Verizon said it would launch new Digital Media Services that would allow entertainment and media companies capitalize on consumers' growing appetite for live and on-demand, personalized video content on their smartphones, tablets and other devices.

The new service is expected to automate connection of media content to any device via internet protocol (IP) network.

Apart from helping content owners and digital media retailers tackle wide-scale content management and distribution challenges, the new service will ultimately enable high-quality and reliable unicast -- individualized video streams -- tailored to fit consumer preferences on virtually any viewing screen.

Verizon is creating a first-of-its-kind automated digital utility, said Mike Millegan, president of Global Wholesale. With this unique delivery platform, built on top of Verizon's high-IQ infrastructure, content owners, entertainment companies and digital media retailers will be able to create new business models that capitalize and deliver on the promise of digital entertainment.

Verizon said companies including Turner Broadcasting, Hearst Magazines and The Associated Press will be among the first to explore Verizon Digital Media Services' capabilities.

With Verizon Digital Media Services, studios, networks and other content owners can capitalize on an integrated delivery platform, from intake to distribution outlet; allow real-time visibility and control throughout the digital media supply chain and achieve significant economies of scale.

Verizon said Motorola is providing software that enables media transformation and automated workflow management, while Alcatel-Lucent looks after content delivery and adaptive streaming technology for unicast. In addition, HP is providing high-performance ProLiant server technology.

The incredible scale and comprehensive capabilities to be offered by Verizon Digital Media Services make it a groundbreaking new distribution platform for the digital media industry. This is a significant and much needed development in highly fragmented market, Greg Ireland, consumer video industry analyst for global technology research firm IDC, said in a statement.

The service is currently in a second beta with nine charter content-creation companies and will be available for commercial release sometime in July, Computerworld reported.

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