Droplet Technology, Inc. (Menlo Park, California) and Komobile, Inc. (Seoul, Korea) today announced the successful demonstration in Korea of the industry's first all-software camcorder phone and mobile video service solution to support VGA image size at 30 frames per second.

"Droplet's innovations in low-complexity video processing deliver remarkable reductions in both computational horsepower and internal processing memory requirements, while matching the rate/distortion performance of MPEG-4 video encoders, enabling an all-software camcorder application that can run on the standard low-power microprocessors already embedded in the vast majority of multimedia handsets," according to Ho-Sun Au, Komobile's President and CEO. "Korean handset manufacturers have responded with tremendous enthusiasm to Droplet's demonstrations of full VGA camcorder operation, with integrated video and audio capture using only an ARM-9 RISC processor. By showcasing the above performance in complete handset reference designs provided by leading mobile SoC manufacturers, these demonstrations have allowed us to move forward with Korean handset manufacturers to prepare camcorder phone prototypes targeting both high-end and low-cost segments in domestic and overseas markets."

As mobile devices continue to evolve into integrated consumer multimedia entertainment platforms, mobile operators worldwide anticipate significant new opportunities to support their subscribers as media producers, rather than just media consumers. The ability to capture and share photographs and video on mobile devices with the same quality as stand-alone digital cameras and camcorders is a technical cornerstone for such new services, together with the deployment and convergence of higher speed cellular and fixed wireless data networks. The ability to reduce the development cost and retail price of camcorder phones in particular will also be key to larger scale adoption of these devices, and related multimedia/data services, in both mature and emerging markets.

According to John Ralston, Droplet's President and CEO, Droplet's all- software mobile video platform offers advantages that go well beyond just higher quality video capture in lower cost mobile devices, including:

* Reduced handset development time and increased product platform

flexibility

* Lower latency video compression and more stable synchronization with

associated voice recording, enabling higher quality video calling

over wireless and wireline networks

* Ability to integrate compact SW decoder with each transmitted video

stream, for "self playing" audio/video on common handset and PC

video players. This feature eliminates the need for transcoding

directly in handsets or media adaptation servers.

* Reduced computational requirements for automated video editing,

allowing mobile operators to deploy compelling "media producer"

services via Droplet's mobile video service suite running on low-

cost server infrastructure.

In May 2005, Komobile and Droplet signed a Commercial Alliance and License Agreement to jointly develop and deploy premium mobile video applications and services for the Korean market. Mobile multimedia is the most dynamic segment in today's converging communications and entertainment markets, with Korea emerging as a trendsetter in the deployment of high-speed mobile networks, multimedia handsets, and mobile multimedia services.

"We are excited to be partnering with Komobile," said Mr. Ralston, "and they have proven to be a strong catalyst in our development activities with mobile operators and handset manufacturers, validating our substantial advantages in performance and deployment costs."

Komobile's Mr. Au added: "As new Korean broadband multimedia initiatives come on line in 2006, we will be able to leverage Droplet's mobile video messaging platform to expand our existing suite of mobile internet and multimedia services and target a wide variety of new services based on camcorder phones and other personal media player (PMP) devices, over 2.5G and 3G cellular networks, as well as wireless broadband (Wi-Bro) and terrestrial/satellite digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB)."

About Droplet (http://www.droplet-tech.com)

Droplet develops, delivers, and supports a powerful new video service platform that uniquely meets the image quality, power consumption, and cost objectives set by next-generation portable communications devices and mobile multimedia services. Droplet is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and serves the Asian market through its development and marketing facilities in Beijing, China.

About Komobile (http://www.komobile.com)

Established in January 2000, and based in Seoul, South Korea, Komobile Inc. provides a variety of mobile Internet, multimedia, and other value-added services for major telecommunication companies and mobile users. The company's suite of value-added mobile services includes push-to-talk, mobile video broadcasting, and mobile picture messaging.

Source: prnewswire