Consumer Demand for Sharing Content between Mobile Phones and Home Devices Spurs Top Handset Manufacturers to Achieve DLNA Certification
PORTLAND, OR – May 4, 2010 – The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) has seen a steady increase in the number of DLNA Certified® mobile devices over the last two years. Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson have realized the benefits of DLNA certification for interoperability between connected devices in the home. These DLNA member companies, named as the top five mobile vendors by industry analyst firm Gartner Group, shipped a combined 1.21 billion mobile phones worldwide in 2009. Their support for DLNA helps consumers to locate and share user-generated and commercial broadcast content between their mobile phones and home entertainment devices.
“In the last two years, mobile phones have taken an increasingly important role in the digital home,” said Donna Moore, executive director of DLNA. “More than 50 mobile device models have become DLNA Certified® since 2007. This certification helps consumers to more freely access the digital pictures, video and music on their phones throughout their lives.”
According to a February 2010 report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), two thirds of the world’s population has a mobile phone. Consumers are using these handsets for much more than making calls. Mobile phones have become digital cameras, video screens, music players and game consoles. As these phones become rich in digital content, the demand to share mobile screens on televisions, directly print mobile photos, edit mobile content on PCs, and to store mobile content on Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices has grown. “Mobility combined with digital multimedia content is a compelling proposition for the consumer. In the DLNA connected home, consumers can enjoy and easily share photos, videos and music from their mobile phones and other consumer electronic devices,” said Kari Sundbäck, vice president, Devices, Nokia. “As an active member of this organization, Nokia already has many DLNA Certified® mobile devices. We continue to play a vital role in the ongoing success of the DLNA ecosystem and exiting new possibilities it will deliver for the consumer.”
“As one of the leading consumer electronics companies in the world, Samsung has a tremendous advantage in the seamless convergence that DLNA brings to consumers between mobile phones, HDTVs, laptops – the potential is unlimited,” said Omar Khan, chief strategy officer for Samsung Mobile. “Samsung is bringing rich mobile content to its next generation of smart phones in 2010, and now is the perfect time for our customers to learn about all of the various user benefits that DLNA has to offer.”
DLNA is developing the standards that allow for the sharing of mobile content across devices, regardless of manufacturer. More than 7,000 devices have been DLNA Certified®, giving consumers the interoperability they need within a full range of products including digital cameras, PCs and laptops, printers and televisions.
“As mobile devices and home appliances are bound to become smarter than ever before, consumers are also enthusiastic about sharing multimedia content across their devices regardless of file format and device manufacturer,” said Seongjin Park, head of the Smartphone Platform Lab and vice president of LG Electronics. “In order to meet our customers’ demands for better digital living, LG, as a true leader in convergence technology and consumer electronics, will provide a wide range of DLNA Certified® smartphones and feature phones and thus deliver the most satisfying user experience in home entertainment.”
“DLNA is all about providing a seamless experience for users across a wide range of different devices,” said Rikko Sakaguchi, executive vice president and chief creation officer at Sony Ericsson. “Certification of Sony Ericsson’s phones by DLNA enables users to enjoy our products, with their unique User Experiences, even more. We believe this enhances the experience of Communication Entertainment delivered by our products and will truly be a benefit for users.” For more information about DLNA, please visit our Web site www.DLNA.org or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dlnacertified .
About DLNA
Members of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) share a vision of an interoperable network of personal computers (PC), consumer electronics (CE), mobile devices and service providers in and beyond the home, enabling a seamless environment for sharing and growing new digital media and content services. Founded in 2003, the group established and maintains a platform of interoperability based on open and established industry standards that, when used by manufacturers will support the sharing of media through wired or wireless networks. More than 200 multi-industry companies from around the world have joined DLNA, committing the time and resources necessary to achieve their vision. DLNA's 2010 Promoter Members include: ACCESS, AT&T, AwoX, Broadcom, Cisco, Comcast, DIRECTV, Dolby Laboratories, Ericsson, HP, Huawei, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Pioneer, Qualcomm, Rovi Corporation, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Technicolor, Toshiba and Verizon. Additional information
about the Alliance, its participating companies and membership benefits is available at www.dlna.org. ###