New AVIO iP-01UE Projector With Built-In Camera Breaks Price Barrier

Until now, AVIO projectors, a uniquely styled projector series with a camera built inside, have cost between $5,000 - $10,000. The company announced it will begin shipping in November the iP-01UE, a cost-reduced model with an estimated street price of only $3,495.

Manufacturing companies and schools have been a major user of AVIO projectors. The lower price is expected to make the projector more affordable for the North America K-12 market. If the U.S. $ strengthens against the Japanese yen in the months ahead, it's possible the projector may break the $2,995 price point for multiple unit sales. A significant improvement to the iP-01U is a wide angle lens, which allows a teacher to use the projector at the front of a classroom and to fill up the projection screen with an image.

Production departments of manufacturing companies have been using AVIO projectors to allow shift employees to communicate process status updates without a computer, by writing notes on paper and placing them on the projector. AVIO projectors are quite popular in Japan, although they have never taken off in North America. Cost has been a hindering factor. The $3,000 price point is expected to open up the general corporate market and also law firms.

Although Nippon Avionics, a subsidiary of Japan's NEC Corporation, has been manufacturing the AVIO style projector for 15 years, they are not well known in North America. Because the projectors are unlike any other projector (they resemble a flatbed scanner), they need to be seen to appreciated, leaving the company caught in a vicious Catch-22 circle as most resellers prefer to offer their customers well-known brands. Moreover, the AVIO projectors are a "concept sell", which require a sales person to demonstrate and explain the advantages of an all-in-one unit (something which many projector sales people would prefer not to do). AVIO plans to take advantage of advances in Internet technology to create videos showing how the projectors work, increasing their exposure to a broader audience.

Personally, I have found AVIO's projectors to have a very crisp, clear image when using the camera to show documents and clippings from newspapers. Small print is legible. Also, the unit is easy to set up, because it is just one piece of equipment.

Key specifications of the projector include: 2,500 lumens; single chip DLP engine with 6-color wheel and BrilliantColor(TM); 11 lbs; camera with 3.15 million pixels; USB image capture.

For additional information, and current pricing try visiting AVIO's Facebook page and the Alliance Warehouse. Alliance International is an authorized distributor and repair center for AVIO in North America. Tel: (858) 558-2030. E-mail: claudia (at) alliance-intl (dot) com

New Implementation of TI's DLP Technology By AVIO Said To Be Best Ever

I remember the first DLP projectors manufactured in 1995. They were huge clunkers, and I doubt any of them are still working today.

Times have changed. You probably even know what DLP stands for. That's not the way it started.

I had lunch yesterday with my old friend Yukinori Kimura, International Sales Manager for Nippon Avionics, a company I first met in 1994. He was fresh from INFOCOMM, the annual trade show and convention for projector manufacturers and the display industry, where he had met with Texas Instruments executives and showed them the new AVIO iP-40SE projector.

"The best implementation of DLP technology for business users," said the TI executive. I wouldn't disagree. What AVIO has done is taken the best TI has to offer (6-color processing) and made a projector with a high resolution "document camera" inside. Then, they added a high-quality Carl Zeiss lens and a slot for an IC card, which means with one device, a presenter can do all of the following:

* make a PowerPoint presentation
* show live images of papers, documents, 3-D solid objects

And, by hooking up a DVD player, you can project videos, movies, etc. All from one unit.

Impressive.

Not quite sure how the AVIO iP-40 works? Since seeing is believing, click here to check out this video on You Tube showing how the iP-40 works.

Here's the official press release:

(July 7, 2008) San Diego -- Alliance International, distributor and authorized service center for Nippon Avionics AVIO projectors, has introduced a new AVIO projector with built-in camera, Carl Zeiss optics and a built-in SD card slot that is portable. The iP-40SE at 11 lbs. is half the height of previous AVIO models, allowing it to be easily carried to remote locations to project live images of documents, 3-D solid objects, computer presentations and video from one projection device.

The main benefits of the iP-40SE are:
** Improved optics, with the Carl Zeiss fish eye lens, so that images appear more clear.
** IC card, so that PowerPoint presentations and other images can be shown without a computer.
**Increased portability, because of the size reduction, less weight (weighs only 11 lbs.) and all-in-one design.
**Quicker set up time and less clutter, because the camera is built-in; there is no need to set up a separate document camera and connect it to the projector.
**Ease of showing documents and 3-D solid objects; just lay them on the flat platen, as you would a photocopy machine or scanner.
**Clear image even when showing full page documents because of the high-resolution CCD camera built-in with over 4-million pixels.
**Improved viewing in brighter rooms, because brightness has been increased from 2,000 to 2,500 lumens.
**Improved video image, by utilizing DLP's latest 6-color wheel processing technology.
**Easy to save images and annotate over images, using the built in image capture and electronic whiteboard annotation features.

Unlike other projectors with an optional camera arm or using a traditional document camera or flex camera which is a separate device, the AVIO iP-40 projector has a camera built-inside, allowing users to easily place documents and 3-D objects on a glass platen incorporated into the images tops. The AVIO iP-30SE projector offers users convenience, because they can project clear images of full-size documents and 3-D objects without having to set up and use a separate document camera. And, the camera lighting is built inside, so you don't need to depend on their being light in the room to show objects.

Showing documents and 3-D objects is as easy as using a traditional overhead projector (OHP) or a photo-copy machine -- just place the document on the glass platen and the image appears.Nippon Avionics, based in Japan, has been producing LCD projectors with cameras built in since 1995. In the past, the projectors have been bulky, with a depth of 12 inches, or more. The AVIO iP-40SE is shipping, and available to government customers on the GSA contract through Tierney Brothers, to education customers through CamCor or available on-line at www.alliancewarehouse.com The price is $4,995. Click here to see the You Tube video of the AVIO iP-40.

Adopters of the AVIO's technology have been attorneys, who use the projector in the office for client presentations and internal meetings, and easily bring it to a courtroom for presenting evidence. Other AVIO projector adopters have included schools, colleges and large manufacturing companies who use the projectors for training.

About Alliance International:Alliance International Trade & Investment Group, Inc. was founded in 1997 as a wholesales distributor and international trade consultant to the professional audio visual, telecommunications, computer and software industries. The company's long-term clients have included JABRA Corporation (hands free Earsets), InFocus (projectors), PolyVision (electronic whiteboards), Yokogawa (document cameras), and Media Go Engineering (Digital Class electromagnetic LCD monitor with annotation software). In 2004, Alliance was appointed U.S. distributor for Nippon Avionics AVIO projectors with built in camera, and completed service center training in October, 2007.ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Trade & Investment Group, Inc. San Diego, California, USA Tel: (858) 558-2030 Fax: (858) 558-2031 Corporate Website: www.alliance-intl.com E-store: www.alliancewarehouse.com E-mail: info@alliance-intl.com

Reflections On 10 Years In Business

Alliance International was founded in June 1997. Our first client was JABRA Corporation, which hired us to assist it market and sell its unique hands-free Earset for mobile phones in Japan. We incorporated the business in 1998. Ten years later, we're still here. What a journey!

The goals of the company have been simple:

* To assist US companies market and export their products abroad

* To find unique products to bring to North America

Our focus has been on industry sectors we know best: professional audio visual equipment, mobile phone accessories, computer peripherals & computer software.

Ten years in business. We must be doing something right. Looking back, there are a few things to be proud of (and many more to be embarrassed by that are saved for future posts):

* Helping to build the market for JABRA's Earset for mobile phones in Asia-Pacific when it was an unknown fledgling

* Introduction to the US of a series of document cameras made by Yokogawa with unique features such as rotating camera head, open stage (platen), integrated writing tablet, integrated LCD monitor (which are now common).

* Introduction to to the US of the Digital Class LCD touch-screen writing monitor made by Media Go Technologies, which forced market leaders such as SmartBoard and Crestron to re-think the way they did touchscreens and interactive monitors.

* Distribution of Nippon Avionics AVIO projectors in North America, which are unique because they include a high resolution camera for viewing documents and 3-D solid objects.

* Assisting InFocus Corporation market its projectors in Japan and Korea.

* Assisting PolyVision sell its interactive, electronic whiteboards in Japan and China.

Through the school of hard-knocks, I've learned some valuable lessons about the difficulty of competing against established market leaders. (It's not easy!) On the other hand, if we've been a "thorn in the side" of market leaders, our efforts have been a catalyst to industry innovation and improvement, resulting in better products for consumers. And it's certainly been a lot of fun.

To all of our customers, we express our most sincere thanks. Here's to another 10 years!