An international alliance, led by Samsung Electronics, has been founded to set international standards for portable IT devices. On February 21, Samsung Electronics announced that it has formed the PictSync Consortium jointly with foreign firms, including Epson, HP, IDS, Olympus, PortalPlayer, and others, and that the consortium will prepare standards for heightening the compatibility among products, including digital cameras, camera phones, PMP's, TVs, and others. This is the first time that the world's major players have formed a consortium for mutual compatibility among portable IT products. The consortium plans to co-develop PictSync technology, which can freely transmit photographs and videos, stored in different kinds of devices- including digital cameras, MP3 players, cellular phones, and others- by directly connecting the devices without using a PC. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics has been aggressively pursuing the standardization of future-generation IT devices and platforms, including the creation of the High-Definition Audio- Video Network Alliance (HANA) for capturing the domestic 'Digital Home' market. Currently, the six companies participating in the PictSync Consortium have been discussing the standard specifications. They plan to announce precise specifications at an exhibition to be held in the United States at the end of February under the supervision of the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) International. Eoh Kil-soo, managing director of Samsung Electronics, said, "Although, it is possible to view photographs on TV if you connect a digital camera with an AV cable, each product has a different AV cable. Accordingly, the methods of making contents compatible are different and complicated." He explained, "The special feature of PictSync is that it has simplified the process of sending and receiving contents with one cable like USB." Samsung Electronics plans to not only expand its portable digital device market through PictSync standardization but also unfold the PictSync license business in the future.