KDDI's EZ ''Chaku-Uta Full'' Mobile Music Download Service Using Coding Technologies' aacPlus Reaches 5,000,000 Songs Sold

Business Wire, April 6, 2005

TOKYO & SILICON VALLEY, Calif. -- Coding Technologies, the leading provider of audio compression technology for mobile, broadcasting, and Internet, today announced that on April 3, mobile carrier KDDI Corp. of Japan reached the milestone of 5,000,000 full song downloads sold in the EZ "Chaku-Uta Full(TM)" service. Started on November 19, 2004, EZ "Chaku-Uta Full" uses Coding Technologies MPEG-4 aacPlus format.

Tracks on EZ "Chaku-Uta Full" cost approximately 300 Yen. Listeners can preview songs for free and then purchase them for direct download to their mobile handset. Tracks can also be moved to removable memory cards on enabled handsets to increase the size of the listener's library. In addition to general listening, downloaded tracks can also be set as ringtones on the user's phone. Currently, 7 handsets from Toshiba, Hitachi, Sanyo, Casio and Kyocera support the EZ "Chaku-Uta Full" service, and it will be a standard feature in all future CDMA 1x WIN handsets.

"Our service is now growing exponentially," said Makoto Takahashi, Vice President and General Manager of the Content Division of KDDI Corporation. "The faster downloads and higher audio quality of aacPlus has helped to keep our customers happy."

"EZ 'Chaku-Uta Full' shows that full-track downloads to mobile phones is more than a fad," said David Frerichs, Vice President and U.S. General Manager of Coding Technologies. "It is the new way people want to experience music."

"Chaku-Uta Full(TM)" is a trademark of Sony Music Entertainment Corp.

Coding Technologies

Coding Technologies provides the best audio compression for mobile, broadcasting, and Internet. SBR(TM) (Spectral Band Replication) from Coding Technologies is a backward and forward compatible method to enhance the efficiency of any audio codec; putting the "PRO" in mp3PRO and the "Plus" in aacPlus. Parametric Stereo from Coding Technologies and Philips again significantly increases the efficiency of audio codecs for stereo signals at low bit rates. Products from Coding Technologies are fundamental enablers of open standards such as 3GPP, MPEG, Digital Radio Mondiale, HD Radio, and DVD. Coding Technologies is a privately held company with offices in Sweden, Germany, and Silicon Valley. Founded in 1997 in Stockholm, the company later merged with a spin-off of the renowned Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, the inventor of MP3. Coding Technologies' customers include AOL, iBiquity Digital, KDDI, mmO2, MusicMatch, Nokia, RealNetworks, SK Telecom, Texas Instruments, Thomson, Vodafone, and XM Satellite Radio.