Fox & Warner Bros. in Digital Content Initiative

BURBANK/LOS ANGELES: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group are working with SanDisk and Western Digital on an effort to advance the digital ownership of HD movies.

Dubbed Project Phenix, the efforts will give consumers an easier and faster way to buy, store and playback HD versions of movies and TV shows across multiple devices. In addition to local storage, the content will also be backed up via the UltraViolet industry standard and other cloud-based services.

The project is being developed by the newly formed Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA), which will create and license solution that secure HD and other premium copyright-protected content. Once content is downloaded to a hard drive or flash memory project, it can be accessed online or offline on any SCSA-enabled devices such as connected TVs, laptops, Blu-ray platers, tablets, mobile phones or game consoles.

"Developing solutions that will allow consumers to easily access and store true HD digital content is a critical component supporting digital media and entertainment consumption," said Darcy Antonellis, the president of Warner Bros. Technical Operations. "Through the SCSA, we will accelerate the development of products that will make it easy for the consumer to download, store and playback their high definition digital movies and TV shows, in full 1080p, on any SCSA-optimized device at home and on the go."

"The vision for this new product is to store, play and back up in the cloud personal and professional content," added Mike Dunn, the president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. "The device renders content up to 10 times faster than over-the-top internet. We see Project Phenix as a key component of the emerging digital ecosystem."

"The SCSA will provide consumers with a digital solution for movies and TV shows that is as simple to use as DVD and Blu-ray discs," commented Bert Hesselink, the chief technology officer of Western Digital Branded Products. "The SCSA solution will allow the consumer to store high definition purchased content, including copies of certain DVD content, in a secure, consumer-owned digital home library on a hard drive, along with their personal photos, music, and videos. Digital library content can be easily viewed inside the home on a TV, PC or tablet, or when owners are on the move with a portable library copy, providing mobile viewing even when a reliable Internet connection is not available, such as a plane, car, train or remote location."

"Consumers around the world will finally be able to enjoy locally stored premium Hollywood content in up to 1080p quality anywhere they desire on a broad range of electronic devices," said Sumit Sadana, the senior VP and chief strategy oficer at SanDisk. "With the involvement of major Hollywood studios and leaders in the HDD and Flash memory industries, the SCSA alliance’s openly licensable security standard holds the promise of fostering new device capabilities, new business models and ultimately improved value for consumers. SanDisk is very pleased to participate in this ground breaking alliance."