HONG KONG, LOS ANGELES and MUNICH, Germany, Dec. 8, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artificial Life, Inc. (OTCBB:ALIF) (www.artificial-life.com), a leading full service provider of award winning mobile technology, games and applications, announced today the successful implementation of the company's SMS Galaxy(tm) technology in the Allianz Arena, one of the biggest stadiums in Europe. It is the company's first time implementing the technology for a large scale outdoor live event. Likewise, FC Bayern Munich is the first European soccer team to use the technology prior to a live match.
A photo accompanying this release is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5658
Artificial Life Inc.'s innovative cross platform mobile technology allows the audience to virtually appear as animated characters on two 92-square meter LED displays inside the arena and dozens of smaller LCD displays which are spread throughout the arena. Audiences participate in the form of high quality animated models of one of FC Bayern Munich star players represented as avatars, including Luca Toni, Franck Ribery, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Philipp Lahm and others.
A 3-7 minute live quiz section is held with a live host raising questions related to soccer, news and history of FC Bayern Munich. Participants submit answers via their mobile phones using text messaging. These answers trigger changes in the movements and actions of the animated characters on screen in real time. Those with correct answers proceed to the next question and those who give wrong answers are eliminated in visual and humorous ways.
The technology facilitates interaction of up to approximately 69,000 fans simultaneously, requiring only a mobile device. No additional controllers or equipment are necessary for participants.
The tentative launch schedule of the technology is early December, to be debuted on December 5th, and followed by every upcoming home match of the national league (Bundesliga).
"We are happy to implement this innovative technology in the Allianz Arena. The live mobile participation interactions will add fun and a sense of involvement to the supporting programme of the matches. Thanks to Artificial Life for bringing in this new entertaining element to our home games," said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Executive Board Chairman of FC Bayern Munich AG.
"This is a great opportunity for us. Our technology enables flexible adoption to different program formats and locations. The advanced set-up of the Allianz Arena provides us with the right atmosphere and we are grateful for the generous support of the arena. We would also like to express our greatest thanks to FC Bayern Munich for using our technology to enhance the entertainment of the audience during their home games," said Eberhard Schoneburg, CEO of Artificial Life, Inc.
(SMS Galaxy(tm) is now rebranded as "MoPA-TV(tm)")
About Allianz Arena
The Allianz Arena, designed purely as football stadium, opened in 2005 and is home to both Munich clubs -- FC Bayern and TSV 1860. The stadium is located at the northern edge of Munich, holding a capacity of approximately 69,000 people. It is also the only stadium in the world that has a full changing color facade. Allianz, the large financial services provider, purchased the rights to name the stadium for 30 years. During the 2006 World Cup, it was known as the FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich.
About FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich (German: FC Bayern Munchen, also known as FCB) is a German sports club based in Munich, Germany. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful club in German football, having won 20 German championship titles. In recent years they have been by far the most successful team in German football, winning seven of the last ten championships; the last international title was the UEFA champions League in 2001. Soccer celebrities under the club include: Luca Toni, Franck Ribery, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Jurgen Klinsmann, the head coach of the Club as well as a retired world class soccer player.
About Artificial Life, Inc.
Artificial Life, Inc. (OTCBB:ALIF) is a public US corporation headquartered in Los Angeles, with its production center in Hong Kong and additional offices in Berlin (EMEA headquarters) and Tokyo. As a leading, full-service provider of mobile broadband 3G technology, mobile participation TV (SMS Galaxy(tm) now branded as MoPA-TV(tm)), mobile gaming, content and business applications, Artificial Life provides 2D and 3D multi- and single player rich-media applications for 3G, 3.5G and 4G network-enabled mobile phones. Recognized internationally for outstanding content quality and technology, Artificial Life transcends traditional modes of mobile communications and interactive gaming. For more information, please visit www.artificial-life.com or the company's m-commerce portal at 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 March 13, 2008. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press release.
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