Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, SanDisk, Sony and Toshiba have agreed to work together on a new content protection technology for memory cards and storage devices. It’s currently called the Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative (although this name may change later) and is designed to protect High Definition content with Digital Rights Management when it’s shared between devices such as tablets and smartphones.
For example, HD video could be copied securely from a Blu-ray disc and watched on an Android tablet.
The five companies believe that they could start licensing the new secure memory technology early next year, with flash memory products and embedded memory solutions starting to use the technology later in 2012.
Hiroshi Yoshioka, Corporate Executive Officer and Executive Deputy President at Sony Corporation, said “We believe the secure solution created by this initiative will enable customers to enjoy high quality experiences anytime, anywhere. Sony has always been focused on bringing amazing experiences to people through highly-advanced technologies in content creation, content distribution and picture display.”