Nero and Polar Frog Digital Partner for On-Demand Video DVD Creation ...

Tag : Hardware Assortment
GLENDALE, Calif. & SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - (Business Wire) Nero,creators of liquid media technology, and Polar Frog Digital, aprovider of innovative on-demand video services for DVD anddownloadable solutions, today announced an exclusive U.S. agreementto bring on-demand video DVD creation and distribution to retailersand consumers. Together, Nero and Polar Frog Digital are extendingdigital entertainment content beyond its traditional confines,enabling on-demand DVD production for online and traditionalretailers and making the much-touted commercial DVD kiosk deliverymodel a reality.
“ The Kiosk format and ability to manufacture commercial DVDson-demand brings countless benefits to retailers in terms ofreduced overhead and increased customer satisfaction, ” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principle analyst with ParksAssociates. “ Many have argued that digital downloads would serve this need, butwhile consumers have seen the benefits of downloads, there arestill limitations to how they can be used across devices. Today,the DVD still offers the greatest flexibility in terms of theability to play it on multiple devices or share it with others. Asecure on-demand manufacturing solution, such as what Nero andPolar Frog Digital will be offering, unlocks the potential ofgreater access to premium content in a protected format. ”
While there has been significant industry discussion on theimportance of on-demand video DVD manufacturing, the use ofproprietary standards and file formats has inhibited the abilityfor other organizations to bring a viable solution to market. Nerois able to deliver on this new content frontier because of itscommitment to aligning and developing with industry open standards,such as those put in place by the DVD Forum, and platforminteroperability. Nero has also led the market in the incorporationof cutting-edge features and formats, made possible by the company ’ s longstanding expertise in engineering and deploying codecs,applications and services. As a result, the partnership betweenNero and Polar Frog Digital will meet the needs of consumers byalleviating the limits and constraints of expensive proprietaryformats, special DVD players and non-standard media.
Polar Frog Digital is the only on-demand company to offer theability to burn, buy, download and rent multiple medias. This ismade possible by their adoption of Nero ’ s vision for liquid content distribution and creation options forconsumers. With the Polar Frog solution consumers have the abilityto choose where and when they want to buy their media. Agnosticdelivery options will serve to expand the sales of media intraditional and nontraditional retail channels alike.
“ Over the last decade, Nero has enabled innovations delivered by theworld ’ s largest consumer electronics brands, ” said Richard Carriere, president, Nero Inc. “ Together we are committed to liquid content creation anytime,anywhere and on any device. The experience of and ability tomanufacture commercially released video DVDs on-demand willrevolutionize the retail industry and bring a truly liquid mediaexperience to consumers. ”
Each year thousands of movies, television programs, educational andspecial-interest titles are created. However, due to shrinkingshelf space and cost of manufacturing, only a fraction will becomeavailable on DVD, and fewer still will remain available six monthsafter release. By using kiosks, retailers can stock an entirephysical DVD inventory in as little as two square feet of storespace. Gone are the days of needing to anticipate how many copiesof a new title release to have on hand or worrying about DVD theft.With a kiosk format, inventory “ shrinkage ” can be eliminated and retailers are able to offer their consumersan unlimited quantity and assortment. Retailers no longer have tofear that a consumer will leave without purchasing a DVD becausethe title that they were looking for was out of stock.
“ On-demand manufacturing of commercially released DVD video contentwill revolutionize both the retail marketplace and the way thatconsumers experience and access video, ” said Todd Rosenbaum, CEO of Polar Frog Digital. “ The Polar Frog/Nero solution marks the culmination of years ofcooperation and provides not only retailers but movie studios,consumer electronics manufacturers, and content distributors a newmeans to capitalize on digitally distributed commercial videocontent. ”
With the joint Nero/Polar Frog Digital solution, consumers willhave access to a full range of commercial video copy-protectedcontent with Content Scrambling System (CSS) encryption. Availablein late 2008, the offering will be based on Polar Frog Digital ’ s patented “ DVD On Demand ” software and licensed library of digital movie and televisioncontent. This library is the world ’ s largest database of on-demand content available at retail.
For more information about Nero and Nero products, visit www.nero.com . For additional details on Polar Frog Digital, please visit www.polarfrogdigital.com .
About Nero
Nero, the creator of liquid media technology, enables liquidcontent creation and distribution anytime, anywhere, and on anydevice. The company provides consumers with the freedom to enjoytheir audio and video content, regardless of hardware or fileformat, by taking a unique platform neutral, standards-basedapproach to solution development.
More than 300 million units of Nero ’ s award-winning software solutions are used in the home, on the go,and professionally. Nero also provides strategic partners withapplications, codecs, tools, software development kits, andprogramming interfaces for use with a variety of the latestplatforms and devices. Products are available globally throughhardware manufacturers, international partners, retailers, anddirectly through the Nero Online Shop at www.nero.com . Headquartered in Karlsbad, Germany, Nero maintains regionaloffices in: Karlsbad, Germany; Glendale, Calif., USA; Yokohama,Japan; and Hangzhou, China.
About Polar Frog Digital
Polar Frog Digital (PFD), LLC is a privately held corporation basedin Scottsdale, Arizona. PFD ’ s mission is to bring retailers the ability to expand coreinventories while keeping costs at a minimum and raisingprofitability. Polar Frog Digital is a digital rack jobber whichhas developed a solution to conveniently deliver commerciallyreleased media on demand to consumers in any retail venue. Thecompany also provides all related services to support our turn keysolution. The solution is designed to appeal to a broad range ofconsumers and their need for an agnostic On Demand video formatselection anywhere, anytime. To this end, PFD has licensed video inits original full format. This enables the company to meet anyconsumer need, be it burning, buying, renting or downloading. Weaccomplish this by offering a wide variety of formats. For moreinformation on Polar Frog Digital, please call (888) 506-FROG orvisit http://www.polarfrogdigital.com .
McGrath/Power Public Relations
Timothy Polakowski, 408-727-0351
timp@mcgrathpower.com
or
Nero Inc.
Alex Sayyah, 818-956-5930 ext. 216
Director of Marketing — Americas
asayyah@nero.com