Mo-DV brings Micro SD movies to Android
Mo-DV‘s patented Universal Player intellectual property (IP) with Digital Rights Management (DRM) has debuted, with Sony 
and Paramount Studios on board and more studios to come.
Although distributing MicroSD cards preloaded with a movie, isn’t new, Mo-DV has a very interesting twist on a relatively “old” idea for mobile content distribution.
Founded in 2002, Mo-DV is a privately held company based in Campbell, Calif. The company has since racked up some patents that make it much, much easier to distribute content across a range of handsets and mobile devices. One of the obstacles to disseminating mobile TV content has always been the vast number of screen sizes and resolutions, handsets, and operating systems. Mo-DV’s Universal Multimedia Player automatically orients and sizes content to fit mobile phone screen sizes and shapes ranging from square and rectangular in 208×176 to 640 x 480, and all resolutions in between. The player itself also contains the Digital Rights Management (DRM) protecting the content from illegal copy. The Player runs on smart phone platforms Symbian (S60 and UIQ), Win Mobile, and Palm….and, now, Android.
“Mo-DV provides its patented multi-platform video player with Digital Rights Management (DRM) to store, and distribute video and audio content securely via USB Flash Drives and SD cards for use on mobile devices and PCs,” says Mo-DV CEO Jessica Fullmer. “When we started in August 2002, there were no MicroSD cards being used for movies for mobile phones. More recently, MicroSD became available. They’re attractive because they’re future proof; – the reason it’s so attractive is that it’s future proof, their cost is also dropping; they don’t scratch or break; and people like the alternative to DVD players, which they don’t have with them 24/7.
With orders in the pipeline for Android tablets and smartphones, Mo-DV touts its unique advantage: “We are able to have one card with every operating system’s player up to 1 megabyte, so that card goes across hundreds of models of phones and tablets and immediately sizes for the operating system and screen,” says CTO Eric Hamilton. “So it can go from a cell to a tablet to a desktop up to the big desktop and TV screens. Any cell phone that has a card slot. One card fits multiple devices. All consumers love this.”
Android has been a tough nut to crack because of the huge number of Android OS handsets (compare this with Apple with, essentially, only one handset) as well as the numerous versions of the operating system. For that reason, Netflix recently delayed its release of an Android version of its streaming movie app, citing the difficulties in coming up with a Digital Rights Management (DRM) package that satisfied the studios.
“Android has been a little challenging,” agrees Hamilton. “”But our proprietary DRM, which is part of the patent for the Universal Player, has been blessed by the studios, and it’s the same one we use for Android devices.” He says that Mo-DV first adapted the Universal Player for HTC devices, and then Samsung and “had to fix bugs.”
But the studios have indeed given their blessing. In addition to Sony Pictures, Paramount Studios has also signed on. “Our solution is disconnected from the web,” explains Fullmer. “We have the option to be connected to the web if a customer wants, but we can be disconnected. The key point to the DRM is that people can’t make copies.” But, points out Hamilton, Mo-DV can use “somebody else’s DRM” if preferred. “We’re agnostic to how they utilize our code/software,” says Fullmer. “We’re a licensing company. They package and distribute.”
Where does Mo-DV’s Universal Player fit in the big picture? “The story out there is that 3G and 4G will solve all the bandwidth issues,” says Hamilton. “Actually, it’s the opposite. Whether it’s downloading or streaming, they both have significant problems. There’s not enough spectrum bandwidth or backhaul to support the billion users in the wireless world. That’s the challenge.”
The preloaded MicroSD card or USB stick? It’s the return of packaged media, for another platform. As the news hits that DVD sales are dropping precipitously, perhaps it’s not premature to declare: The DVD is dead! Long live the MicroSD card!
Tags: Android smartphones, Android tablets, digital rights management, DRM, MicroSD cards, Mo-DV, mobile bandwidth, mobile content distribution, mobile spectrum, Netflix, Universal Player, USB
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under Content, Devices, Home Feature.
