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SmartVideo Launches New Mobile Games for SmartphonesATLANTA --(Business Wire)-- 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 smartphone visit 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. |
