NTT DoCoMo to put Microsoft Windows Media on 3G handsets

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 11 May 2006 17:57

IT Industry - Strategy

Microsoft has announced a collaboration with Japanese mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, which has 51 million customers, to incorporate Windows Media technologies into NTT DoCoMo's 3G FOMA handsets.
First handset to get Windows Media will be the F902iS to be launched this northern summer. It will support both Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Digital Rights Management 10 for portable devices.  NTT DoCoMo will also look at incorporating Windows Media Video, Microsoft's version of SMPTE VC-1, in future handsets.

i-mode alliance partners (including Telstra) that provide i-mode mobile Internet services will also consider the use of Windows Media technologies in their handsets  This will enable NTT DoCoMo handsets to play music downloaded to a PC from more than 100 online music services around the world, and also support music content ripped from CDs in the Windows Media Audio format.

Microsoft claims that Windows Media Audio and Windows Media DRM are the most widely deployed technologies in the world for the delivery of digital music.

Windows Media DRM supports a wide range of business models that include download and play, subscription, and video on demand, and enables mobile operators with the choice to directly acquire licenses on their handsets and/or load content from PCs through a USB cable. Microsoft recently announced it will make significant investments in its DRM technologies, specifically to enable a new offering and drive scenarios that support the wireless industry.

NTT DoCoMo's FOMA, launched in 2001 was the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA.