LAS VEGAS –(Business Wire)– Jan. 10, 2008 Philips’ Eco FlatTV(TM) took home top honors today at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with the overall “Best in Show” in CNET’s “Best of CES” awards. The innovative Eco TV (42PFL5603D) is a high-definition LCD television that delivers superb picture quality while minimizing power consumption.
To qualify for “Best in Show,” the Eco TV won the television category for the “Best of CES” awards.

The Eco TV is designed with several power saving features such as a proprietary dimming technology that is designed to lower the LCD panel backlight to reduce power consumption without compromising the picture quality. A built-in light sensor automatically measures the viewing room’s ambient lighting and adjusts the television’s backlight for power efficiency.

As part of the Philips Design Collection, the Eco TV delivers precision picture quality and definitive style while incorporating lead-free components and flame retardant materials, which are safe to the environment. Furthermore, the packaging box and user manuals are all made of recycled materials.

“Philips has long been an industry leader in sustainability and it is an honor to be recognized for that commitment by an organization such as CNET,” said Paul Zeven, CEO, Philips Electronics, North America. “The Eco TV sets the standard in design and efficiency, giving consumers unmatched picture quality without the hefty power bills.”

Selected by CNET’s panel of expert editors, winners are recognized as the hottest products in their respective technology categories for their unmatched innovation and creativity, and their ability to excite consumers and help them explore a world gone digital. CNET’s editors received and reviewed hundreds of entries, as well as scoured the CES show floor for products to consider for the prestigious award.

The ten technology categories include: digital photo and video; car tech and GPS; cell phones and smart phones; computers and hardware; emerging technologies; gaming; home audio; home video; MP3 and portable video players; and televisions. A video of the winners and finalists showcasing their technologies can be found at http://www.cnet.com/ces.

“Chosen from hundreds of products at CES, Philips’ Eco TV demonstrates the creativity, excellence and vision that set the standard at CES,” said Jai Singh, editor-in-chief of CNET and senior vice president for Content Development. “The ‘Best of CES’ Awards brings together the top consumer electronics that will impact the coming year for consumer electronics.”

The Philips 42PFL5603D is one of several Philips Green Flagship products. Philips Green Flagship products carry the Philips Green logo and have been certified by external auditors that they are more than 10% more efficient than other products on the market within a given product category. The Eco TV will be available in March and will carry a suggested retail price of $1,399.

January 7, 2008 – Las Vegas, NV – The world premiere of Jook™, a revolutionary music technology standard with social networking capabilities, launches at CES, January 7 – 10, 2008, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in North Hall, Booth 5733MP.

“Music has always been one of the most fundamental conduits for people to socialize and Jook is the natural progression to elevate music into the 21st century,” said Min-Liang Tan, president and chief executive officer, Jook Inc. “Jook Inc. and its partners all aim to make music a social experience again rather than have it confined to a personal music player. The interconnectivity and social aspects of Jook are limitless and will have a tremendous impact on music and personal audio devices in the future.”

Jook, developed by Jook Inc. – a subsidiary of Razer – is a technology standard that allows any portable music player to act like a personal radio station enabling everyone, regardless of their music player, to wirelessly transmit songs to people around them. For example, someone with an iPod™ can become a DJ and play music for someone sitting across from them on the subway listening to a Zune™. Friends jogging together can all tune into one person’s music player and listen to the same songs at the same time – regardless of the type of portable music players being used.

Jook is further designed to be a social networking tool that lets listeners later connect and talk about music they had previously heard. Users can create a profile, store it on their Jook enabled device, and share it with their listeners or broadcasters. These profiles provide more information about members, which can include anything from a personal web page to their contact information, as well as their music preferences. Further, music fans can rate fellow Jook users’ songs as well as the overall playlist the broadcaster chose to create and share.

How it works:
Jook consists of three modes that users can flip between with the push of a button:
Me Mode: Like today’s standard personal music players, users will listen to their own music in this mode.
Us Mode: Lets Jook broadcast its owner’s music to other nearby Jook enabled devices. Users will listen to their own selections and others with a Jook-enabled device can now tune in as well. A red ambient light alerts others nearby that there’s music available to tune in to.
U Mode: Jook allows a listener to connect to another Jook-enabled play list. A green ambient light indicates to broadcasters have listeners.
The Jook standard will be available to all manufacturers and developers of portable music players and audio accessories such as earbuds, headphones and other similar products. Each Jook device will be designed to plug directly into a music player, drawing a minimal amount of power from the music player.

Jook is poised to be a universal technology standard that connects users with different devices that would normally have a “closed” listening environment. A user with an iPod can broadcast their music to a user with a Zune, who also can broadcast their music to a user with a Zen™.

Uniting superior sound quality with sleek design for convenient on-the-go listening

January 2008 — Bang & Olufsen, the Danish manufacturer of high end audio and video products, presents the new BeoSound 6 mp3 player at the 2008 CES in Las Vegas. BeoSound 6 achieved an Innovations Honoree award this year in the Personal Electronics category.

Constructed of robust, durable, materials, BeoSound 6 delivers quality craftsmanship, clear CD sound quality due to its high performance on signal-to-noise playback, and up to 40 hours of battery life, making it the standout option among other mp3 players on the market. BeoSound 6 allows user-friendly simple operation and navigation of music files and comes complete with an exclusive leather carrying case and travel charger as well as the highly acclaimed A8 Earphones.

Sound that is true to the source

Bang & Olufsen is world renowned for acoustical excellence, thus a strong emphasis on sound performance has been put into the development of BeoSound 6. It is based on a technical platform by Samsung and the design, user interaction, and acoustic engineering — such as the high performance on signal-to-noise – has been implemented by Bang & Olufsen. The annoying background noise common with many digital music players is nearly eliminated in BeoSound 6. The sound is reproduced as neutrally and naturally as possible, so the musical detail remains pure, as if one is listening to the original source.
The bass boost function in BeoSound 6 has been optimized to suit the A8 Earphones. The dynamic full-tone earphones are mounted on a telescopic bar and constructed according to the open loudspeaker principle, which allows a non-intrusive amount of surrounding noise to be heard at lower volume levels. Therefore, one is never entirely cut off from the outside world when using the A8 Earphones, to better ensure safety.

A match for every ear

Sound quality is affected by the placement of earphones in one’s ear, which is why the A8 Earphones are equipped with small foam rubber covers. This provides more comfort and also compensates for any sound leakage that might occur in situations where the user’s ear is significantly bigger than the ear bud.

Constructed of lightweight, resilient rubber and aluminium, the A8 Earphones weigh less than one ounce each, and offer an elegant mechanical design that ensures a precise adjustment to each individual ear. The A8 Earphones have a secure fit that won’t fall off easily and are sleek enough to be worn together with glasses, making them perfect for active use on the move.

Easy to organize

Bang & Olufsen has developed a simple and free software solution, BeoPlayer, which accesses and organizes all music files on one’s PC, and conveniently transfers them to BeoSound 6. BeoPlayer can instantly download MP3 and WMA music files and convert AAC files, and also includes clip art of CD covers. With the capacity to hold 1,000 songs, the music possibilities are endless with BeoSound 6.
Simple and elegant design
BeoSound 6 features a sleek, minimalist design with its stainless steel frame surrounding the sides and black scratch-resistant LCD display. The soft-touch lacquered back surface allows BeoSound 6 to rest easy in the hand while operating the keypad placed underneath the front display. The rectangular touchpad is used for menu navigation and the surrounding rubber keypad for playback functions.

When switched on, BeoSound 6 presents an overview of five user scenarios, all accessible with the touch of a button. The five scenarios make it possible to start immediate playback of the tracks downloaded to the music player, or sort the personal music collection by artist, album, genre and play list. While playing music, the user can choose to display the cover art of the specific album alone or with music tags.
BeoSound 6 features an extended battery life, allowing up to 40 hours of playback – almost twice the market standard. The navigation bar indicates when the battery needs charging with a color change.
BeoSound 6 will be available in all Bang & Olufsen showroom locations throughout North America by late Fall 2007. MSRP $600.00 USD

Specifications
Designer Steffen Schmelling
Dimensions (H x W x D) 3.6 x 1.7 x 0.5 in (90.7 x 42.7 x 12.2 mm)
Weight 2.3 oz (65 g)
Finish Polished stainless steel/soft-touch lacquered plastic
Memory 4 GB
Display 1.81 Inch TFT LCD 128 x 160 pixels
Supported audio formats MP3, WMA, OGG
Operating system PC Windows XP SP2
MAC iTunes: BeoSound 6 plug-in needed
Interface USB 1.1. (USB 2.0 high speed support)
Mass Storage Mode
Battery Built-in, rechargeable, approx. 40 hours playing time
Mains voltage 100 – 240 V AC
Connections Earphones, USB and mains adaptor via 18 pin connector
Included accessories Bang & Olufsen A8 Earphones, USB-cable, travel charger and leather carrying case

Magellan today updated the RoadMate® series with new widescreen units and a first in bringing integrated LiveTraffic Service to their popular GPS unit.

LAS VEGAS –(Business Wire)– Jan. 7, 2008 Magellan, the world’s fastest growing GPS brand, is premiering five new additions to its popular RoadMate series of entry-level vehicle navigation units, including the first 4.3-inch widescreen RoadMate units from Magellan with attractive retail pricing that begins at just $229.
The Magellan RoadMate series delivers “turn it on and go” functionality in an ultra-slim, pocket-sized form. The new RoadMate 1400 series of GPS units are an extension of the best selling RoadMate brand. The Magellan RoadMate is ideal for drivers new to GPS units or for parents to give to their younger drivers. The new RoadMate series can be viewed this week in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in Magellan’s booth (no. 31247).

The new RoadMate 1400 series features a large, widescreen, 4.3-inch anti-glare touch screen and a simple, intuitive user interface, with premiere features including Quickspell(TM), for fast input with a minimal amount of keystrokes. It also features a newly designed easy to view menu and map screens that incorporate easy to identify, stylish icons and graphics that are clear and crisp to the user.

The base model, the RoadMate 1400, comes preloaded with Navteq(R) road maps of the Continental United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, plus 1.3 million essential points of interest, such as gas stations, ATMs, and airports with contact details such as location, phone number and travel distance (MSRP $299).

The RoadMate 1412 adds maps for Canada and Alaska; text-to-speech announcements of street names; and points of interest totalling more than 6 million, including retail, dining, health service and other local business information (MSRP $349).

The RoadMate 1430 has the same features as the RoadMate 1412 and adds a fully-integrated live traffic feature that uses real-time traffic update information to display traffic incidents along the driver’s route, suggests alternative routes when “fastest time” to destination is selected, and recalculates the expected arrival time based on the monitored traffic. The antenna to receive traffic data is seamlessly integrated into the unit’s power cable. A free three-month subscription to Magellan Traffic Service is included with purchase (MSRP $399).

The RoadMate 1200 series features a compact-sized 3.5-inch anti-glare touch screen and mirrors the features of the RoadMate 1400 series, within an even smaller pocket-sized form factor. The RoadMate 1200 is complimented by the new RoadMate 1212 and RoadMate 1230 (with integrated traffic), which are being premiered at CES (MSRPs: RoadMate 1200 $229, RoadMate 1212 $299, RoadMate 1230 $329).

“We’re developing products at Magellan that are designed to exceed consumer expectations in price, content and connectivity. The RoadMate brand is an exceptional example of a value-priced line that delivers great GPS performance, unique and compelling features at an introductory price,” said Christian Bubenheim, vice president of product marketing, for Magellan.

All new Magellan RoadMate 1200 and 1400 models feature:

• New 4.3-inch WQVGA or 3.5-inch QVGA full-color, anti-glare touch-screen display
• Acclaimed easy-to-use, intuitive user interface
• Fast and precise Centrality Atlas III GPS chipset delivering superior GPS performance and navigation
• 2-D and 3-D map views with auto day/night mode switching
• Trip computer and trip planner
• QuickSpell(TM) intelligently searches and checks spelling when entering addresses
• SmartDetour(TM) prompts drivers to route around heavy or stationary traffic
• SD card slot for maps
• USB port for PC connection and in-vehicle power

The Magellan RoadMate 1200 ships with a windshield mount and cradle; a 12-volt car power cigarette lighter adapter; an adhesive disk for alternative, on-dash mounting; and a quick reference and user manual. For additional accessories, including cases, pouches and additional mounting options, visit http://www.magellangps.com.

LAS VEGAS –(Business Wire)– Jan. 7, 2008 Ortery Technologies launches Photosimile 5000.
Imagine walking up to a new office device, placing an object inside, and seconds later walking away with a professional photo for immediate use in all print, web and email communications. Taking its name from “facsimile”, Photosimile 5000 is the next generation imaging device for the office.

This PC-controlled desktop photography studio integrates a 28 x 28 x 28″ light box (featuring 6500K daylight bulbs, an automated camera positioning system and a built-in 3D turntable) with a Canon digital camera and powerful workflow software to simplify and automate business photography. With Photosimile 5000, anyone can create professional, shadow-free pictures ideal for web, print and daily business communication. No experience necessary.

The camera and light box connect to a PC via USB. Photosimile 5000 software controls the studio, camera location, turntable movement, camera settings, picture taking and processing workflows. Simply place an item inside, compose using Preview, Zoom and Crop commands in the software. Click Snap and the picture automatically downloads to the PC screen in seconds. Users can annotate, mask, email and batch process images with regards to file name, size, resolution, watermarking and saving.

Photosimile 5000 also creates 360-degree product shots and spherical 3D flash animations. It boasts the ability to hold up to 25lbs and take up to 72 pictures per 360-degree rotation at 9 unique angles from 0 to 90 degrees. Fully automated, Photosimile 5000 can take and stitch 20 pictures in approximately 2.5 minutes. Images can be exported as JPGs or stitched together in the software to create animated GIF or Flash files. “The trend of offering website visitors 360-degree product views is just beginning,” said Sam Shearer, Managing Director, Ortery Technologies, Inc. “However, it will quickly become a competitive requirement critical to eCommerce success.”

When a company creates a good product picture or animation, it pays for itself over and over when put to use internally or by channel partners. Photosimile 5000 offers everyone the opportunity, regardless of photography experience, to create professional pictures and animations that can be used in an endless amount of applications.

Photosimile 5000 is compatible with Windows ME/2000/XP and will be available March 2008. Price to be determined.

Founded February 2003 with offices in California and Taiwan, Ortery Technologies is the leading provider of business photography automation tools. http://www.ortery.com