LAUNCH OF FIRST-EVER DSF AUTO SEASON SET TO ACCELERATE FESTIVAL’S EPIC 30TH ANNIVERSARY INTO HIGH GEAR

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 17 September – Paymentology, the leading global issuer-processor, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Enjaz, one of Saudi Arabia’s most trusted providers of remittance and digital payment solutions. Together, the two companies are entering a partnership to advance next-generation digital payments in the Kingdom, bringing greater choice, speed, and customer-centric innovation to consumers and businesses.

Enjaz enables money transfers to over 200 countries via digital channels, branches, and global partners. With Paymentology’s support, it will expand into next-generation card products, including prepaid, debit, and virtual cards – integrated with its existing services. 

By harnessing Paymentology’s highly configurable, cloud-first issuing and processing platform, Enjaz extends its product launch capabilities and bring a new wave of of innovative digital payment services to the Kingdom. These include international and domestic scheme enablement, tokenisation with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Mada Pay; and advanced multi-level controls enhancing security, enabling leading-edge propositions and real-time decisioning. Enjaz will also benefit from access to more than 450 production-ready APIs, enabling rapid innovation and the addition of new features such as loyalty and multi-currency wallets. Alongside this, real-time data feeds and analytics will power smarter fraud prevention, personalised offers, and deeper engagement across the cardholder journey.

Crucially, this innovation is underpinned by local infrastructure, already deployed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and soon to be deployed on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in Saudi Arabia, ensuring both speed and compliance with the Kingdom’s regulatory requirements.

Bassam AlEidy, CEO at Enjaz, said: “At Enjaz, our focus has always been on giving our customers speed, convenience, and security, whether they are transferring money abroad or making everyday payments. By collaborating with Paymentology, we can now extend our card services that expand choice and enhance financial freedom. This partnership represents a major step in shaping the future of payments in Saudi Arabia, delivering innovation that is inclusive, dynamic, and tailored to the needs of our market.”

Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology, added: “Saudi Arabia is building one of the world’s most dynamic payments ecosystems under Vision 2030. Enjaz’s ambition adds to that momentum, and Paymentology’s role is to power innovators with secure, scalable issuing. Together with Enjaz, we’ll expand choice, accelerate time-to-market, and raise the bar for customer experience in the Kingdom.”

The Kingdom’s payments landscape is undergoing rapid transformation, with the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) reporting that electronic payments accounted for 79% of total retail transactions in 2024, up from 70% in 2023. Non-cash transactions rose to 12.6 billion in 2024, highlighting the acceleration towards a cash-lite economy.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – inDrive, a global mobility and urban services platform, has officially launched its ride-hailing service in Riyadh, marking its second city launch in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2025, following a successful rollout in Jeddah earlier this year. inDrive is already operating in test mode in Riyadh, but the official launch is scheduled for September 23rd during Saudi Arabia's National Day.

For the third consecutive year, inDrive has ranked as the world’s second most-downloaded mobility app, according to Sensor Tower. The platform is a top travel app in the MENA region, especially in Morocco and Egypt, and operates in 48 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The Riyadh launch follows inDrive’s announcement in April 2025 that it had received its official license to operate in Saudi Arabia – a significant milestone that paved the way for rapid expansion across the Kingdom.

“Our unique peer-to-peer model has proven effective across the globe,” said Abdulrahman Basallum, inDrive Country Manager in KSA. “After a strong response to our test launch in Jeddah, where we quickly built a base of both drivers and passengers, we’re confident in our ability to succeed in Riyadh as well. People appreciate our fair, transparent service and they recommend it to others.”

Unlike traditional ride-hailing apps, inDrive offers a unique bidding model where passengers propose a fare, and drivers have the freedom to accept, decline, or counter the offer. This model empowers both parties, resulting in fairer prices and a higher level of user satisfaction. Drivers also benefit from significantly lower commission fees- 2 to 3 times lower than industry averages.

Moreover, to support the launch of the service in the country, inDrive drivers will not pay any commission at first, allowing them to earn even more, while passengers will be able to negotiate even more attractive ride prices.

The user base in Jeddah has been growing by over 250% month-over-month on average over the past quarter, exceeding the company's expectations. The company sees significant growth potential in the country, as its business model demonstrates a strong product-market fit.

Backed by major global investors including Insight Partners, Bond Capital, and General Catalyst, inDrive was last valued at $1.23 billion in 2021. The company has since seen substantial revenue growth.

inDrive’s broader mission is to challenge injustice and positively impact the lives of over 1 billion people by 2030. As part of this commitment, the company invests across MENA region in social initiatives focused on education, culture, sustainability, and gender equality.

The company also maintains a strong focus on safety, employing advanced technology for driver verification, ride tracking, and a dedicated 24/7 customer support team to handle critical situations.

Sony’s tools and services usher in a new era of authentic and creative storytelling through simplified integration, impeccable image quality, sustainable approaches and cloud-native or hybrid workflows.

(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 11 September 2025) – The Sony IBC 2025 exhibit will present a powerful combination of hardware and software solutions – including camcorders, studio cameras, monitors, switchers, and storage – seamlessly integrated with the latest advancements in Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and IP technologies. Together, they form a dynamic and connected ecosystem designed to elevate content creation and streamline media production workflows, be they for news and live production or filmmaking.

Authenticity and real-time creativity

As AI-generated and manipulated content becomes increasingly sophisticated, the need for trusted, verifiable imagery has never been greater, especially for media professionals. Sony is a member of the steering committee of C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity) and is involved in the organization’s efforts to track media’s provenance. The  PXW-Z300 is also the world's first camcorder  to embed digital signatures directly into video files, alongside featuring 1/2-inch 4K 3-CMOS Exmor R®️ sensors, the latest BIONZ XR™️ image processing engine, and a dedicated AI-processing unit. At IBC, Sony’s Ci Media Cloud and Sony’s Media Backbone Hive platform will also preview functions helping news organisations to verify footage provenance by displaying the digital signature information compliant with the C2PA standard. Media Backbone Hive recently launched its latest version, V2.3, featuring an advanced Web Editor and integration with AWS AI services. Hive Cloud is now compatible with the Time-addressable Media Store API (TAMS), enabling news agencies and broadcasters a fast-turnaround and cost-effective workflow in the cloud.

Cloud-native tools, applied intelligence and enhanced connectivity for agile workflows

The newly launched PXW-Z300 camcorder incorporates a dedicated AI-processing unit and an image processing engine. This enables high-precision subject (human) recognition based on face, eye, skeletal structure, and posture information. It also features an auto-framing function that automatically adjusts composition to keep human subjects centred in the frame.

A perfect companion to the PXW-Z300 is the new compact data transmitter LiveU TX1, co-developed with LiveU under a collaborative partnership scheduled for commercial release in 2026, exhibited for the first time at IBC. It supports resilient bonded transmission for faster data transfers using multiple network connections and enables automatic file transfers simply by connecting the device to a camera via USB. These features streamline video production by allowing direct file transmission from the field.  In addition to USB connectivity, SDI support is also planned, enabling compatibility with a wide range of Sony camcorders.  Sony will continue to offer diverse video transmission workflows to customers through products such as the 5G-compatible wireless communication device PDT-FP1, which enables high-speed, low-latency video transmission, and through collaborations with various industry partners.  

5G is steadily becoming more widely used in the news and live events workflows for transmission as demonstrated by the numerous high profile trials Sony has participated in over the last 18 months. In July 2025, Sony, BT, and SailGP tested roaming Full HD cameras over a high-capacity network slice, enabling global broadcasts. Select photographers also uploaded real-time images via Sony Alpha cameras and the PDT-FP1. 

Sony’s ecosystem Creators’ Cloud continues to evolve, and IBC 2025 will see the latest versions of Creators' Cloud apps, be they for individuals or for enterprise, such as Monitor & Control, Creators' App for Enterprise, Catalyst Prepare, and Catalyst Prepare Plugin supporting creators. Ci Media Cloud’s LiveSession is now available as an add-on to MediaBox, enabling live, high-resolution review and collaboration with guests via share-link – no Ci account required. A redesigned Adobe Premiere Pro panel will launch this winter, allowing editors to access Ci Workspaces directly, drag and drop assets, import comments as timeline markers, and re-link proxies to source files more easily. A prototype of the Premiere Pro panel plugin will be available for demonstrations at IBC. Platform upgrades, including accelerated transcoding and live stream optimisation, boost Ci’s speed and reliability for media teams in 190 countries. 

Open ecosystem and integration

Software Defined Broadcast (SDB) reflects Sony’s long-term vision for an interoperable, software-centric broadcast future. Aligned with the EBU’s Dynamic Media Facility and Media Exchange Layer initiatives, SDB aims to decouple media applications from dedicated hardware, enabling them to run as scalable services across commodity IT infrastructure. Sony is actively integrating products like M2L-X, HawkREPLAY and parts of the Nevion portfolio into this shared-memory framework, offering high-efficiency media exchange without the limitations of traditional formats like ST 2110. By showcasing at IBC real-world implementations of these technologies, Sony reinforces its commitment to open standards, multi-vendor collaboration, and next generation broadcast architectures. 

As the industry moves from hardware to software-based content flows, Sony’s Software Defined Broadcast initiative represents a pragmatic and deployable approach to modern live production. Built around proven components such as Global Event Manager (GEM), Stream Relay, M2L-X and Ci Media Cloud, Software Defined Broadcast current capabilities enable intelligent orchestration and automation of complex multi-venue workflows. A recent and ongoing UK major sports project demonstrates this in action — delivering scalable, efficient and cost-effective production using cloud-native infrastructure. With dynamic provisioning, pay-per-use efficiencies, and remote collaboration capabilities, Sony is helping redefine sports production. This marks the evolution from hardware-intensive deployments to agile, software-led ecosystems that can meet the demands of today’s distributed production models, while also opening the door to greater sustainability and scalability in live media processing and transport.

Aligned with the wider SDB vision, Hawk-Eye Innovations will be demonstrating a complete broadcast ecosystem with HawkREPLAY, HawkNEST, and Configure REPLAY. The system delivers 4x UHD slow-motion replays, advanced asset management, and remote production capabilities. It integrates seamlessly with Sony technology, offering a fully unified, cinematic-grade workflow for live sports and event broadcasting. At IBC 2025, Hawk-Eye Innovations is announcing HawkREPLAY in the Cloud launching in 2026.

Sony Networked Live is a modular, partner friendly and ever-expanding ecosystem designed to optimise live production workflows by leveraging IP networks for remote and distributed production. 

Part of Networked Live’s ecosystem, Nevion announced support for hardware-accelerated SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) to its software-defined media node Virtuoso. This upgrade, added to existing low-latency HEVC compression functionality, enables broadcasters to leverage unmanaged networks, including the Internet, for applications such as connectivity back-up or GCCG (ground-to-cloud-cloud-to-ground) transport. Nevion’s VideoIPath release this month focuses on usability with a host of new features, including desktop simplification, multi-language support and single sign-on (SSO), designed for easier workflow handling for live production.

In this vein, the upcoming enhancements to the CNA-2 will boost operability for broadcast. New features include Scene File upload/download via PC, an intuitive WEB-MSU control panel, and GMCS support for the HDC-P50A. The update also introduces multiple 12-unit support through WEB-RCP and adds compatibility with both the AM7 and FR7 cameras, streamlining multi-camera workflows and expanding system flexibility across live production environments. 

As part of its v2.4 scheduled for October 2025, the MLS-X1 software-based platform will introduce several new features and improvements, harnessing the capabilities of its hybrid architecture to deliver enhanced flexibility, performance, and operational efficiency. Enhanced functionalities include incorporating combined logic from Tally and XpT statuses for more dynamic workflows, through Advanced Conditional Actions, but also expanded DME effects by utilising GPU power to offer a broader range of effects. The V2.4 software will also deliver greater flexibility in node combinations, for more versatile configurations of MLS-X1 capabilities and functions.

In parallel, there is a growing demand for space-saving solutions in sports broadcasting, with the recent HDC-P50A meeting that need. The HDCE-500 camera extension adapter (planned for March 2026) is compatible with the HDC-5000 series, HDC-3000 series, and HDC-P50A system cameras. Positioned between the camera and CCU, it powers the camera and supports transmission up to 10 km by converting optical to single-mode fibre. When used with the HDC-P50A, it enables power and video transmission via a single SMPTE cable, offering greater operational flexibility.

In response to the explosion of content creators’ demand for plug-and-play studios, Sony’s Simplified Live ecosystem will be also showcasing a user friendly all in one studio set up from capture to content distribution that allows influencers and content creators to professionalise and automate their set ups, without compromising on image quality.

Virtual Production and immersive innovation

Sony’s exhibit at IBC 2025 will showcase the evolution of Spatial Content production including Virtual Production, through a series of creative tools, including digital cinema camera VENICE 2, camera tracking system OCELLUS, the latest LED displays Crystal LED CAPRI and VERONA for VP imagery, along with the latest version (Ver3.0) of Virtual Production Tool Set. 

Sony will be demonstrating a tool that simplifies match-move work (traditionally done manually) by utilising tracking data (camera trajectory data) recorded with the camera tracking system OCELLUS, alongside its Virtual Production Tool Set Ver3.0, scheduled for release from December 2025 or later. All new features in V3.0 will be provided free of charge, including Viewing Angle colour correction, Ray Tracing Acceleration, and Colour Calibrator's new features such as Calibration for Third-party Cameras and LUT creation functionality that works with 2D plates.

Sony will present new software updates for its Cinema Line cameras that broaden creative workflows. The FX3 and FX30 can now record in Blackmagic RAW via HDMI to Blackmagic’s Video Assist devices. Meanwhile, an update from February 2026  will enable the FR7 to support OpenTrackIO, SMPTE’s open-source virtual production protocol, allowing standardised high-precision lens data output and smoother integration with third-party tools and CG engines, improving industry-wide compatibility and scalability.

Additionally, nablet, a German company specialising in media processing technology, has released the nablet X-OCN Media Extension plug-in for macOS  this month, enabling X-OCN footage recorded with VENICE 2 and BURANO to be used with Apple’s Final Cut Pro for Mac. A further demonstration on the stand will bring together the VENICE Extension System Mini with Sony’s Spatial Reality Display (ELF-SR2) in 3D content production workflow. This setup allows glass-less, real-time monitoring of 3D images for immediate and accurate depth checking on set, improving both visual fidelity and production efficiency.

Sustainable innovation in practice

At IBC 2025, Sony will be welcoming visitors in the Elicium and will be showcasing some of its latest environmental initiatives alongside its technological demonstrations.

Aligned with Sony’s overarching Road to Zero set of sustainability focused initiatives, the IBC 2025 stand highlights sustainable innovation with Polygood®️ panels made from 100% recycled and recyclable plastic, including reclaimed medical equipment and repurposed food packaging waste. The zero-waste process reintegrates leftover plastics into production, ensuring a circular approach. Built for longevity, these panels are fully recyclable, crafted from pure recycled material, free of additives or binders. Incorporating these panels adds a powerful sustainability story to Sony’s booth and visitor experience. The stand will also feature 100% recycled plastic furniture and will be reused for at least the coming three years.

For more information about Sony’s exhibit at this year’s IBC, please visit pro.sony/ibc.

The latest models include 480GB and 240GB options, which complement recently launched high-capacity cards, and provide users with flexible choices to meet their specific needs

(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - 11 September 2025) – Sony is strengthening its portfolio of CFexpress Type A Memory Cards to accommodate the varying needs and budgets of professional and prosumer users. Two new capacity CFexpress 4 compatible cards, the CEA-G480T (480 GB ) and CEA-G240T (240 GB), will join the CEA-G1920T (1920 GB) and CEA-G960T (960 GB), which are now available for purchase.

The new memory cards achieve a high read speed exceeding 1,800 MB/s, along with a write speed of 1,700 MB/s. The CEA-G480T and CEA-G240T are compatible with select Cinema Line and mirrorless Alpha cameras, including the ILCE-7M4, ILCE-7SM3, ILCE-7RM5, ILCE-1, ILCE-1M2, ILCE-9M3, FX6, FX3, FX30, FX2, FR7, and PXW-Z200. Together with the recently released 1920 GB and 960 GB models, the 480 GB and 240 GB cards give users powerful, high-speed options in a range of capacities to address their unique use case and accommodate a wider range of scenarios.

Availability

The CEA-G480T and CEA-G240T will be available in selected countries in the Middle East from October 2025.

For detailed information about each card, please visit: https://www.sony.com/en-sa/electronics/xqd-memory-cards/cea-g-series