Ephemeral Photos And Messages Get More Private, Interactive And Fun With Yovo From ContentGuard

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ContentGuard, a subsidiary of Pendrell Corporation (NASDAQ:PCO) and a pioneer of content protection technologies, today introduced Yovo, a new ephemeral messaging app that does much more than simply make the photos and messages that we share disappear. Yovo is the first app that allows users to protect pictures and messages, both old and new, and from undesired screen captures via a patent-pending scrambling technology. Users can also blur photos and selectively choose who can discover what is behind the blur, and set self-destruct timers for photos and messages from one second to 24 hours. What's more, Yovo allows users to share time-based and protected content with friends across social media, including Facebook and Twitter.

"Everyone is becoming more conscious of the digital trail they leave.  It seems as though there isn't a day that goes by where we don't see a headline about the consequences of inadvertent or malicious digital publication of our private lives," said Scott Richardson, ContentGuard's chief product officer. "Let's face it -- not every moment or message is meant to be shared or stay online forever. Yovo represents a new way to create and share photos and messages in a more private, fun and interactive way."

Yovo's highly intuitive mobile app allows users to capture and share private Yovo moments with friends without exposing those private moments to unintended viewers. It also allows users to share photos from their camera roll that were taken long ago outside of the Yovo app.  The app is simple, fun and easy to use with features that include:  

• Screenshot Scrambling: Patent-pending technology is unique in its ability to obscure an image, helping prevent screen capturing and recording from another device.
• Blurred Previews: Make sharing photos more fun, playful and interactive by blurring specific spots on images to tease what's in the photo and increase privacy before viewing. Increase or decrease the blur to make it more or less obvious.
• Social Sharing: Share a photo, message or both with friends using text, email, Facebook or Twitter. Recipients will get a single-use Yovo URL to view the image or message.
• Yovo Private Messaging: Message and share photos via private Yovo conversations and choose who sees the conversation and for how long.
• Yovo Timeline: View messages sent to you in your Yovo Timeline – 'like' posts by "fist-bumping," and reply to messages or posts with a text or a Yovo Moment of your own.
• Viewing and expiration up to 24 hours: Set a self-destruct timer from one second to 24 hours for approved recipients to view the content before it disappears forever. All content is deleted from Yovo's servers based on the user's expiration settings for what they have shared.
• Photos and Text: Photos can be taken straight from the app or chosen from your camera roll or library. Add text and change the font color to match the theme of your content.

To create a Yovo, users simply start with a photo (taken from within the app or from their camera roll), set the privacy features, timing, then select the intended recipient(s) and publish. Users decide who can see the content and for how long. Just like sending a normal text, MMS message or posting on Facebook or Twitter – but more fun, interactive and private!

In the mid-1990s, ContentGuard's inventors began developing and patenting technology that enables much of today's ephemeral functionality. This technology, represented by a global patent portfolio of more than 300 issued patents, has been licensed by major mobile handset vendors, consumer electronics manufacturers, and media companies for the protection of digital content. With Yovo, the company is leveraging its rich history of innovation to safeguard consumers' privacy when sharing content with friends, family or colleagues, by combining its proprietary rights technology with 256-bit AES encryption.   

The Yovo app is available for free across all iOS devices (iPhone, iPod and iPad) from the App Store or from www.yovo.me. In the coming weeks, a version for Android devices and additional enhancements to the app will be available.

About ContentGuard

ContentGuard is developing software and services for the emerging Internet privacy segment targeting both consumer and business solutions. Spun out of Xerox PARC, ContentGuard is a leading inventor, developer and licensor of content privacy and control technologies with more than 300 issued patents worldwide. ContentGuard currently has licensing agreements in place with leading technology companies, including: Time Warner, LG, Nokia, Sony, Panasonic, Microsoft, Toshiba, Casio, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Pantech, Sharp, and Xerox. ContentGuard is owned by Pendrell Corp. (NASDAQ: PCO) and Time Warner, and is headquartered in Plano, Texas. For more information, visit www.ContentGuard.com.

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SOURCE ContentGuard