Philips Research Press Release
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August 30, 2005
Gracenote acquires cutting edge audio fingerprinting technology from Philips and announces long-term research agreement with Philips Research |
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EMERYVILLE, CA – August 30, 2005
-- Gracenote and Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) today
announced that Gracenote has acquired Philips' robust audio
identification and fingerprinting technology and has entered into a
long term research and development agreement with world renowned
Philips Research. In addition, Philips has taken an equity position
in Gracenote and will serve as a strategic technology advisor.
Gracenote’s acquisition of the market-leading audio identification and fingerprinting technology helps further extend the company’s lead in the digital entertainment technology market and enables Gracenote to expand into significant new markets. Under its previous license for the acquired technology, Gracenote integrated Philips’ audio identification and fingerprinting technology into the Gracenote Mobile MusicID service in use across the globe. As part of the transaction, Philips transferred its intellectual property rights, including an extensive portfolio of patent applications, for audio identification and fingerprinting technology to Gracenote. “We are very excited to acquire this new core technology and formalize our working relationship with Philips Research,” said Craig Palmer, CEO, Gracenote, Inc. “As we continue to grow our business in new and exciting directions, it is important to have best of breed partners who can bring technology, experience and consumer insight to the table. With this technology Gracenote now has the most comprehensive family of identification technologies – for CD, DVD, audio file, audio streaming and text-based sources .” Long-Term R&D Relationship Gracenote also announced today it has entered into a long-term R&D partnership with Philips Research. “The success of our initial partnership, which combined our audio fingerprinting technology with Gracenote’s deep database for mobile networks, convinced us that Gracenote is an ideal partner for the application of other groundbreaking technologies. We look forward to working with Gracenote to bring to market more cutting edge technologies that will set the standards for audio and video products for years to come,” said Fred Boekhorst, Senior Vice President of Philips Research, commenting on the long-term R&D relationship. Philips Research has turned out some of the most important technological breakthroughs in digital entertainment in recent years, including crucial work on the CD, DVD and Blu-ray Disc standards. As part of the R&D relationship, Gracenote will have early access to both research results and licensing rights for new technologies developed in the Systems and Software sector at Philips Research. The partnership combines the excellent research capabilities at Philips with Gracenote’s technological focus on audio and video, deep understanding of consumer behavior with digital media and the company’s unparalleled worldwide database of track identification information on more than 50 million songs. Gracenote’s Mobile MusicID Success Currently, Gracenote uses Philips’ technology in combination with Gracenote’s fingerprint database for Gracenote’s Mobile MusicID service, which enables consumers to use their cell phones to identify music playing on the radio, in a restaurant or anywhere else. Leveraging Gracenote’s global database of over seven million audio fingerprints, Mobile MusicID is able to identify songs from around the world from as little as a three second sample of the music. Currently this service is offered by mobile operators around the world including KDDI in Japan, KTF in Korea, and Oi in Brazil. |
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For More Information, Business:
Gracenote, Ross Blanchard, 510-547-9680, rblanchard@gracenote.com, For More Information, Press: SutherlandGold Group for Gracenote, Erika Shaffer, 206-972-5514, erika@sutherlandgold.com Contact information Philips Research: Ellen de Vries
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About Royal Philips ElectronicsRoyal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a
global leader in healthcare, lighting and consumer lifestyle, delivering
people-centric, innovative products, services and solutions through the brand
promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips
employs approximately 134,200 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide.
With sales of EUR 27 billion in 2007, the company is a market leader in medical
diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting
solutions, as well as lifestyle solutions for personal wellbeing. News from Philips is located at
www.philips.com/newscenter. About Gracenote Gracenote is a leader in global digital entertainment technology and content. Formerly known as CDDB, Gracenote provides critical embedded software and content to businesses that enable consumers to better manage, enjoy and discover digital media. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, Gracenote also has offices in New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Seoul and Hong Kong. Gracenote's solutions are embedded in leading media players such as Apple's iTunes, RealNetworks RealPlayer and AOL's Winamp and software applications for Creative and iRiver portable devices. Gracenote's technology powers leading home and automobile consumer electronics brands such as Alpine, Denon and Marantz, Kenwood, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony and Yamaha; as well as international mobile music applications for KTF, (Korea), Musiwave, (Portugal), Oi, (Brazil), and Golden Bytes Music (Benelux). For more information about Gracenote: www.gracenote.com/corporate |