Music to Be Distributed Through Combination of DVD and SIM Card

Gemalto has signed a partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s leading music company, to jointly promote the Smart Video Card as a new music distribution channel. Smart Video Card is a Gemalto innovation that embeds a DVD-compliant optical disc into the card body of a regular SIM card.

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The Smart Video Card disc can be preloaded with 120MB of content which can be played in a standard DVD player. The disc pre-mastering can include audio and video encoding, and adding menus and navigation features providing the user with a full multimedia experience. This combined technology provides a unique medium for distribution of exclusive media content that can be enjoyed on the digital music player of choice, such as a PC, handset or MP3 player.

Through this partnership for the world outside North America, Gemalto will be able to exclusively offer UMG content along with its SIM card products, while Universal Music Group International will promote Smart Video Card towards operators that the music group is already working with to deliver online content.

“Universal Music Group constantly strives to find new avenues to bring our music to the consumer,“ commented Olivier Robert-Murphy, Vice President Strategic Marketing, Universal Music Group International. “Smart Video Card is one of the ways through which we can ensure more people can enjoy our roster of artists. With over one billion SIM cards shipped every year, Gemalto stood out as the partner of choice and we believe there is strong potential in the Smart Video Card business.”

“Smart Video Card has already met success on the mobile market as operators use it to promote their latest services and applications,” added Philippe Vallée, Executive Vice President of the Telecommunications Business Unit at Gemalto. “This is the first time a label has ever used the smart card as a distribution channel, and Gemalto is proud to join forces with the world’s leading music company.”

Comments

Really, we don't see the interest of this new format released by Gemalto in September 2008 for Italian mobile operator WIND - and we didn't find any trace of the product on its Web site. No other companies than Gemalto, Universal Music Group and WIND are handling it up to now. 120MB is a capacity more than five times lower than a conventional CD and, furthermore, the mastering and duplicating if this hybrid media - a small optical disc using the standard of DVD embedded into the body of a regular SIM card for security access - will be much more expansive. Are end users ready to get that at a time were everybody is using online download for music and video?

In 2001, Finis Conner, one of the most well known name in the history of the HDD industry, launched a start-up, StorCard, in San Jose, CA, with a similar idea: a smart card including a 100MB floppy disk. The company, in which $14 million was invested, closed in 2005.

The strategy of SIM and smart card specialist Gemalto these recent months to diversify is curious. The company launched few weeks ago YuuWaa, an online backup service using an USB key, with no more future.