DVD EXTRA, the technology that should see this company through to profits and a very bright future.
DVD-Extra

During the year the Group accelerated its development of a revolutionary
authoring software for producing interactive DVD-Video discs that will play on
any standard consumer DVD player. We applied for and received a SMART grant
award of 188,000 from the Department of Trade and Industry to assist with the
research and development. DVD-Extra unlocks the hidden interactive capabilities
that exist in every player, and allows developers to produce titles that exhibit
many of the properties of multimedia CD-ROM on a standard, unmodified, DVD
player.

ZOO's principal offering is a product for authoring interactive DVD-Video discs
called DVD-Extra Studio. This tool operates in a similar way to multimedia
authoring products that are designed for creating CD-ROM applications for PC and
Macintosh, but produces DVD-Video disc images as its output. It performs a
similar function to so-called DVD authoring products that are designed
specifically for creating DVD-Video discs, but due to the patent-pending
authoring method it employs, it offers substantial cost savings for companies
that are involved in the production of DVDs and also enables more sophisticated
functionality to be developed.

ZOO will license DVD-Extra Studio to multimedia developers and Compression and
Authoring facilities. Charges will be levied on a pay-per-use basis, such that
customers will pay a fee to ZOO for each project that uses DVD-Extra Studio.

The Group has applied for patents to protect the core DVD-Extra technology and
is continuing to further develop and protect its intellectual property
worldwide.

Outlook

Following the successful fundraising of 1.5m gross through the share placing
which was completed on 2nd June 2003 the Group looks forward to positive
progression. The portfolio of products is expanding, with a focus on the
development of our own intellectual properties. The board believes that the
combination of publishing low risk licensed product and in-house own brands
together with the huge potential of DVD-Extra Studio places the Group in an
excellent position for a move to profitability and significant future growth.

The Group plans to exploit the DVD-Extra technology internationally and has
established an Early Adopter Programme consisting of around twenty companies
including Technicolor, Warner and Comchoice, leading to the first commercial
release of the product within twelve months. We believe that the uniqueness of
DVD-Extra and the filing of international patents will allow ZOO to build and
maintain significant differentiation over other authoring tool providers.

John Barnes, Chairman

Ian Stewart, Chief Executive Officer.G

cashmagnet

Really brilliant post and much appreciated!

Eric

i think you guys are 8 months behind when it comes to zoo info, get over to the advfn site and catch up. read the links in my thread, after read if ya dont buy then ya mad as this will be 1 or more within two years

cashmagnet

OK, made your point. Swore never to do so but will probably swear now if I don't!

Eric

EWrobson thanks, and say hi once ya start reading over there :-)

i am surpriced at how far behind you guys are here, but i think i have now got ou attention and woken you guys up :-)

Conclusion
Despite its somewhat meandering business direction during the Company's first few years, ZOO appears to have now found a balanced strategy that is both delivering growth and should put it into profit in 2005. Its current status bears a remarkable resemblance to Eidos in its early years with a games publishing business being built up around a proprietary technology licensing business. Unlike Eidos, whose technology licensing efforts foundered, ZOO is expecting its ZOOtech division to become profitable in 2005 and has attracted a number of early-stage but high profile licensees including Universal, BBC and Celador. Despite concerted marketing and sales efforts by the Zootech team over the last few years, Universal remains the only major global DVD distribution partner. Zootech will need to secure others' support if it is to turn DVD-Extra into a global standard. However, the Company is reporting an encouragingly strong deal pipeline following the product's formal launch event in April 2004. It expects 100 products to have launched by the end of 2005 and has indicated that this is the primary focus for the Company for the time-being. DVD-Extra does have some technology-based obstalces to overcome in the medium to long-term also, such as the consumer launches of Blu-Ray and HD DVD standards in 2005. Both of these initiatives are expected to receive widespread backing from the major DVD distributors and will likely prove divisive forces within the DVD entertainment market.
Possibly in recognition of these short and long-term risks, ZOO has begun to grow its traditional games publishing division aggressively with a regular stream of both licence and IP acquisitions (ZOO bought the Premier Manager IPR and the rights to dozens of other former Gremlin-owned titles from Infogrames in 2002 and 2003). The games publishing business has changed considerably since the days of CEO Ian Stewart's Gremlin and it is arguably a more hostile environment for small publishers to operate in. However, the ZOO games publishing model is very low risk (it rarely funds development, most of its products are licensed as completed projects and/or funded by third parties) and ZOO definitely has the potential to carve out a profitable niche for itself within this sub-sector.

Some more good news.

http://i-newswire.com/pr6087.html

yes skids its been about the websites since the beginnig of the month
newswire seem a bit slower than some,i hope the game does better on pc
not too well liked on other formats,but i believe they have improved it,

Can't understand the drop today when the prospects for the company sound better than ever.
As usual, patience will reward holders.

WT.

Walktall...it is cos' of the profits being less than expected but the rest of it very positive. Zoo is a good long term share I shall keep it tucked away. It doesn't owe me anything as I have doubled my money on two separate occasions on Zoo so I shall wait.

Di

Me too Dynamite.

WT.

I think the drop will be short lived. Possibly a lack of stock has shifted it down.

skids

Citywire tip: Feeding time at the Zoo
Published: 16:30 Friday 18 February 2005 TOTAL PAGES: 5
By: Joanne Wallen

Zoo Digitals shares plunged nearly 11% today, but the bad news is short term and the fall could well be a buying opportunity.


http://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?VersionID=72187

azhar

Thanks for that. Exactly my thoughts, but went out for tea with the grandchildren without finishing my ruminating, on ZOO thoughts, that is, though our tea-party was also a bit like the zoo with Grandad making monkey faces through one of these windows with what looks like a bottle bottom. Blast, now Di will think I'm rather old - second thoughts; she may like her men more mature! Will get onto it sharp on Monday.

Eric

Here Eric...old boy :-) every post you make has me in it...you are building me up as a superstar...I ain't- just good at the mo at picking good stocks. All this praise and I am bound to fail (I don't really think I will fail though). 2005 is looking to be an exceptional year and I know you have alot of the same stocks. Have a look at my latest two stocks GFM and HYR.

Zoo is not doing so well price wise at the mo....but the potential is still there. I am hoping for some positive stuff in the papers today.

Eric you should come to the TRaders Day on the 8th April...or do you have to work, if so how do you manage to be so active on here, especially as an old man 8-) tease...hehe.
Di

di: Its true that great minds think alike, although they also say that fools seldom differ. I think the former is OK here as we are both steaming ahead with similar portfolios. Will look at GFM and HYR although getting to mental saturation point. Haven't done a Traders Day - presumably details are up top. Seen anything in the press on ZOO? Any kids pre-school? I'm fascinated by this Bubble of BGT - with the Bondai contract, I think there is a long way to go.

Eric

http://press.arrivenet.com/ent/article.php/595517.html

Hiya Eric...Hopefully we will have a wonderful year as you say our portfolios are similar and I now have VTI as well as I could not decide between HYR which was sold off from VTI and the parent VTI. Of my three new shares GFM is the best short term bet I think and I don't think it will be very long before it reaxhes the 'magic' pound. I bought some more of it yesterday.

No Eric my children are 10, 12, 12 and 14 so not much trading going on this week being half term and I must get the VAT return finished by the end of tomorrow. Yes details of the Traders Day 8th April is on of the BB's should be interesting. I am gearing up for full scale spread betting from September onwards when our youngest goes to high school and no more school runs for me! Yay. Guess you have all that to come.

Zoo well Ake has posted another bit of news and lets face it Zoo seems to have lots of snippets but no real news. I think it will be a while before Zoo comes good. Although I remember Oct 2003 when it flew upwards and I bought and sold it twice and doubled my money twice in a week. It will only take a good RNS or AFX and it will be away so Zoo is a good share in a varied portfolio IMHO.

I'll have a look at BGT Eric.
Di

Hi Di Twins, eh! Boys or girls and are they identical? Double trouble we used to call ours - in primary they really got in the neck: what would happen was that Sally would be in trouble, teacher would sort her out only to hear a noise from the other side of the room and Jill was the cause. Amazing what they are up to now after failing 12+. Our sequence was boy, twin girls, girl; one in Phuket now, one in Vancouver, one recently back from Tajikhistan and in Canmbridge; the loyal one as Sal calls herself, in London.

Go for CFDs I would say: not that I've tried spread-betting, but CFDs if you play them with a degree of care, are terrific multipliers and I just don't see a downside. SOS from Jill in Phiket at the weekend: wanted to buy a bungalow and needed a deposit of 20K. Not a problem I said having totted that up comfortably since January, you would have thought for that very reason! the next SOS was from Vancouver - you could just go on...

I see Zoo as one for a relatively small stake and put it by rather than to trade it. Will top up as opportunity has it and be ready for a bigger move. I read the trading statement as very bullish although the market was disappointed, but I saw the real news as the improved prospects for the current year.

Look forward to meeting you at Traders Day. Eric

ZOO DIGITAL
Summary
Synopsis
Investors should expect to see some real breakthroughs
from ZOO Digital Group over the next 12 to 18 months.
The games publishing arm, which generates the bulk of group
revenues, is set to grow substantially on the back of its
new interactive DVD titles and a
shift to licensing and distributing fewer, higher quality,
games titles. The technology division should announce contracts
with large-scale users of its DVD authoring platform,
underpinning its contribution to profits from 2005 onwards.