Playboy
announced that it has signed a three-year licensing agreement with Legend
Mobile to produce and distribute its content on storage media such as
secure digital cards and CD-ROM. The license grant to Legend includes
color mobile phones and handheld computers manufactured by Motorola,
Nokia, Palm, Handspring, Sony, and Research in Motion's Blackberry.
The first of the Playboy titles, which will contain a series of images,
games and editorial material from Playboy magazine and Playboy.com,
is expected to hit retailers in September for US $19.95.
"The highly anticipated release of this latest Playboy software is an indication of the popularity of the brand within the interactive arena," said Sarah Haney, Entertainment Licensing Manager, Playboy Product Licensing. "As a leader in the multi-media entertainment space, Playboy is committed to pursuing every segment of the market and providing its consumers with compelling entertainment. We are pursuing a wide array of opportunities and technologies to reach our customers on the go, including both storage media cards and wireless transmission."
Legend's
expansion cards will allow users to view hundreds of images on their
handhelds and mobile phones. There are approximately 10 million color
phones and personal digital assistants in use in the United States and
new devices, such as the Motorola iDen i95c and the Handspring Treo,
are being introduced regularly. Additionally, Sun Microsystems estimates
that 75 million handsets will be shipped in calendar 2002 that run its
Java operating system, which supports Legend's licensed Playboy content.
"The future of content for handheld and mobile devices is color,"
commented Peter Klamka, President of Legend Mobile. "Engaging content
for the installed base of color personal digital assistants and the
rapidly growing color Java phone market has been underserved by content
providers. We are looking forward to delivering Playboy to the millions
of color handset users," he continued.
