activities
by competitors, difficulties involved in retaining and motivating key personnel
and other risks detailed in SmartVideo's periodic report filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, SmartVideo
undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after
the date of this release. Microsoft, Windows Media, Powerpoint and Windows are
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or
other countries. |