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Digital Bridges Launch World's First Dedicated Mobile Entertainment Retail Line
LOS ANGELES, May 23, 2002 - Mobile phone owners will soon be able to purchase entertainment services for their mobile phone handset -- including games, ring tones, icons and voicemail --from a variety of retail outlets, thanks to an innovative new range of products being launched by
Digital Bridges Ltd., one of the world leaders in mobile entertainment.
The DVD-style packs each contain a product flyer and a voucher, similar to those in mobile phone pre-pay systems, which can be redeemed by the purchaser
through his or her phone handset to access a variety of mobile entertainment services. The packs will be themed around many of the major brands and licences
Digital Bridges is already working with, including Star Trek(TM): First Duty, Men In Black II(TM), Ali G Indahouse(TM) and Scooby-Doo(TM). Each pack
will give the user access to branded games based on text messaging (known as SMS in Europe) as well as a variety of personalisation services. Digital Bridges
is also building relationships with major music companies with a view to creating mobile entertainment services - and entertainment packs - around major artists
and/or releases.
Digital Bridges has already signed distributors and retailers across the UK, and are planning to extend the mobile entertainment retail pack concept into the US
and European markets through selected partners. This will complement the company's existing relationships with over 40 of the world's leading mobile network
operators and carriers, thus creating a valuable new channel to reach consumers.
Mobile entertainment is widely recognised as a potential killer-application, which will drive forward wireless industry revenues and valuations. The potential
audience is measured in the hundreds of millions; and the majority of the research carried out within the sector indicates the market will accelerate further in
coming years as new handsets (incorporating color screens, Java technology and the like) become available. Already, the European market for downloadable
personalisation services - essentially ringtones and wireless handset icons -- is said to generate in the region of $1.5 billion in annual revenues, with fully a third
of Europeans claiming to have downloaded at least one ring tone or icon since buying their handset.
Brian Greasley, the CEO of Digital Bridges, said, "One of the biggest challenges currently facing the mobile entertainment market is building awareness among
consumers about the possibilities presented by mobile entertainment. To penetrate the mass-market, mobile entertainment will have to become ubiquitous and
available through multiple channels. The Digital Bridges Retail Packs represent an innovative first step in creating new routes to reach a wider consumer base."
The company will announce further titles in the range over the next several weeks.
About Digital Bridges Ltd.
Founded in 1998 and based in the UK, Digital Bridges is the world leader in the creation of entertainment services for mobile devices.
The company brings a comprehensive solution and three major assets to the new medium of wireless entertainment: delivery technology (via its UNITY
platform), distribution and publishing capabilities and content design experience. A mobile entertainment pioneer, Digital Bridges was the first company in the
world to demonstrate multi-player WAP games, with Nokia in 1999; the first to demonstrate multi-player J2ME (Java) games, with Motorola in June 2000;
and the first to introduce a comprehensive color gaming service to European and North American markets, in March 2002.
Digital Bridges has the widest distribution network of any mobile games publisher, with content currently running or planned with 40 network operators and
portals on six continents reaching approximately 252,000,000 cellular subscribers worldwide.
On the content side, the company is working with many of the world's leading media and entertainment companies to publish games based on globally
recognised licenses including: Star Trek(TM): First Duty, Star Trek(TM): Prime Directive, Thunderbirds, Scooby-Doo, Cartoon Network, Ali G Indahouse,
The Weakest Link, Space Invaders and EA Sports 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM). The company supports a comprehensive range of mobile entertainment
services, including games, covering technologies such as SMS, WAP, WAP-Push, GPRS, i-mode and Java as well as providing downloadable personalisation
services such as ringtones, icons, logos and celebrity voicemail plus EMS and MMS content. In total Digital Bridges has over sixty mobile games titles in its
portfolio and has recently purchased the software assets of UK-based personalisation specialists GR8 to provide an integrated platform for the creation and
supply of downloadable services.
The company supports all current and future mobile standards, protocols, technologies and operating systems including GSM, CDMA, TDMA, WAP,
I-mode, SMS, EMS, MMS, Java, Video-streaming and 3G services.
Digital Bridges has its headquarters in the UK (London for commercial management, Dunfermline, Scotland for technology) and has offices in New York, San
Francisco, Tokyo, Seoul, Paris, Stockholm and Munich. In 2001, the company was recognised by two leading publications as one of the world's top wireless
companies. Unstrung.com selected Digital Bridges as of its `Unstrung 25', the editors pick of the world's most innovative wireless companies, while Tornado
Insider, which reports on Europe's new economy, also picked Digital Bridges as one of its `Tornado 100', a list of `Europe's brightest, newest high-tech
prospects for 2001'. The company has already gained further recognition in 2002. In January Sweden-based Mobile Metrix identified Digital Bridges from
among 3,000 companies as one of the world's eight most promising mobile application developers.
For more information, please visit www.digitalbridges.com.
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