Electronics makers trying to simplify movies' portability
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 05 January 2010, 22:19 IST   |    1 Comments
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Electronics makers trying to simplify movies' portability
Bangalore: Hollywood studios and consumer electronics makers are trying to lay out some steps which could help in making digital movies easier to buy and use, and perhaps stem the worrying decline in home entertainment sales. Hollywood and its high-tech partners are deeply concerned that their customers will rebel against some of the limitations taking shape as video moves away from physical discs. The industry believes that consumers could balk at buying digital movies and TV shows until they can bring their collections with them wherever they go. In the last few months, many companies and Hollywood studios have been trying to address this problem through an organization called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE. Five of the six major Hollywood studios (Warner Brothers, NBC Universal, Sony, Paramount and Fox, but not Walt Disney) are involved, with Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Intel and Best Buy. This group is not leaving any stone unturned in creating a common digital standard that would let consumers buy or rent a digital video once and then play it on any device. It might sound technical, but it could be crucial to persuading consumers to buy all the splashy new Internet-connected gear that tech companies will demonstrate at C.E.S., like HDTVs and set-top boxes that can download TV shows and films. Under the proposed system, proof of digital purchases would be stored online in a so-called rights locker, and consumers would be permitted to play the movies they bought or rented on any DECE-compatible device. The group has announced that it has adopted a new file format that, like the DVD, will allow any company to create a compatible device or digital video store. It has also selected Neustar, a company based in Sterling, Va., to create the online hub that will store records of people's digital purchases, with their permission. The group is also announcing 21 new members, pushing the effort even further toward cross-industry unity. The new companies include consumer device makers like Samsung Electronics, Nokia and Motorola, entertainment retailers like Netflix and the European chain Tesco, and the cable companies Cox Communications and Liberty Global. The DECE says that it is further along and that the technical specifications of its system will be available to other companies in the next few months. Devices and services could be available to consumers as soon as early next year. "There were many skeptics out there who believed that with so many companies, we could never achieve anything. We've actually achieved almost everything," said Mitch Singer, President of the DECE and Chief Technology Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Hollywood needs consumers to buy more digital content. DVD and Blu-ray revenues contribute significantly to Hollywood's bottom line, but spending on those discs is dropping sharply. It declined 3.2 percent to $4 billion in the third quarter of last year. Digital sales were up nearly 20 percent in the quarter, but amounted to a relatively paltry $420 million, reports New York Times.

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