news archive
Gemstar-TV
Guide And Pioneer Sign License Agreements; Resolve Pending
Litigation
Los Angeles,
California, February 27 - Gemstar-TV Guide International and
Pioneer Electronics (USA) today announced multi-year
licensing agreements giving Pioneer Corporation and its
subsidiaries the right to incorporate Gemstar-TV Guide's
interactive program guide (IPG) for consumer electronics
products into digital televisions and digital recorders in
North America, Japan and Europe. The agreements announced
today also include a patent license that enables Pioneer to
incorporate Gemstar-TV Guide's technology into Pioneer's
digital cable products in North America. Under the
agreement, Pioneer will pay license fees to Gemstar-TV Guide
based on the number of units sold under the licenses. All
outstanding litigation between the two companies is
resolved. The deal announced today includes a one-time
payment of $14 million.
"I'm
delighted to have resolved the issues between our two
companies, and look forward to working with Pioneer to make
their customers' television experience more simple and
enjoyable," said Jeff Shell, CEO of Gemstar-TV Guide.
"Pioneer
is pleased to put this issue behind us. Now we can devote
100 percent of our attention to providing the best
technology and entertainment experience to the end users of
our products," said Paul Dempsey, president of the
Business Solutions Division of Pioneer Electronics (USA).
USDC Funds
Rockwell Collins To Explore Video and Graphics Latency
Problems
San Jose,
Califoria, February 19 - The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC)
announced it has awarded an R&D contract to Rockwell
Collins (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). The first phase of the
contract is an $885,000 award, which will focus on the
effects of video and graphics latency in military avionics,
and will be cost -shared between USDC and Rockwell Collins.
Video latency
refers to the lag (or delay) between capture of a signal and
the subsequent display of an image or a graphic. Although
measured in fractions of a second, the lag can induce flight
technical errors resulting in pilot errors. Under the terms
of the USDC contract, Rockwell Collins will study the human
factor implications of video and graphics latency from a
myriad of sources, including military data links, tactical
battlefield communications, and sensors such as forward
looking infrared (FLIR) and weather information. The overall
objective of the project is to provide a database on human
factors systems requirements, testing protocols and display
systems architectures whereby latency is minimized and
operator error is reduced or eliminated.
"Combatants
are increasingly reliant on signal acquisition and display
for real-time information," stated M.R. Pinnel, USDC's
chief technical officer. "The deleterious effects of
video latency are well known through prior studies using
traditional flight instruments. This project, however, is
the first comprehensive study utilizing up to sixteen
separate sources of data, including synthetic and enhanced
vision display formats that have not been tested and
certified. At the end of the project we will have a greater
understanding of the acceptable usage and latency of complex
video and graphics-based display systems for military
avionics and ground vehicle operators," he explained.
Rockwell
Collins will undertake the project using flight simulators
in their Advanced Display Concepts Laboratory and at the
University of Iowa Operator Performance Laboratory. The USDC
program is a collaborative effort of private industry and
the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, located in Adelphi, MD.
The results of this project will be shared with military
display integrators within the consortium.
Information: www.usdc.org,
www.rockwellcollins.com.
Vitex
Secures $24 Million to Help Bring Flexible Displays to
Market
San Jose,
California, February 4 (PRNewswire) - Vitex Systems, Inc.
today announced it has raised $24 million of equity
financing in the initial close of its Series B funding
round. The majority of financing comes from a major
international supplier of components to the
flat-panel-display (FPD) industry, along with Battelle
Memorial Institute and Mitsubishi Corp. - Vitex's initial
investors - and Tokki Corp. of Japan, Vitex's equipment
supply partner. This latest funding will help Vitex speed
its Next phase of growth and drive market adoption of its
proprietary technology for enabling the manufacture of
next-generation displays.
Vitex, a
Battelle spin-off, has developed a thin-film moisture
barrier that can be used to package OLED displays. In
addition, Vitex employs the same thin-film moisture-barrier
technology in manufacturing its Flexible Glass barrier
substrates. These are designed to replace glass, which is
currently used as the substrate.
Vitex CEO
Malcolm Thompson said, "The FPD market, and more
specifically, the emerging OLED and flexible display
markets, hold tremendous opportunities to open up new
commercial and military applications. These are markets
Vitex is committed to capture, and this latest funding will
bring us one step closer to achieving this objective."
The Series B
round will remain open for an additional 60 days to
accommodate a number of other interested investors.
Additional details surrounding the funding were not
disclosed.
Information: www.vitexsys.com.
iFire
Receives US$10 Million from DNP to Produce large FPDs
Toronto,
Canada, February 3 - iFire Technology Inc. today announced
it has reached a US$10-million financing agreement with Dai
Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) of Japan. The funds will
cover one-third of the capital cost to upgrade iFire's
Toronto facility to enable pilot manufacturing of
product-quality, mid-30-inch-sized flat-panel displays. The
pilot plant is designed to prove the lower-cost
manufacturing advantages of iFire's proprietary thick
dielectric electroluminescent (TDEL) display technology, an
advantage the company has claimed throughout the
technology's development.
The
US$10-million financing is in the form of a loan from DNP to
iFire. It is the intention of both parties that the
financing relationship will be resolved as part of an
expanded commercial agreement as the technology moves
through pilot and into commercial production, or through
repayment by iFire. iFire retains all rights to its
proprietary technology. The pilot line is expected to be
completed in the next 14 months, and volume production is
anticipated to begin in 2006.
"The
agreement allows iFire to prove its manufacturing cost
advantage over other flat-panel display technologies, and
supplements the significant contribution that DNP has
already made," said Anthony B. Johnston, President of
iFire. "It also allows us to proceed with confidence as
we move into pilot production and secure other third-party
financial and commercialization arrangements."
The new
financing arrangement expands the original joint development
agreement that iFire entered into with DNP in March 2003, to
include pilot production.
For pilot
production, DNP is making available its primary production
line in Kashiwa, Japan for front-end manufacturing. The
front-end processes include substrate preparation and the
fabrication of row electrodes and thick-film dielectric
layers on 34-inch glass substrates. The partially complete
panels are shipped to iFire's facility in Toronto, Canada,
where the back-end processes, such as the deposition of
phosphors, column electrodes, and color correction layers,
as well as electronics assembly, are completed.
"We look
forward to playing a significant role in commercializing
this very promising flat-panel technology," said Mr.
Takashi Toida, Director of Corporate Research &
Development for DNP.
"DNP
recognizes that our technology has the potential to be a
lower cost alternative to LCD manufacturing in both capital
and operations," said Mr. Johnston. "Our third
party analysis shows that iFire's technology has the
potential to provide a 50 percent manufacturing cost
advantage over LCD in a comparable Generation 6
manufacturing environment." iFire plans to initially
target the mid-30-inch segment of the flat-panel-television
market in partnership with major consumer electronics
companies.
Information: info@westaim.com,
www.westaim.com.
Resellers
Optimistic About Demand for Sub-$1000 Projectors
Menlo Park,
California, January 30 - Most North American resellers of
front projectors to professional (organizational) buyers
believe that there will be a large demand for sub-$1000
models, but most aren't too happy about selling them because
the margins are so low, according to an annual survey
conducted by Pacific Media Associates (PMA). Specifically,
73 percent of these resellers were very optimistic or
somewhat optimistic about demand potential for $999
projectors, but only 27 percent were very enthusiastic or
somewhat enthusiastic about selling them.
Michael
Abramson, PMA's project manager for the Reseller Survey,
also highlighted its findings regarding the dramatic
increase in networking of projectors expected by these
resellers, saying that "44 percent of projectors sold
in 2004 should be networkable, up from 26 percent in 2003,
and 24 percent of them should actually be operating in
networks by 2004." However, he indicated that wireless
networking has a ways to go yet, as 88 percent of recent
past sales were wired.
PMA's is
widely recognized as the authoritative source of information
on resellers of professional front projectors throughout
North America. The 2003 annual Reseller Survey, the ninth
that PMA has conducted, covered a broad range of facts,
figures, and opinions from the 216 participating resellers,
many of whom are among the largest in North America. Some of
the other findings are:
-
Thirty-one percent of resellers'
units went to new customers, a sign that these resellers
were experiencing a healthy growth in their businesses.
-
Meeting support is now the top projector application among
business users, leapfrogging in one year the perennial
favorites of presentations, product demos, and training.
-
Some changes in resellers' sources of supply: Resellers
expect to acquire slightly more products directly from
manufacturers in the future.
-
Price premiums for advanced
features and functions: Higher resolution and brightness
still command the largest premiums, but contrast ratio
shoots up to 5th place.
Information: Tel:
(650) 561-9020, www.pacificmediaassociates.com.
Optiva
Names Peter Hopper New CEO
South San
Francisco, January 19 B Optiva, Inc. announced today that
its board has appointed Peter Hopper CEO as the company
focuses on the importance of the liquid-crystal-display
(LCD) business in Asia to the company's immediate future.
Hopper will oversee all aspects and product lines for Optiva,
strengthening introduction of its commercial products to key
customers, partners and suppliers.
Hopper
previously was the CEO of Philips Mobile Display Systems in
Hong Kong, where he successfully increased sales revenue to
1 billion Euros. He was responsible for sales of mobile
displays to the telecom, PDA, and automotive markets. During
his 28-year career with Philips, Hopper led a variety of
businesses, gaining market leadership against strong
competition by focusing on multiple market sectors to obtain
a strategic position in Asia.
"I am
very excited to be joining Optiva at this stage in its
development," said Hopper. "The LCD market
continues to grow strongly and is an area where Optiva will
play an increasingly important role. Add to that our growth
opportunities in the nanotechnology field and we have a
company with a great future." Optiva is the first
company to develop a commercial mass-production process for
optical nanomaterials. These advanced materials are designed
to self-assemble into liquid crystals in solutions, and then
self-align into ultra-thin crystalline films (TCF's) when
coated onto surfaces. Optiva's first family of TCF products
is targeted at the flat-panel-display industry, offering
significant cost and performance advantages over traditional
optical film alternatives.
Optiva is
headquartered in South San Francisco, with an R&D
division in Moscow, and offices in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong,
and Taiwan.
Information: www.optivainc.com.
Three-Five
Systems to Market Wireless Monitors
Tempe,
Arizona, January 26 (PRNewswire-FirstCall) Three-Five
Systems, Inc. (TFS) today announced plans to market wireless
monitors and display systems. The wireless monitor products
will be the first of their kind targeted at the
industrial/medical marketplace and will use patent-pending
wireless technology developed by Avocent Corp.
TFS will
embed the wireless capability directly into the monitor
itself. This configuration allows customers to easily
replace existing monitors or displays without adding
wireless equipment. The design also allows for
straightforward upgrades to existing TFS monitors. The new
wireless monitors and displays will utilize industry
standard 802.11a protocols and will interface with any
remote computer up to 100 feet away with connections
provided through Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a
standard for secure transmission of audio and streaming
video data. This wireless technology will also feature video
compression and protocol technology that supports the
transmission of 24-bit color up to 30 frames per second. TFS
will target industrial process control/ automation, medical,
signage, financial, retail, and kiosk applications with this
technology.
"We are
excited to be the first to introduce these next-generation
displays to our current customers in the industrial and
medical markets and we anticipate creating opportunities in
other markets as well," said Jack Saltich, President
and CEO of TFS. TFS plans to have wireless TFT monitor demo
units produced in Q1 2004, with a line of standard wireless
monitors and industrial displays available later in the
year.
Information: www.tfsc.com.
