In an indication that Microsoft’s strategy for digital rights management in the "Zune era" will be even more stratified than at first thought, the company introduced another DRM technology to the mix this morning at 3GSM in Barcelona: PlayReady, which appears to add streaming media and pay-per-view capabilities to the PlaysForSure platform it already had in place. This morning, Microsoft is calling PlayReady “the result of extended dialogue with the mobile industry,†whose members were evidently looking for a more flexible way to transfer content between devices.
Though the company touted phone manufacturers as being among those calling for the new standard, it primarily lists mobile service operators, including Verizon and AT&T. As of yet, PlayReady does not appear to be associated with specific devices, though its formats are said to be downwardly compatible with Windows Media 10. PlaysForSure is typically associated with WM10, and Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile 6 operating system -– whose official rollout was also celebrated this morning –- is typically associated with PlaysForSure. In an interview last week with Microsoft Windows Mobile product manager John Starkweather, he told BetaNews that WM6 will be associated directly with PlaysForSure.
