Chaoticom Announces First Ever Direct-to-Phone Mobile Music Full-Track Download Service in Europe at Midem Party

Business Wire, Feb 2, 2004

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors

ANDOVER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2004

Chaoticom, Inc. announced today that it will launch its Chaoticom Mobile Music Solution for cell phones running Microsoft's Windows Mobile software. Solutions for the Symbian Operating System will also be launched. Eurotel, the largest and most innovative mobile telecom operator in the Czech Republic, has selected this solution and is in beta testing now. So far Warner Music International and BMG Czech Republic have signed on to provide major label music for the service, which will enable mobile consumers to download full audio tracks to their Windows Mobile-based devices, among others.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to be the first in Europe with a direct-to-mobile music download jukebox service," said Justin Stockton, Director of Business Development, Eurotel Praha. "Chaoticom's mobile music solution includes leading edge technology that will enable Eurotel to be a leader in providing legitimate music downloading via our mobile network. It also provides an excellent user experience for our customers."

Chaoticom's mobile music solution is a turnkey platform complete with content licenses that enables mobile operators to offer music downloading services on more than 15 handset models on today's 2.5G networks, including Windows Mobile-based devices such as the Motorola MPx200, Eurotel Dataphone, and the Eurotel Smartphone. Handsets from Nokia, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson are also supported. The revolutionary KOZ encoding format makes real-time high quality direct-to-mobile music downloads possible for the first time on European GSM Networks. The small media player can be provisioned over-the-air and does not require additional hardware or software.

"We're pleased to see Chaoticom launch its mobile music service for Windows Mobile-based devices and look forward to it providing opportunities for operators to bring new multimedia experiences to their customers," said Jason Gordon, Product Manager with the Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft Corp.

The service was announced at a party at Club Love in Cannes, France, sponsored by Microsoft's Mobile Devices Division and Nike France, that brought together a first-ever combination of celebrity DJs, including BMG Recording artists Ali Shaheed from A Tribe Called Quest, Questlove from The Roots, and Pasemaster Mase from De La Soul. The party was organized by Lauren Coleman of Punch Media.

"We are very excited to work together with Eurotel and Chaoticom on this project," said Milan Herman, Managing Director at BMG Czech Republic. "At the moment, this new technology seems much safer than internet downloading and opens new possibilities for the music industry. We are pleased that Czech Republic mobile users will have the opportunity to be one step ahead of the rest of Europe, and we believe that BMG's content will contribute to the success of the JukeBox service."

"We are expecting the urban music genre featured at the party to become quite popular in the Czech Republic in 2004," said Lucy McQuilken, CEO of Chaoticom. "Eurotel, BMG Czech Republic, and Warner Music International have been fantastic development partners for us and are showing real vision in working with us to pioneer this new frontier for the sale of music. This service is the next logical development to build upon the popular ringtone market for mobile operators."

About Chaoticom

Chaoticom, Inc. is a software and services company that has invented a revolutionary new technology to compress, secure and distribute multiple types of media content over wireless networks. Chaoticom is based in Andover, MA U.S.A.

The Chaoticom mobile music solution runs on mobile devices and supports Microsoft Smartphone and Symbian operating systems. Both the Chaoticom media encoder and decoder are 100% software based.

Eurotel Praha

Eurotel Praha, spol. s r.o. is the largest provider of wireless voice and data services in the Czech Republic. By the end of 2003, the company exceeded 4.2 million customers. Eurotel's GSM (900/1800 MHz) and T!P (450 MHz) networks cover 99 percent of the Czech Republic's more than 10 million residents. Eurotel is the owner of the UMTS license for the operation of the third generation of mobile services. Eurotel has 330 roaming partners in 134 countries worldwide.

Eurotel Praha, spol. s r.o. is a limited liability company owned by Cesky Telecom, a.s. (100%).

BMG Czech Republic

The local BMG office in Prague, Czech Republic was founded in September 1991 as one of the first "majors" offices in Eastern Europe. BMG Czech Republic is one of the main leaders of the Czech and Slovak music market (the Slovak branch office was founded in 1994). The company had 12% market share in 2003. BMG Czech Republic will release the first local POP IDOL album this year.

BMG is the global music division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's leading media companies. BMG owns more than 200 record labels in 41 countries including Ariola, Arista Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Records and RCA Label Group - Nashville. BMG's music publishing operations are the third largest in the world.