Technology Leaders Will Work Together to Design Solutions for DivX Certified™ Video Devices
San Diego, CA and Taiwan—September 22, 2003—DivXNetworks, Inc., the company that created the revolutionary, patent-pending DivX® video compression technology, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the primary R&D; center for industry in Taiwan, today announced an expansive technology and development partnership.
Under the agreement, ITRI will create an official development and testing lab in Taiwan for DivX Certified consumer electronics devices. A wide range of DivX Certified consumer electronics devices including portable video players, DVD players, digital still and video cameras, and set-top boxes are scheduled to hit the market in 2003.
Additionally, DivXNetworks and ITRI will work together to create reference designs for DivX Certified portable video players for the global consumer electronics market. The two companies will also collaborate on research and development activities regarding next-generation digital video technology. DivX video, which offers DVD-quality at 7-10 times greater compression than MPEG-2, is the world’s most advanced and popular MPEG-4 compatible video compression technology with over 100 million worldwide users.
“Taiwan is the center for new generation CE product innovation and development. ITRI is the birthplace of all the star industries in Taiwan, including IC, IT, Communications and now new generation digital CE,” said Dr. James Lee, DivXNetworks Special Advisor for Asia. “By working closely with ITRI, DivXNetworks can enhance its services to DivX Certified customers in the region, and provide new innovative CE products jointly developed by the two organizations to a worldwide market.”
“We are very pleased to partner with ITRI. They are an innovative and highly-respected organization at the forefront of cutting edge technology,” said Shahi Ghanem, President and Chief Operating Officer at DivXNetworks. “The DivX Certified program offers great value to the consumer electronics industry and ITRI is the perfect partner to enhance our CE efforts in the Asian market.”
“We believe that DivX video technology will dramatically enhance next-generation consumer electronics devices–from portable video players to set-top boxes and beyond,” said Dr. Bao-Shuh Paul Lin, CCL general director and vice president of ITRI. “By working with DivXNetworks to develop DivX Certified solutions, we can bring the power of DivX to a thriving convergence marketplace. Moreover, we can fulfill our mission of helping Taiwan industry by upgrading the technology and channeling the consumer electronic products to the worldwide markets.” The DivX Certified program for consumer electronics devices includes a full DivX software development kit as well as rigorous certification testing for visual quality and performance standards. Official DivX Certified partners receive marketing, sales and engineering support focused on helping third party development and OEM partners create DivX Certified consumer electronics solutions such as DVD and portable players, set top boxes, PVR and digital video and still cameras. For more information on DivX certification process, visit www.divxnetworks.com/certified. For more information on ITRI, visit www.itri.org.tw. About DivXNetworks DivXNetworks is a consumer-focused video technology company positioned at the center of multimedia convergence. The company’s core offering is the DivX ® video codec, the world’s most popular MPEG-4 compatible video compression technology with over 100 million users worldwide. Often called “the MP3 of video,” the patent-pending DivX video technology offers DVD-quality at 10 times greater compression than MPEG-2 files, enabling full length films to easily fit on a CD or be delivered over broadband connections. DivX video technology powers a range of applications that span the convergence value chain, from a secure IP-based video-on-demand solution to next-generation consumer electronics products and video software applications. DivXNetworks is headquartered in San Diego, California, with satellite offices in Los Angeles and San Jose, CA, Taipei, Taiwan, and Dortmund, Germany. For more information, visit https://www.divxnetworks.com.
About CCL and ITRI Computer and Communications Research Labs (CCL), a division of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) based in Taiwan, was established in 1990 with the objective of developing system technology that integrates computer, communications and consumer electronics, the so-called 3C technologies. Indeed, CCL was the first to promote the concept of 3C integration in Taiwan. CCL possesses a track record of successful technology transfers to the computer and communications industries in Taiwan. CCL employs nearly 800 engineers and other professionals while ITRI has more than 6000 employees. ITRI is a non-profit R&D; organization executing national-scale technology development projects sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of R.O.C. Taiwan. ITRI covers a wide spectrum of technology fields including opto-eletronics, nano technology, biomedical, chemical, mechanical, material engineering, in addition to information and communication. Because roughly a half of ITRI’s revenue comes from the private industry, it has been working very closely with the industrial sector ever since ITRI’s inception in 1973. ITRI has been highly recognized for its successful incubation of Taiwan’s IC and information industries.