Actimagine/ Mobiclip - page 1 of 7
PRESS INFORMATION 12 December 2006
Sarah Brambley/Juliette Doel
The Whiteoaks Consultancy
+44 (0) 1252 727313
ACTIMAGINE INTRODUCES Mobiclip™
To Turn Mobile Phones into HD Video iPods’
Paris, 12 December 2006: Actimagine, a France-based company established in 2003, brings new-generation display software technologies to the UK market with the introduction ofits revolutionary patented video codec Mobiclip™.
Already adopted by major manufacturers and content publishers, Mobiclip addresses the highest challenges of video on mobile platforms by offering a DVD-like quality – 24fps full screen – of all kinds of video, free and premium content, without compromising battery-life.
Mobiclip already enables UK users of the Sony Ericsson M600i to view movies. Cult gangster movies Layer Cake and Snatch from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment are included free with the 512MB Memory Stick Micro. Available through Phone4You shops since September 2006, each stick has the capacity for both films.
Users just insert the memory stick into the phone, follow the instructions, then sit back and watch all the action on the 262k colour TFT touchscreen.
Compared with other video codecs, Mobiclip has been developed on a completely different algorithm, based on lower CPU requirements to substantially extend the battery-life of mobile handsets and to reduce the cost of devices. For example, Mobiclip displays consume just a quarter of the capacity of MPEG2 files and an eighth of the battery-drain of H.264 Baseline. As a further illustration, on a Nokia N73, Mobilclip can play around seven hours of high-quality video, compared with just one and a half hours using MPEG4.
"Our video and audio compression technologies use far less CPU power than any competitive formats. As a result, it both enables manufacturers toreduce the cost of materials, increase product performance and add new features, while preserving battery-life, so enhancing the user experience” says André Pagnac, CEO of Actimagine.
The extended battery-life avoids the conflict between communication and multimedia usage of the phone itself. Users can now enjoy all types of video content for several hours and still make and receive phone calls. Content can be pre-loaded on SIM/flash memory cards or downloaded/streamed wirelessly to a bigger screen by connecting the mobile phone to a TV. For instance, users simply buy the Mobiclip card with the video content, insert it into a mobile phone, then click on the on-screen icon to watch and share all types of video content.
Actimagine display software can be embedded in any device that uses a multipurpose processor and display-screen such as mobile phones, MP3 players, set-top boxes, toys and portable gaming consoles, PDAs and other home appliances and office equipment.
“Our aim is to establish Mobiclip as the de-facto video standard on mobile – to see our technology embedded in all mobile devices,” concludes André Pagnac.
To date, Mobiclip is compatible with platforms including Windows Mobile, Linux, Symbian and Palm OS. VGA-ready, it offers full compression from QCIF to full HD.
Actimagine is exhibiting at 3GSM World Congress (Barcelona) on 12-15 February 2007 on booth 2G08 in Hall 2.
-ends-
Notes to Editors:
Actimagine, established in March 2003 develops and sells under licence Mobiclip™, a patented video codec that pushes the limits of video on mobile platforms. Mobiclip delivers a unique video experience responding to the demands of the market for high quality mobile video content.
Already adopted by major manufacturers and content publishers, Mobiclip addresses the major challenges of video on mobile platforms by offering DVD-like quality – 24fps full screen – for all kinds of video, both free and premium content, without compromising battery-life.
Registered in Delaware, USA, as Actimagine Corp., the company is headquartered in Paris with an office in Singapore and a subsidiary in Tokyo. Key clients include Nintendo Co., Ltd., Fisher Price, Nokia and Sony Ericsson
Notes to Editors:
More from:12 December 2006
Sarah Brambley/Juliette Doel
The Whiteoaks Consultancy
+44 (0) 1252 727313
Mobiclip compared to other video codecs :
Compression/Decompression
DivX =MPEG4 ASP (Advanced Simple Profile)
MPEG4 ASP is usually better than H.263, H.263+, H.263++
H.264 = MPEG4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding)
H.264 Main and H.264 High have not been tested
1920 x 1080 (full HD) on PC Based platform
Video Codec / Mobiclip / MPEG2 / MPEG4 ASP / H 264 BaselineMinimum CPU requirement / 700MHz / 1GHz / 2GHz / 3GHz
Typical Bitrate (Mbps) / 5 / 20 / 6.5 / 5.5
640 x 480 (VGA) on embedded platform
Video Codec / Mobiclip / MPEG2 / MPEG4 ASP / H 264 BaselineMinimum CPU requirement / 440MHz / 600MHz / 1.2GHz / 1.8GHz
Typical Bitrate (Mbps) / 1 / 4 / 1.3 / 1.1
320 x 240 (QVGA) on embedded platform
Video Codec / Mobiclip / MPEG2 / MPEG4 ASP / H 264 BaselineMinimum CPU requirement / 110MHz / 150MHz / 300MHz / 450MHz
Typical Bitrate (Mbps) / 200 / 800 / 260 / 215
•Full screen 24 frames per second, with no slow-down
• System is Generic CPU + Software (no co-processor)
ACTIMAGINE’s TESTIMONIALS
Nintendo Co., Ltd. selects Actimagine video technologies for its Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS Software Development Kits
“Actimagine’s tools and technologies strengthen our ability to support our developers efforts in delivering high quality games” says Ramin Ravanpey, Director of Software Development Support, Nintendo of America Inc.
Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Japan) has licensed Actimagine’s video codecs to integrate video sequences in video games for the Game Boy® Advance and the Nintendo DS™ handheld video game systems. It will be provided at no charge in Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS Software Development Kits (SDK). It will allow all Nintendo’s game developers to enrich their games with attractive video content.
On the Nintendo DS, Actimagine software video codec can achieve full screen 256x192 video up to 30 frames per second from 100kbps to 700kbps, with stereo sound from 8KHz mono to 48KHz stereo. Dual screen can be supported up to 15 frames per second.
In 2004, Actimagine had previously licensed to Nintendo Co., Ltd. its video compression technologies allowing Nintendo to deliver up to 90 minutes of DVD-like video titles on 32MB cartridges on its range of hand-held consoles: Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo DS. This is a purely software-based solution, making the video cartridges compatible with the vast installed base of Nintendo hand-held consoles that are already in the market.
Fisher Price selects Actimagine technologies on its new Pixter-Multimedia
On toys, Actimagine technologies are used to display the toy’s ’kid machine interface’, to release cartoons and interactive contents.
Leading preschool toy maker, Fisher-Price, selected one of Actimagine software video codec for its new Pixter® Multi-Media, a hand-held device for electronic creativity that also features video play, designed for kids aged four years and above. It was launched early September 2005 in North America along with video software titles based on popular television programs .
Sony Pictures Digital selects Actimagine to deliver full length movies on memory cards for mobile phones
In the UK, Actimagine software video codec and DRM solutions are being used to deliver and protect select full length feature films that Sony Pictures Digital has released on memory cards for mobile phones. Spiderman®2 and Monty Python and the Holy Grail were launched in June 2005r and new titles including Stuart Little, Ghostbusters and Hitch became available earlier November 2005.
GEMPLUS
Gemplus and Actimagine Collaborate on Rich Multimedia Content on Multimedia SIM
Actimagine and Gemplus develop video content on high density Multimedia SIM cards. Introduced at the last 3GSM, Actimagine and Gemplus demonstrated how a full-length movie could be stored and played back from a 128MB SIM card.
The Gemplus Multimedia SIM brings value to mobile operators and to their customers by improving and facilitating use of multimedia, notably allowing management of mobile services directly from the SIM card as well as storage and management of all multimedia contents and personal data on the SIM. 128MB and 256MB SIM cards are available.
“ […] the combination of Mobiclip and Gemplus’ Multimedia SIM creates significant business opportunities for mobile carriers. Bringing to the market very high quality video will help carriers increase their subscribers’ base, data traffic and ARPU through content sales, promotional activity and market segmentation.” says André PAGNAC, Actimagine’s CEO
Nokia France, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment France and Actimagine make the news again on Nseries
After its Spiderman 2 operation in January 2006 in The Phone House’s retail shops, Nokia is back as a pioneer of mobile cinema taking advantage of the Truck Nseries’ stay in Paris on March 13th-14th to unveil the trailer of one of Columbia’s 2006 blockbusters on its mobile computers.
Combining once again its mobile computers with Actimagine’s software solutions and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s premium contents, Nokia turns its Nseries into mobile video players offering a unique user experience.
Sony Ericsson and Actimagine release Mobile Cinema, exclusively on the new M600i by Sony Ericsson
From August 1st in the 223 Phone House retail stores in France, Sony Ericsson has launched a Mobile Cinema operation for the release of the new multimedia smart phone, the M600i. To watch Final Fantasy© VII Advent Children in its whole length and in DVD-like quality on a mobile: this is what Sony Ericsson offers in exclusivity to anyone buying their new phone. A 512MB micro memory stick, containing the full-length movie in 256MB will be presented in an exclusive offer to each buyer of the new Sony Ericsson M600i.
The animation film Final Fantasy© VII is played on Sony Ericsson’s M600i, in DVD-like quality, full screen, at 30 frames per second, while limiting power consumption. You just need to insert the memory card into the phone, click on the icon on the screen, and the film starts.
Sony Ericsson launched with a great success mobiles destined for specific use such as music, with the Walkman® brand, and pictures with the Cyber-Shot™ brand. Today, it has become possible to watch a video clip, a concert or even a movie with an exceptional quality of sound and picture, thanks to the Mobiclip program by Actimagine.
Sony Ericsson is launching the Mobile Cinema in partnership with The Phone House stores in France. “This operation is the achievement of our will to offer consumers open platforms which will permit them to open up to progress in multimedia, with the advantages of mobility” declares David Mignot, Marketing Director for Sony Ericsson.