Digital Photo Frame Among Top Honors at Global Sources Electronics Design Awards

ITNewsOnline has an excellent post about the Global Sources Electronics Design Awards.

People all over the world love their electronics, you know!

Eight electronics products designed and manufactured in Asia were named winners of the third Global Sources (Nasdaq: GSOL) Electronics Design Awards at a press conference in Hong Kong.

The Design of the Year Award went to Shenzhen Vogue Industries’ Pierre Cardin Ultra-mobile PC. It comes with a 7-inch touch screen display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and a host of other features usually only found in full-sized notebook computers. It also features a stylish brushed metal exterior and a leather case for convenient portability.

The other seven product category winners of the third annual Global Sources Electronics Design Awards are:

– CCTV Products: EE Electronics — Touchpad controlled DVR
– Digital Photo Frames: Simon Trading — 10.4-inch Digital Photo Frame with music and video functions
– GPS: YF International — 4.3-inch Ultra-slim Portable GPS Navigation Device
– In-car Entertainment: Longhorn Technology — Bluetooth hands-free car kit
– Mobile Phones: Power Idea Technology — Water proof/Shock proof Tough Phone
– Portable Media Players: Shenzhen Songer Technology — 64GB TFT MP4 player with remote control
– Portable PCs: China Great-wall Computer — 12″ laptop with one-key recovery function

“Asia’s exporters continue to drive electronics innovation through a combination of design and product functionality. This is highlighted by the latest winners of the Electronics Design Awards,” said Spenser Au, Global Sources’ President of Asian Sales.

“Today, buyers no longer come to trade shows in Hong Kong just to find great suppliers. They come to find great ideas and great products they can bring to market right away.”

Winning products set to be showcased at Global Sources’ China Sourcing Fairs: Electronics & Components and Security Products

Winning products and finalists are set to be showcased at the Design Awards Gallery during the China Sourcing Fairs: Electronics & Components and Security Products, Oct. 12 – 15 at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo.

Au said: “Now in its third year, the Awards have become recognized by international buyers for spotlighting the newest, most innovative electronic designs coming out of Asia.

“Tens of thousands of buyers from around the world will see these innovative products first-hand and this could help boost the chances of market success for the winners. Many of the products you see here today have real potential to be the hottest electronics products on store shelves in the coming months.”

Eight winners were selected out of 200 entries from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea based on technical design; features and functionality; visual appeal; and sales, marketing and export success.

The judging panel was made up of top industry experts and executives, including Cindy Li, Woolworth’s (HK) Procurement Sourcing Manager for Consumer Electronics/Accessories; Coles Group Asia (Target) Regional Merchandise Manager, Clement Lam and The Source Deputy General Manager, Kenneth Tse.

For more information about the Global Sources Electronics Design Awards and winning product profiles, visit http://www.globalsources.com/elecawards . For more information about the China Sourcing Fairs, visit http://www.chinasourcingfair.com .

About Global Sources

Global Sources is a leading business-to-business media company and a primary facilitator of trade with Greater China. The core business uses English-language media to facilitate trade from Greater China to the world. The other business segment utilizes Chinese-language media to enable companies to sell to, and within Greater China.

The company provides sourcing information to volume buyers and integrated marketing services to suppliers. It helps a community of over 829,000 active buyers source more profitably from complex overseas supply markets. With the goal of providing the most effective ways possible to advertise, market and sell, Global Sources enables suppliers to sell to hard-to-reach buyers in over
240 countries.

The company offers the most extensive range of media and export marketing services in the industries it serves. It delivers information on 4.3 million products and more than 196,000 suppliers annually through 14 online marketplaces, 13 monthly magazines, over 100 sourcing research reports and 12 specialized trade shows which run 29 times a year across 10 cities.

Suppliers receive more than 81 million sales leads annually from buyers through
Global Sources Online alone.

Global Sources has been facilitating global trade for 38 years. Global Sources’ network covers more than 60 cities worldwide. In mainland China, Global Sources has over 2,500 team members in more than 40 locations, and a community of over 1 million registered online users and magazine readers for its Chinese-language media.

Global Sources Press Contact in Asia
Camellia So
Tel: +852-2555-5021
Email: cso@globalsources.com

Global Sources Press Contact in U.S.
James W.W. Strachan
Tel: +1-480-664-8309
Email: strachan@globalsources.com

Global Sources Investor Contact in Asia
Investor Relations Department
Tel: +852-2555-4777
Email: investor@globalsources.com

Global Sources Investor Contact in U.S.
Kirsten Chapman & Timothy Dien
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
Tel: +1-415-433-3777
Email: tdien@lhai.com

SOURCE Global Sources

Pandigital Introduces Touch Clear Line of Wireless Photo Frames

From Image-Acquire comes this post about the new Pandigital Touch Clear line of wireless digital picture frames:

Pandigital is pleased to announce the launch of its PanTouch Clear line of digital photo frames that has a dynamic new design. This line of slim photo frames comes jam-packed with features despite being just 0.3″ thick. The frames are available in two sizes – 8in and 10.4in.

Some of the outstanding features of both the frames include an eye-catching 800×600 high-resolution LCD display and a 4:3 true photo aspect ratio. The 8in model includes 1GB of storage and a 6-in-1 digital media card reader while the 10.4in model offers 2GB and has a 5-in1 digital media card reader.

Other addition features of the PanTouch Clear frames that make them enjoyable to use include wireless and Bluetooth compatibility, programmable on/off times, clock and calendar functions. Users can view JPEG photos, play video and MP3 music files as well.

The Pandigital PanTouch Clear 8in and 10.4in digital photo frames have a recommended retail price of £109 and £149, respectively. For more information, please visit http://www.pandigital.net/.

Digital photo frames to get connected

John Walko at Video Imaging Design Line gives us some very interesting statistics about silicon providers for digital picture frames:

Courtesy of EE Times Europe

LONDON — The total silicon opportunity for digital photo frame suppliers will exceed $550 million by 2013, according to market research group InStat.

Microcontrollers are said to represent the largest opportunity in non-wireless enabled devices.

In a major study of the sector, InStat also found that the bill of materials for a wireless 8-inch digital photo frame will fall below $36 by 2013, with the LCD, the wireless module and the enclosure being the dominant cost items.

The researchers predict worldwide unit shipments for all types of digital photo frames will reach 50 million by 2013.

However because of the trend to purchase digital photo frames as gifts pre-loaded with pictures, most units shipped still lack advanced features such as wireless connectivity to the Internet. Nevertheless, wireless-enabled photo frames are a key growth driver as they will grow at twice the rate of overall digital photo frames in 2010.

“Prices for connected frames will continue to decline, and as manufacturers educate consumers about these devices; the mass market will become more comfortable using the Internet services connected frames support,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst.

Ethier adds applications such as sharing and downloading pictures over the Internet, as well as streaming Internet radio and video from online sites like YouTube, will be the main drivers in the sector.

Some of the major digital photo frame vendors and their silicon providers are said to include HP, Kodak, Pandigital, Philips, Samsung, Sony, RMI Corporation, Marvell Technology Group, and Samsung Electronics.

** Separately, Conexant said Tuesday (June 30) it has started sampling a range of SoCs targeting the connected photo frame and interactive display appliances market.

The parts integrate integrate Internet connectivity and touch-screen technology. The CX92735 supports streaming media content, MP3 audio playback with slideshow functionality, and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity.

The device integrates an ARM9 processor with a vector floating point unit and a dedicated image processor, which simultaneously processes streamed content.

Kaiser Baas Bluetooth-enabled Digital Picture Frame

A wireless/digital picture frame would be the PERFECT GIFT for Father’s Day, which is Sunday the 21st!

Straight from the Kaiser Baas website comes this description and review of their bluetooth-enabled 8″ digital picture frame:

Transfer your digital photos from your bluetooth enabled camera phone to this new 8.0″ Digital Photo Frame with Bluetooth capability. The frames display pictures on high quality LCD screens in a 4:3 aspect ratio, so there is no image stretching or distortion that you see with other frames on the market. Each Kaiser Baas frame also includes 256MB of in-built memory so slideshows can play without the need of a memory card. Features movie file playback, Clock and Calendar, Scheduled turn on and off, large image size capability and much more

** FREE Coloured frame by redemption **

Key Features
Bluetooth enabled
256MB in-built memory.
Split screen (displays up to 4 images at once)
4:3 aspect ratio means images are not distorted.
Easy to use on-screen menus & button controls.
Rotate, Zoom, and change transition effects and duration.
Black frame with optional other colours
Brightness control.
Power off by remote control.
Clock, Calendar and Time features with auto turn on and off.
Movie playback AVI/M-JPEG @ VGA.
MP3 audio playback.
In-built CF, SD, MMC, MS, xD memory card reader.
Handles JPEG files up to 7 mega pixel.
Headphone/speaker output .
Built in speakers.
Infrared remote control.
Supported Card Slots
Compact Flash (CF)
xD Picture Card (xD)
Secure Digital (SD)
MultiMedia Card (MMC)
Memory Stick / Memory Stick Pro / Duo (MS)
File Formats Supported
Photos: JPEG (max 7 megapixels)
Videos: AVI/M-JPEG @ VGA
Audio: MP3