The SD Card Association announced today at CTIA 2007 that the 5
million Japanese consumers who watch mobile TV programming on their
phones -- and can record the programming with SD High-Capacity (SDHC)
and SD memory cards -- will more than double in 2007 to 12 million
mobile TV viewers. Thirteen handset models feature SD recording
technologies today and three-quarters of all mobile phones in Japan
are equipped with SD slots.
"The remarkable regional success of mobile TV in Japan provides a
glimpse into the global market opportunity for video content," said
Paul Reinhardt, executive director of the SD Card Association. "SDHC
memory cards provide the recording technologies and digital rights
management protection to support worldwide mobile TV success."
Both SDHC and SD memory cards enable consumers to securely store
and watch video when they want. SDHC and SD cards have built-in
specifications for copy protection rights management (CPRM) and
SD-Binding specifications tie stored content to authorized devices
from carriers.
The SDA is working with the leading mobile TV technologies,
including MediaFLO, DVB-H and DMB, to increase the portability and
interoperability of content in and between devices such as mobile
phones, car navigation systems and portable DVD players.
"The SDHC standard helps to promote broad adoption of mobile TV by
enabling technologies that satisfy consumer demand while protecting
content providers and carriers," said Joseph Unsworth, Principal
Analyst at Gartner. "And by working to provide SD standard
specifications to support all leading mobile TV technology standards,
which tend to be adopted by region, the SD memory card format will
continue to position itself as the most widely adopted standard."
In Japan, One Segment spectrum broadcast, commonly referred to as
"One-Seg," delivers mobile TV via a digital terrestrial broadcast. The
handsets are equipped with mobile TV tuners to receive the signal and
SD specifications to record the programming. Terrestrial broadcasts
provide a viewing experience comparable to traditional television
viewing.
About the SDA
The SD Card Association is an open industry standards organization
established in January 2000 by Matsushita Electric (Panasonic),
SanDisk and Toshiba, and is supported by a consortium of over 900
companies. The SDA's mission is to set industry standards and promote
SD Memory Card acceptance in a variety of applications. SD Memory Card
standards are currently being built into a wide range of digital
products such as cellular phones, audio players, automotive multimedia
systems, handheld PCs and digital video and still cameras. For more
information about SDA, please visit the association's web site,
www.sdcard.org. Parties interested in joining SDA are encouraged to
visit the web site or contact helpdesk@sdcard.org. Another SDA web
site, www.sdcard.com, showcases available SD products worldwide and SD
interoperability between devices.
