CONSUMER LIFESTYLE
CONSUMER LIFESTYLE ADVERTORIAL Philips partners with Bowers & Wilkins Buyers will get the first glimpse of the potential of the new partnership at IFA 2018 Philips TV and British audio engineering company Bowers & Wilkins have agreed a new multi-year exclusive partnership. According to Philips, the partnership will create outstanding products that set new visual and audio performance standards in the TV market, and is set to be one of the most exciting developments in the television sector for some time. Martijn Smelt, Chief Marketing Officer for Philips TV in Europe, claimed the new partnership will combine the world-renowned technologies and expertise of the two companies and will uniquely be able to share the internal engineering resources that have allowed each to design and develop a long series of groundbreaking products that have consistently set the benchmark for the best possible TV picture quality and the best outright audio quality. Smelt said: “The partnership has also been enhanced by both companies’ long-lasting tradition for developing all of their own bespoke technologies in-house, with total quality control over all stages of product development and production. “Philips has worked tirelessly to ensure that its TV sets consistently lead the market in terms of picture quality - including its award-winning P5 processing chip, European design and its Ambilight technology. Bowers & Wilkins has a proven long term commitment to in-house research and development, in order to achieve the truly best sound quality possible.” Smelt added: “For far too long, as an industry, we have allowed sound quality to be the poor relation when considering TV performance. A challenge that has been further exaggerated by the outstanding quality of our OLED sets. So, I’m delighted that we have been able to partner with the world’s best audio company Bowers & Wilkins to ensure that in future our Philips High End TV sound will offer a uniquely premium experience.” Richard Campbell, Chief Revenue Officer for Bowers and Wilkins, added: “Our new partnership with Philips TV presents a fantastic opportunity to help redefine the parameters of sound quality & performance on a TV. “The superb new Philips TVs will introduce our well-known audio performance to a new consumer audience who will be able to enjoy first-hand, the incredible experience only we can provide, ‘Sound by Bowers and Wilkins’.” The two companies said the partnership has been made more effective and efficient by the location of key engineering facilities for both companies in Europe. Philips TV maintains an Innovation Centre in Ghent, Belgium while Bowers and Wilkins recently made a significant investment to expand and relocate its UKbased research and development centre PHILIPS OLED TVS WIN TWO EISA AWARDS With two of the company’s latest 2018 OLED TV models receiving prestigious EISA Awards, Philips TV said it can continue to claim its place as the OLED TV performance leader. EISA has given its official seal of approval to the new Philips 55in OLED803 TV which has won Best Buy OLED TV 2018-2019 while the new Philips 65in OLED903 TV – the first product offered as part of the exclusive partnership with leading audio specialists Bowers & Wilkins – has won Home Theatre TV 2018-2019. Praising the new 903, the EISA judges said: “Home Theatre enthusiasts demand a genuinely cinematic experience that marries immersive visuals with dynamic sounds, and Philips’ 65in OLED flagship delivers. Overall the 65in OLED903 offers a class-leading performance, topped off by Ambilight– enhanced atmosphere, which gets the best from 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray and streamed sources”. Commenting on the new 803, the EISA judges said: “Philips combines the latest 2018 OLED panel with its revised P5 picture engine for truly stunning results with this 55in model, while still hitting a tempting price. This UHD OLED Android TV lets you experience Standard dynamic range content in near HDR quality through Philips’ latest innovation, ‘Perfect Natural Reality’.” Both new models share the same PQ features with new 2018 OLED Panels, antireflective coatings for even better black reproduction and a 1000 Nit peak light output – a 10% increase in light output compared to the 2017 models. Both new models also feature the second generation P5 Picture Perfect Processing Engine incorporating the new ‘Perfect Natural Reality’ contrast enhancing technology 34
Region SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN Taiwan shifts focus as AI and IoT gathers pace Raymond Chen, Executive Director of the strategic marketing department at the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) highlights the state’s role in IoT. With the rise of AI and IoT, Taiwan is now shifting from high-tech manufacturing to an innovation-driven economy. We asked Raymond Chen to give an insight into Taiwan’s Taiwan Excellence Project. To enhance the innovative image of Taiwanese industry, TAITRA implemented the Taiwan Excellence Project, which is promoting ICT industry significantly. By employing integrated marketing strategies, such as exhibition marketing, TAITRA attends important tech shows such as CES, MWC, and COMPUTEX and, of course, IFA. The Taiwan Excellence logo was established in 1992 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and TAITRA was commissioned with the entire project. The symbol thus honours Taiwan’s most innovative products and is already well-established as a quality label for products that are “made in Taiwan”. Now it is recognised by 102 countries, promoting more than 300 of Taiwan’s brands, and reach to one billion global people annually. How are Taiwanese companies maximising the IoT opportunity? Can you give any case studies of successful businesses? With the emergence of the IoT technologies, you could see the smart transportation in Taipei city, which promotes public bike, scooter and car sharing. The smart home solutions will be found in Taiwan Excellence Pavilion from i-Ctrl of Aifa Technology, which can operate all your electric devices at your home and build a high-tech lifestyle. One example of IoT in the gaming industry is Acer’s gaming laptop, which won the first place in the German market last year. Sales from Acer’s gaming line grew by 98% year-on-year. Another world leading gaming brand, MSI, has partnered with more than 15 professional eSports teams worldwide. With MSI products, these gamers have been achieving outstanding records on the world stage. These two brands will showcase at IFA. In addition, in Indianapolis international airport, Taiwan’s company “NEO SOLAR POWER” is one of the partners of the largest airport-based solar farm. What can we expect to see from Taiwanese companies at IFA? Taiwan Excellence Pavilion will showcase over 40 innovations from 15 Taiwanese companies at IFA in Berlin. For example, the ENERGEAR USB-CTM PD3.0+PPS Charging Solution that charges a device up to 70% faster than standard 5W charging; the Eveline Smart Fertility System that uses the smartphone camera and light in combination with ovulation test strips to measure fertility with 99% accuracy; or the SmartDiaper by Opro9, for babies and people with a medical condition that pairs with a smart device through an App and tracks the temperature and humidity of the diaper. What will be the “star products” emerging from the country? One example, is Realtek Semiconductor Co.’s solutions in the IoV Industry. Realtek is one of the promoters of the OPEN Alliance SIG, and it has been confidentially cooperating with BMW over the past seven years, adapting its ICT knowledge into designing Ethernet solutions specified for the auto industry. We believe that Realtek’s automotive Ethernet technology will be well-adapted in most automobiles worldwide. Another solutions, such as FETC Co.’s Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system for the nationwide freeways, and Acer’s e-Ticketing in public transportation. Also worth mentioning are the smart medical solution (vital sign collection, integrated information platform, etc) from IEI Integration and Syscom Computer Engineering Co. What does the future hold for Taiwan's ICT industry? Since more start-ups develop blockchain and AI technology applications, Taiwan’s government has put a lot of effort in these areas. Let’s take AI as an example here: In 2017, the Ministry of Science and Technology devoted US8.7 million to building an AI innovation ecosystem in Taiwan. This AILabs.tw plan will weave Taiwan’s people, technologies, facilities and businesses into a broader AI innovation ecosystem, making Taiwan a major hub for AI development and nurturing emerging AI industries and applications Hall 25 / Stand 301d Raymond Chen Executive Director of the strategic marketing department, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) THE TAIWAN EXCELLENCE PROJECT IS PROMOTING THE ICT INDUSTRY SIGNIFICANTLY www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 27 th August 2018 35
