TAIPEI, Taiwan and HONG KONG, Nov. 21, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- A total of 15 java mobile games based on the hugely popular Taiwanese teenage pop groups Lollipop and Mei Mei have been launched in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Developed and distributed by Artificial Life, Inc. (OTCBB:ALIF), a Hong Kong-based provider of award-winning mobile 3G technology and applications, and STAR, Asia's leading media and entertainment company, the mobile games are available for download on Artificial Life's m-commerce portal www.botme.com and via mobile game services of leading telecom operators in Hong Kong. Users in Taiwan can download the mobile games on dedicated Lollipop / Mei Mei website www.woo.com.tw's VIP member zone. The games will soon be available on mobile services of major Taiwan telecom operators.
Centering on Lollipop and Mei Mei, the mobile games feature group members engaging with mobile users in various games including dance, sing-along, playing cards, puzzles, and sports. The games also have technically advanced features, displaying the group members in real-life images and enabling mobile users to generate downloadable screenshots from inside the puzzle and photo-shooting games.
Lollipop (a six-member all-boy group) and Mei Mei (an eight-member all-girl group) were conceptualized and formed in Lollipop and Blackie's Teenage Club, two widely popular shows on CHANNEL (V) Taiwan that combine talent search with youth entertainment programming. Launched respectively in 2005 and 2006, Blackie's Teenage Club and Lollipop are idol academies in which the group members are selected from a large pool of contestants after going through numerous rounds of talent contests. Available daily on CHANNEL (V) Taiwan in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the shows have attracted a massive following in Chinese-speaking markets across Asia since their launch.
Jason Siu, General Manager, STAR Taiwan, commented, "Lollipop and Mei Mei, the two groups created by CHANNEL (V), have been overwhelming successes, and extending their popularity to mobile gaming is something we are confident will be highly popular with the youth market across Asia. As Asia's mobile market continues to evolve, we will increasingly look for further opportunities to leverage our highly popular content into new media value-added services such as the one announced today."
"STAR has been a valuable partner to us in providing promotional support, as well as building up strong brand recognition among the program viewers. Since the target audience of the entertainment programs and the mobile games are the same, we have already established a very solid fan base. We are very glad to continue our past efforts of delivering high quality branded games by bringing these 15 games to STAR customers," said Eberhard Schoneburg, CEO of Artificial Life, Inc.
About STAR
STAR is a leading media and entertainment company in Asia. STAR broadcasts over 60 television services in ten languages to more than 300 million viewers across 53 Asian countries. STAR channels cover all genres including general entertainment (Star Plus, Xing Kong, Star Chinese Channel, Star One, Star Utsav, Star World, Vijay, antv, Phoenix Chinese), sports (ESPN, Star Sports), movies (Star Chinese Movies, Star Gold, Star Movies), music (Channel (V)), and news and current affairs (Star News, Star Ananda, Star Majha, Phoenix InfoNews Channel). STAR controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming and also owns the world's largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and Bruce Lee. In partnership with leading companies in Asia, STAR businesses extend to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems, direct-to-home services, terrestrial TV broadcasting, wireless and digital services. STAR is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation. www.startv.com
About Artificial Life, Inc.
Artificial Life, Inc. (OTCBB:ALIF) is a public U.S. corporation headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Berlin and Tokyo and a leading global provider of award winning mobile technology, content, games and applications (see also http://www.artificial-life.com and http://www.botme.com).
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our future results of operations, financial condition and business prospects. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although such statements are based on our own information and information from other sources we believe to be reliable, you should not place undue reliance on them. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual market trends or our actual results of operations, financial condition or business prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward looking statements for a variety of reasons. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to obtain additional funding to operate and grow our business; the unproven potential of our mobile gaming business model; changing consumer preferences and uncertainty of market acceptance of our products; timely adoption and availability of 3G mobile technology; market acceptance for use of mobile handheld devices to play the interactive games; unpredictable mobile game development schedules; our reliance on a relatively small number of brands; our ability to license brands from others; our dependence upon resellers and telecommunication carriers and operators to distribute our products; our ability to successfully develop, introduce, and sell new or enhanced products in a timely manner; and the timing of new product announcements or introductions by us or by our competitors. For additional discussion of these risks and uncertainties and other factors, please see the documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB filed on April 3, 2007. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press release.