Optoma Pico Projector PK101 Wins Consumer Electronics Show Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. TAIPEI, TAIWAN, Dec. 18, 2008 – Optoma Corp., a leading global projector brand, announced today that it won a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) award for one of its most innovative products, the Pico Projector.

Optoma says the PK101 is the world’s smallest digital light processing (DLP®) projector. The product won an Innovations Design and Engineering award from the organizers of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show scheduled for January 8-11 next year.

The pocket-sized PK101 opens up a wide range of new applications for businesspeople and personal users. The PK101 connects to iPods, mobile phones and other portable devices to display presentations, photos, videos and websites on the go and anywhere with just a few simple connections.

“Projectors used to be defined as equipment products,” said Optoma Asia General Manager Telly Kuo. “We are trying to make projectors more consumer like.”

The battery-powered projector provides big screen enjoyment, opening up a new era of projection with small mobile devices.

After the PK101 was announced in October, the product won praise from some of the first reviewers to use it.

“This isn't just a new product - it's a whole new product category,” says David Pogue in the New York Times. “Now, for the first time, a tent wall can become a movie screen when you are out camping. So much for roughing it.”

Of course, a PK101 can do much more, and because words cannot express the experience completely, there are many YouTube blogs on the product such as (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eVvGrjZuUY&feature=related) which have attracted tens of thousands of visitors.

Following its market debut in November, stocks of the PK101 sold out in markets such as Japan. Optoma said new supplies of the PK101 will be available in December. Optoma expects to sell about 100,000 units of the Pico projector in 2009, accounting for roughly 2 percent of the expected total projector shipments during that year.

“The market response has been much bigger than we planned,” said Kuo. The Optoma PK101 projects images in dazzling colors that add to its appeal. The projector combines DLP® (Digital Light Processing) technology from Texas Instruments with Optoma’s exclusive color technology. The projector uses light in three primary colors from light-emitting diodes to display images in rich saturated color.

The lithium-polymer battery allows operation of the PK101 without the need to plug the projector into a fixed power source.

The PK101 weighs only 80 grams (without the battery) and is the world’s first truly pocket sized projector.

The projector connects with mobile phones, digital media players, digital cameras, electronic games and other multimedia devices to display still images and motion video on screens measuring up to 66 inches wide.

Optoma’s product line includes projectors for meetings, educational purposes, high-definition home theater uses, video and television display and all-in-one products to make business more efficient, education more effective and life more exciting.

Held each year in January in Las Vegas at the CES is the world's leading electronics show. Optoma will be at the Las Vegas event next year with the Pico and to present its other innovative projectors.

Optoma is one of Taiwan’s growing new brands. To promote the island’s industry, the Taiwan government has made the development of branding a key task for raising the competitiveness of Taiwan’s economy.

There are two ultimate goals of the Branding Taiwan program. The first is integrating resources to assist the establishment of brands and create a favorable environment for development; the second is to aid Taiwan enterprises in brand development and increase the value of Taiwan’s international brands.