“zoomIt is creating an entirely new way for Apple iPhone and iPod touch users to access and use content on the go,” said Chris Fisher, President, zoomMediaPlus. “Consumers want to be able to view, listen to and share their content instantly using the device they always have with them—not wait until they can connect to their MAC or PC and synch. In seconds, you can access content and ‘zoom it’ to your iPhone/iPod touch, your friends, family, co-workers and the web.”
In the future the zoomIt application will also support, among other things, protected content types enabling streaming of licensed music, videos, and other forms of protected content.
“We’re excited not only by what zoomIt does for user-generated content but by what it can also do to create alternative methods of content distribution other than optical CD/DVD and downloadable,” said Richard Sfeir, CEO, zoomMediaPlus. “With the iPhone and iPod touch being the dominant portable multimedia platform, we’re excited about enabling preloaded content on SD cards to give the industry and consumers new ways to distribute and consume protected content.”
The zoomIt accessory is compatible with all generations and memory configurations of both the iPhone and iPod touch, representing more than 75 million devices, according to Apple.
Once the zoomIt accessory is connected for the first time, the user will be prompted to start the automatic download and installation of the zoomIt application from the Apple Applications store, which will be done over the 3G/EDGE/Wi-Fi connections. Alternatively, the zoomIt application can be downloaded to iTunes and synched to the iPhone or iPod touch when connected to a PC or MAC. Once the application is installed, the user then launches the application and can begin viewing the contents of the SD card using a general purpose file manager. The SD card content can be entirely or selectively transferred to the iPhone/iPod touch thereby enabling the user to disconnect the accessory/SD card and have access to all transferred files permanently and within the zoomIt application on the iPhone/iPod touch.
With the accessory connected and the SD card inserted the user can view and stream/play photos, music, files, and more directly from the SD card. In addition, selected content types from the iPhone/iPod touch can be transferred to the SD card for sharing with other PC/CE/mobile devices. The application supports a wide range of content management and sharing features including email and direct posts to Facebook and Flickr of photos on the SD Card. Additional features will be added to the zoomIt application on the Apple App Store over time and made available to zoomIt users via the upgrade process, expanding the usability of the zoomIt accessory.
The zoomIt accessory will be available for shipment in April 2010 at a retail price of $59.95. The zoomIt application software (named “zoomIt”) is available on the Apple App Store under Utilities and is free.