In the wake of the Windows Mobile 6 announcement, Microsoft has unveiled PlayReady, also at 3GSM World Congress 2007. PlayReady is a technology designed to deliver multimedia content access for digital entertainment and commerce. Microsoft has revealed that PlayReady addresses mobile operators and handset manufacturers delivering support for a multitude of content types. The Redmond Company plans to showcase a fully functional example of PlayReady by the end of the 3GSM World Congress 2007.

"Our wireless partners worldwide asked for a single system to power a growing array of business models and consumer scenarios - the result is Microsoft PlayReady," said Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of the Consumer Media Technology group at Microsoft. "With consumer demand for digital goods of all types growing exponentially, this technology delivers a foundation for the future and accelerates the transparent delivery of rich content to consumers."

Via PlayReady, customers will have access to music, games, video, ring tones and pictures and additional digital content as an integer part of next-generation media experiences on mobile networks. Microsoft has informed that PlayReady will be made available for implementation by mid-2007.

Subscription, rental, pay-per-view, preview and super-distribution are some of the business model examples available with PlayReady. The business models are the result of the talks between Microsoft and members of the mobile industry, and apply to an array of digital content types and formats.

"Wireless delivery of content to handsets continues to grow rapidly, underscoring the need for compatibility and interoperability. To address this requirement, Microsoft PlayReady has been designed to be fully backward compatible with Windows Media DRM 10, allowing devices that support Microsoft PlayReady to access content using Windows Media DRM. Microsoft will also provide an interoperability program so content may flow to qualifying DRM and content protection technologies," Microsoft stated.