Widevine Technologies, the world's most deployed provider of downloadable content protection and digital forensic solutions, and Sigma Designs, a leader in digital media processing solutions for consumer electronics, announced they have entered into a partnership agreement.

Under the agreement, the patented Widevine Cypher Virtual SmartCard is pre-integrated with Sigma Designs' EM8620L and SMP8630 series. This enables telco, cable, satellite, Internet and wireless service providers to offer secure content delivery to consumer devices powered by Sigma Designs' chipsets. The Widevine Digital Media Processor Partner Program enables consumer electronics manufacturers a faster time to market with content protection for video operators around the world.

Widevine Ready and Widevine Secured partners represent the widest range of consumer premises equipment, middleware and VOD vendors for IP video in the world, offering operators the broadest flexibility, choice and control over their IP video business.

"We believe there is significant value in a partnership between Sigma Designs and Widevine," said Ken Lowe, VP of strategic marketing, Sigma Designs. "Widevine is the largest and most deployed content protection solution in IPTV. Its global customer base and large number of integrated devices will enable Sigma Designs to further expand into the IPTV market powering the most popular types of devices customers want to use."

Sigma Designs' EM8620L digital media processor series currently powers approximately 70% of all IPTV set top boxes, including portable video players and portable media players.

According to Widevine's CEO Brian Baker, "Consumers increasingly are demanding flexible consumption of content on devices such as personal video recorders, portable media players, home media centers, PCs and digital televisions. Our partnership with Sigma Designs embeds Widevine protection capabilities into the chipsets that drive these devices and moves us rapidly toward being ubiquitous with a large device footprint. This gives operators the studio-mandated protection they need to get premium content and the flexibility to expand their customer's choices of how they want to consume content -- securely."

Widevine's open content protection platform offers interoperability with major middleware, VOD and consumer premises equipment; choice and options to deploy a multi-vendor environment; and the flexibility required to swap video distribution equipment while maintaining content protection. In 2005 Widevine's subscribers exceeded 1.5 million, spread over more than 90 current customers.