Vivendi debuts multi-platform entertainment portal

French media conglomerate Vivendi announced the launch of Zaoza, a multi-platform entertainment portal spanning mobile handsets, PCs and, in the future, TV set-top boxes. According to BusinessWeek, Zaoza--Chinese for "buzz" or "word of mouth"--will offer consumers unlimited downloads of exclusive music, ringtones, video clips and games from a host of content partners for €3 ($4.40) per month. Subscribers will be able to share everything they download with up to five friends, transferring content to and from mobiles and PCs alike. Vivendi will target Zaoza to the 15-to-35-year-old demographic, with rollout scheduled to begin in France via operators Orange, Bouygues and SFR before expanding across Europe; tentative plans call for a U.S. launch to follow. The service is slated to work across all handset models with the glaring exception of Apple's iPhone.

Vivendi reportedly invested more than $14 million in Zaoza's development. The service will be operated by its fledgling Vivendi Mobile Entertainment unit, headed by Universal Mobile Music alum Cedric Ponsot. Ponsot tells BusinessWeek that Zaoza's core technology can link thousands of incompatible handsets, 800 different formats, screen sizes, network platforms and DRM systems; already 100,000 beta users have signed up for the service, with a full-scale commercial launch scheduled to follow next month. Confirmed content partners include Sony BMG Music and gaming providers Eidos and THQ.

For more on Zaoza:
- read this BusinessWeek article

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