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Press Releases
Philips and Emblaze Ltd merge transcoding to form the world's leading media adaptation software products company
Sunnyvale and Ra'anana, September 21, 2004: Emblaze Ltd. (LSE: BLZ) and Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) today announce a merger of their respective transcoding business units, Philips MP4NET Ltd. and Emblaze Transcoding.
The merged company, Adamind Ltd., will be based in Ra'anana Israel, with sales offices in San Jose, California and Eindhoven, The Netherlands. After the merger, Emblaze will hold 70% in Adamind with 30% owned by Philips. Shailendra Jain, general manger and chief operating officer of Philips MP4NET has been appointed the chief executive officer of the merged company. Shailendra Jain, Chief Executive Officer of Adamind Ltd. said, "Media adaptation is a key requirement for the success of the rapidly growing MMS market. By combining our resources and doubling our customer base we will be best placed to gain market leadership, long term growth & sustainability and creating value for all." Philips will have two representatives on the Board of Adamind while Emblaze will have three representatives.
Philips MP4NET Ltd. and Emblaze Transcoding were set up two years ago to target the emerging market for multi-media messaging (MMS), which enables people to exchange images, audio and video via handsets over mobile networks. The transcoding software component resides in the heart of every MMS system and facilitates MMS interaction between various handsets by adapting the multi-media part of the transmitted messages so that these can be viewed by any receiving device irrespective of the make, type, screen size, computing power etc.
Hans Streng, Chief Executive of Philips Software group said, "This merger creates the world's leading media adaptation software products company, which enables rich media to be shared by subscribers across different types of handsets and devices. In addition, the deal will position Adamind as a leading supplier of media handling technologies to the broader mobile data applications market".
Eli Reifman, Chief Executive Officer of Emblaze Ltd. added, "This is an amazing opportunity to leverage the skills of the two transcoding businesses for what is going to be a huge market for delivering content to people on the move. I believe that the expected growth of the MMS market will lead to a parallel growth in Adamind's business. This is not a start-up - it is a real business, with real customers paying real money in a growing worldwide market."
Adamind's products are sold through its strategic channel partners such as Openwave, Ericsson, LogicaCMG, and system integrators to mobile telcos worldwide. The business currently has over 70 commercial tier-1 and tier-2 operator customer deployments across the globe.
Enquiries:
Emblaze Group
Doron Cohen, Hagit Gal + 972 9 7699831/ 339
Adamind
Shailendra Jain + 1 801 231 9076
Corfin Communications
Harry Chathli, Neil Thapar + 44 207 645 2990
Philips
Monica Mulkens + 31 40 2733615
Notes to Editors:
About The Emblaze Group (Emblaze LTD)
Emblaze Ltd. is a group of companies sharing a common vision to lead the market transformation to rich media personal communication: Emblaze Mobile, providing personalized and innovative mobile devices with enhanced user experience; Emblaze Transcoding, a global leader in real-time content adaptation for wireless operators and value added service providers; Emblaze Defense, a provider of real-time video solutions for military and homeland security markets and Orca Interactive, developing IPTV middleware for VOD and broadcast services, aimed at cable and xDSL operators. Emblaze Ltd. was established in 1994, went public in 1996 and is traded on the London Stock Exchange (BLZ).
www.emblaze.com
About Philips
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 29 billion in 2003. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 164,500 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.
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