DDD.L Regulatory News (DDD)

19 Jul 2005 07:00

DDD Group PLC19 July 2005 DDD GROUP PLC SIGNS FIRST CONSUMER MOBILE PHONE LICENSE DEVELOPMENT AND LICENSING AGREEMENTS WORTH AT LEAST £500,000 SIGNED WITH LEADING HANDSET MANUFACTURER FOR GLASSES-FREE 3D MOBILE TELEPHONE Santa Monica, Calif. (July 19, 2005) 3/4 DDD Group plc (AIM: DDD), the 3Dsoftware and content company, today announces that it has signed a developmentagreement and a two-year software licensing agreement with one of the world'stop five mobile telephone handset manufacturers. The value of the developmentagreement alone is £500,000 for the first handset with £150,000 being recognisedas revenue during the first half of 2005. Under the terms of the development agreement, DDD will integrate the DDD MobileTM software with a 3D handset that is currently in development. DDD Mobile is acomprehensive content solution for the emerging market of stereoscopic 3D mobiledisplays that allows the presentation of photos, animations and movies in a 3Dformat on mobile telephones. On completion of the software development phase, which is expected to occurduring the third quarter of 2005, the worldwide non-exclusive licensingagreement will allow the handset maker to ship DDD's software embedded in thehandset, yielding a per handset royalty to DDD. The license also providesexclusive rights for the handset maker to use DDD's real time 2D to 3Dconversion capabilities on their 3D handsets in various countries during theterm of the license. Chris Yewdall, Chief Executive of DDD said: "We are very pleased to have beenchosen to provide the DDD Mobile solution to this world leading manufacturer.The market for 3D devices continues to develop and this agreement exemplifiesour team's ability to implement and exploit our market-leading 3D contentsolutions across a growing number of these emerging platforms. The firstlicensee for DDD Mobile represents an important milestone as the company entersthe consumer market for the first time." Enquiries: DDD GroupChris Yewdall, President & CEO +1 310 566-3340e-mail: info@ddd.com Bell Pottinger Corporate & FinancialNick Lambert +44 (0) 20 7861-3232 Notes to Editors About DDD DDD, also known as Dynamic Digital Depth, is transforming the viewing experiencewith applications for glasses-free 3D displays. Its patented technologies enable3D viewing without glasses; simple integration of computer graphics applicationswith 3D displays; supply of 3D content through 2D to 3D conversion; and 3Dtransmission over existing networks. DDD is quoted on the London StockExchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM: DDD). • For reasons of confidentiality, DDD is unable to name the handsetmanufacturer however the company expects to be in a position to confirm thiswhen the 3D handset is formally launched. • A new category of flat screen LCD and plasma displays are beingdeveloped and marketed by major consumer electronics companies that providestereoscopic 3D images without the need for the viewer to wear glasses.Stereoscopic 3D images appear to have natural in and off-screen depth. 3Ddisplays have already been included with mobile telephones in Japan and indesktop PC displays and notebook computers in North America and Japan. • In 2003 and 2004, DoCoMo introduced two models of Sharp mobiletelephone that included a 3D LCD display developed by Sharp Corporation. DoCoMosold approximately 2.8 million 3D mobile telephones in Japan. • DDD's solutions provide an important bridge between conventional twodimensional (2D) applications and content and the new 3D displays. Normal 2Dpictures, video and computer graphics images are manipulated by DDD's patentedsoftware enabling them to be displayed on 3D displays without requiring thecontent to be created specially for a 3D display. DDD recently announced theability to automatically convert still photographs and DVD video to 3D withoutany pre processing of the 2D image. • DDD licenses these software applications, marketed under the TriDef(R)and DDD Mobile TM brand names, to manufacturers for inclusion with the 3Ddisplay products supplied to end users. DDD also licenses the software directlyto end users who already own 3D displays and through an international saleschannel. Sharp Corporation and DDD entered into a multi year software licensingagreement in October 2003 that allows Sharp to include a bundle of five of DDD's3D software applications with Sharp's Actius range of 3D notebook PCs sold inJapan and America. • DDD expects to license the DDD Mobile software library to additionalhandset makers who wish to include 3D LCD displays in a variety of wirelessdevices including next generation smartphones and PDAs. • DDD also intends to enter into revenue sharing agreements with mobiletelephone operators (carriers) and various content providers for the conversionand delivery of existing libraries of premium wallpaper, animations and moviemobile content to wireless subscribers. The company expects to participate in ashare of the income paid by wireless subscribers who download 3D content thathas been converted to 3D by DDD. • DDD is currently expanding the product range to allow its contentsolutions to be used on future 3D display products including consumertelevision. More information is available at www.DDD.com. TriDef and DDD Mobile are trademarks of DDD Group plc. All other trademarksmentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange