Nokia will start using Microsoft’s
copy protection software to boost the
use of wireless entertainment, such as
music and videos.
Nokia will license Microsoft’s
PlayReady digital rights management (DRM)
technology, and build the PlayReady
into its S60 software, the most widely
used software platform in the mobile
phone industry.
PlayReady is a new content access
technology from Microsoft that makes
it easy for content owners and service
providers to deliver virtually any
type of digital content in a flexible
manner.
As a part of the agreement, Nokia and
Microsoft will also collaborate on
expanding and simplifying consumer
scenarios for accessing, experiencing,
and moving digital content using
mobile devices.
Microsoft’s technology allows people
to share protected pieces of content –
such as music, games, or videos –
between mobile phones, personal
computers, and other devices.
Nokia’s S60 software is used
extensively not only in Nokia’s
line-up but also in advanced mobile
phones of LG Electronics and Samsung
Electronics.
The closest rival of Nokia’s S60
software is Microsoft’s own Windows
Mobile.
In 2005, Nokia and Microsoft – who
were then fierce competitors in the
mobile software industry – had signed
their first cooperation agreement to
take Windows Media player on to Nokia
phones.
As mobile phone prices are falling,
handset vendors are looking for new
revenues from potentially lucrative
software operations, while, at the
same time, Microsoft is looking for
new revenues from the mobile phone
sector.
In June 2007, Nokia had announced that
it would restructure its whole
organisation to focus better on
software and services.
Nokia says it expects many S60 and its
lower-tier Series 40 mobile phones
using PlayReady technology to hit the
market in 2008.
Both companies have said they expect
the deal to widen the entertainment
offering on mobile phones.
By supporting PlayReady, Nokia will
make it easier for content owners and
service providers to offer premium
digital content for a radically
increased installed base and enable
more flexible business models, such as
renting content or accessing it
offline.
For consumers, PlayReady provides
flexible ways to manage digital
content between online, home and
mobile devices. For example, a
consumer could buy content directly
from their Nokia device and then
transfer the content to enjoy on other
designated devices, such as personal
computers or mobile devices.
Research firm Informa has estimated
that entertainment services – games,
music, television, adult content and
gambling – would grow to $38 billion
by 2011 from around $18.8 billion in
2006.
Microsoft and Nokia said they would
also work together to enhance and
simplify consumer access to digital
content using mobile devices.
Nokia is widely expected to launch an
online music and mobile content store
soon, a rival to Apple’s iTunes, using
technology gained from the acquisition
of US digital music distributor
Loudeye in 2006.
