By Evan Hansen
CNET News.com
October 3, 2003, 4:00 AM PT
Digital media upstart DivX Networks may yet see a Hollywood ending for its controversial video format.
The San Diego-based company is perhaps best known among file swappers, who for years have used its highly regarded compression technology to speed video downloads–with or without the permission of copyright holders. Now DivX is hoping for a sequel as the technology partner of choice for film studios and consumer-electronics makers working to bridge the Internet and television.
The tiny company, which has so far announced a mere $11.5 million in venture capital funding, might just pull it off. By this time next year, DivX-compatible DVD players will likely be standard fare at consumer-electronics outlets in the United States, increasing the pressure on industry giants such as Microsoft and RealNetworks to get their own formats off the PC and onto one of the hottest-selling consumer-electronics devices around.
DivX is still only a little way along the road to media redemption, however, and could yet falter. But the company is beginning to tout some successes, having recently inked a deal with consumer-electronics giant Royal Philips Electronics for a DivX-certified DVD player, now available in Europe. It has also partnered with News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox to encode films for a newly launched airline movie-rental service.
“DVD players are considered the killer app for convergence, and we’re way ahead of our competitors on this front,” DivX CEO Jordan Greenhall said in a recent interview.
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