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Frontier Silicon Ships Three Million DAB IC Devices worldwide

Over 80 percent of the digital radio market is using proven solution from Frontier Silicon comprising a programmable digital baseband IC enabling sophisticated user features, and single-chip multi-band RF IC for DAB/FM/RDS capability.

London (PRWEB) May 31, 2006 -- Frontier Silicon, the market leader in semiconductor solutions for mobile TV and digital radio, has announced it has now shipped over three million of its DAB IC solutions worldwide since 2003. The company continues to grow its market share, powering DAB radios from top manufacturers like Sony, Philips, Bang & Olufsen, Denon, PURE Digital and Roberts Radio.

Steve Evans, VP sales for Frontier Silicon, commented, “This is yet another landmark that I am pleased to acknowledge, especially as we are also growing market share. I expect this growth to continue as we engage further with the major manufacturers in this market. The main reason for our success is because we’ve shown a proven solution to manufacturers, and then consistently delivered with top quality field support, and reference platforms.

Frontier Silicon provides its customers with a complete solution comprising its successful Chorus 1 advanced low power programmable system on chip and the Apollo multi-band single-chip RF front-end. The technology is delivered in a variety of highly compact modules as small as 16mm x 27mm and allowing operation for over 100 hours in the DAB mode of portable radios using standard alkaline batteries. The complete DAB solution can provide additional sophisticated features like EPG (electronic program guide), and PVR-like features such as pause, rewind and recording of live radio broadcasts.

Steve Evans added, “We are the only supplier of the complete DAB solution, from silicon to software to reference platforms, and we are continually developing our product to deliver next generation digital radio and mobile TV features. We’ve set up operations in Asia close to the major audio manufacturers, particularly in China. The combination of product development, availability of field tested solutions, and world class customer support means we are able to deliver products that meet the requirements of a rapidly growing market.”

About Frontier Silicon
Frontier Silicon is the leading supplier of digital and RF integrated circuits and modules for mobile TV and DAB digital radio products. Frontier is supplying solutions for leading products such as the Samsung B2300 and SGH-P900 T-DMB mobile phones and has over 70 percent market share for DAB receiver solutions. Frontier Silicon’s products include solutions for DAB digital radio, T-DMB and DAB-IP and a multi-standard receiver solution for mobile TV reception combining DVB-H, T-DMB and DAB-IP.

Customers include Bang & Olufsen, Denon, Grundig, JVC, Philips, PURE Digital, Roberts Radio, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and TEAC. Frontier Silicon has operations in UK, Ireland, China, South Korea and Japan. For more information, visit www.frontier-silicon.com.

Contact details:
Steve Evans, VP sales and marketing
Tel:     +44 (0) 1923 474200
Fax:     +44 (0)1923 202251

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Press Contact: Steve Evans
Company Name: Frontier Silicon
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 44 1923 474200
Website: www.frontier-silicon.com

# posted by (hris @ 10:27 AM 0 comments

Report: India's Fast Growing Electronics Manufacturing Sector

Plan B Manufacturing Ltd, a UK / India based manufacturing consultancy, announces the launch of their latest report: India's Fast Growing Electronics Manufacturing Sector. It is available for free download at www.planbmanufacturing.com.

Cambridge, UK (PRWEB) May 24, 2006 -- India is showing all the signs of becoming a significant electronics manufacturing location, despite the barriers that have to be overcome, says a report published today by Plan B Manufacturing Ltd, a manufacturing consultancy.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the Indian electronics market is forecast to grow from $28.2 bn in 2005 to a spectacular $363 bn in 2015, rising at 5.5 times the growth rate of global electronics equipment production during 2010 and 2015.

"If this kind of growth happens, then we are going to see a corresponding rapid growth in the Indian contract manufacturing scene", says Radha Mocherla, a Director of Plan B. "Demand has not always been met by local manufacturing. It has been cheaper to import. But we are beginning to see some real changes in that"

Plan B's India team consists of UK and India based senior executives with decades of experience in the Indian manufacturing sector. "This lets us delve deeper into the realities of Indian manufacturing", says Mocherla. " We find that very little gets published about Indian manufacturing capabilities that is immediately useful for executives comparing low-cost locations"

He points to an apparent pattern in reports about India by western consultants and columnists. "They always seem to have a combination of three elements: their barely concealed dismay at the state of Indian infrastructure from the moment they arrive, usually followed by interviews with leading names in business that are extremely positive about the future and finally a brief examination of what needs to be put right for India to become more attractive as a manufacturing destination."

Whilst infrastructure issues are difficult for anyone to ignore, and talking to the same old spokesmen for India is the obvious safe bet given the limited time these visitors spend in India, Mocherla argues that there is another story that needs to be told. "India has a largely invisible category of smaller manufacturers who are working hard to reach global standards and who merit attention."

"These companies have developed ways to minimize the impact of poor infrastructure, and are increasingly working with demanding global customers such as GE and Toyota. Getting quality right is a major concern for all but a handful of the companies we visit."

"Small batch manufacturing is where the immediate opportunity is for Western companies," says Krishna Mani, a manufacturing industry veteran with 44 years of experience in Indian manufacturing and India Head of the Practice. "Smaller Indian manufacturers tend to work with smaller batches, and know how to control costs in this environment. They also have access to low-cost engineering skills. This means that Western companies can look at offshoring small volume products that are difficult to manufacture at low cost and which might also need a lot of engineering support. This will help establish confidence before considering a bigger move"

The electronics sector survey report is based on face-to-face interviews and factory visits to manufacturers of all sizes.

Some of the findings are:

- Plenty of up-to-date manufacturing facilities of all sizes are coming on-stream
- India has a range of independent players from very small to medium size that are quality conscious and price-competitive.
- The growth in the capabilities of some companies has been driven by demand from pioneers such as GE. For their part, Indian companies have been eager to please and have quickly adopted manufacturing best practices with encouragement from such clients.
- Despite the short-term barriers to manufacturing growth, India's independent companies are well placed to undertake smaller volume, more complex work, especially if the designs require some through-hole assembly and 100% testing (in other words, labour-intensive tasks).

The report is available for download at www.planbmanufacturing.com

About Plan B Manufacturing
Plan B Manufacturing Ltd is a unique organization of senior manufacturing executives from Europe, US and Indian manufacturing groups focussed on assisting manufacturing companies improve their cashflow. Plan B team members have extensive experience of the entire range of offshoring and productivity improvement options and can get involved as much as or as little as needed in any given project.


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Press Contact: Radha Mocherla
Company Name: Plan B Manufacturing Ltd
Phone: +44 7903 563 703
Website: www.planbmanufacturing.com

# posted by (hris @ 8:01 AM 0 comments

China RoHS Standards Ready - Marking Required Only On Products Exceeding Concentration Limits

Two standards - on 'Concentration Limits' and 'Marking' - stipulated by China's RoHS type regulation are ready for Ministerial approval. The two standard per se do not require extra work from companies whose products already comply with the EU's RoHS Directive. But a yet to be published Catalogue will subject certain products to mandatory certification.

(PRWEB) May 20, 2006 -- The implementation of China’s equivalent to the RoHS Directive, which was adopted on February 28 and will enter into force on 1 March 2007, requires several standards and further regulatory measures, e.g. a standard on ‘Concentration Limits’ of hazardous substances; a standard on ‘Marking’ to indicate the presence of hazardous substances, as well as a safe-to-use period and the packaging material; a standard on ‘Testing Procedures’ and - most importantly - a Catalogue of products which are subject to substance restrictions and mandatory certification.

Since 1 May the standards on 'Concentration Limits' and 'Marking' have been ready for Ministerial approval. The drafts are unlikely to be changed in substance.

The maximum concentration values defined in the standard on ‘Concentration Limits’ will only apply to EEE listed in the yet-to-be defined Catalogue. All other products may exceed the limits. The substances and concentration limits are identical to those of the EU’s RoHS Directive. However, going beyond the EU Directive, the Chinese standard applies the limits to components which it divides into 3 groups: parts of homogenous materials to which the concentration limits apply; small items that are hard to disassemble and are treated like homogenous materials; and finally metal plate parts, in which the RoHS substances may occur if they have not been added intentionally.

The standard on ‘Marking’ will apply to all EEE within the scope of ‘China RoHS’. Like its Japanese equivalent, the Chinese standard requires only those products to be marked that exceed the concentration limits defined in the standard above. If a product exceeds the hazardous substances limits, it must be marked with a round symbol specified in the draft. A number in the centre of the mark must designate the period in years during which the product is safe-to-use for the user and the environment. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances in each component must be declared in a table in the manual. Only products in the yet-to-be- defined ‘Catalogue’ are subject to mandatory testing. For all others, the labelling is based on self-declaration.

Ministry of Information Industry (MII) clarified the scope of ‘China RoHS’ in March. The standard on ‘Testing Procedure’ is expected shortly. To establish the Catalogue of products that are subject to mandatory certification, MII is currently developing selection procedures and criteria that include industry consultations, expert assessment etc.

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Press Contact: Raphael Veit
Company Name: Perchards
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 6626541063
Website: www.perchards.com

# posted by (hris @ 10:28 AM 0 comments

Corporate Blogging: Six Steps Help Ensure At-Work Blogs Are An Asset

If you are searching for effective ways to increase traffic to your company web site, encourage key employees to blog, but set a policy first to help ensure success. Search engines like Google elevate the rankings of web sites with continually changing content, and frequent postings to blogs are an ideal way to take advantage of that system. One important key to blogging success is to establish a well-defined policy before the practice is sanctioned at your work.

Portland, ME (PRWEB) May 10, 2006 -- If you are searching for effective ways to increase traffic to your company web site, you might want to encourage key employees to blog, but set a policy first to help ensure success.

Search engines like Google elevate the rankings of web sites with continually changing content, and frequent postings to blogs are an ideal way to take advantage of that system. And according to many communications experts, blogs also allow companies to personalize their organizations, products and services, making a human connection with customers that is often difficult in this high-tech age.

One important key to blogging success is to establish a well-defined policy before the practice is sanctioned at your work. Large and small companies alike use blogging, and yet only 15 percent of companies have policies in place to address workplace blogging, according to a recent survey by the Employment Law Alliance.     Without a clear policy, the anything-goes, free-for-all attitude that flourishes on the Internet could harm your company's reputation.

“Whether a blog becomes a useful tool for your company, or a source of irritation, is a choice you can influence with the policies you adopt today,” says labor and employment law attorney James Erwin from Pierce Atwood LLP in Portland, Maine.

To begin, each workplace blogger needs specific permission and clear direction from management, making sure the employee understands that blogging is part of their job.     Agree in writing with the blogger as to the business purpose for the blog and then require the blogger to adhere to your blogging policy.

Attorney Erwin suggests a comprehensive policy that covers at least these six key areas:

1. Expressly include blogging within the same rules that govern acceptable use of email and Internet;

2. Prohibit employees from disclosing or discussing any confidential or proprietary information;

3. Remind employees that they are expected to be respectful of the company, its employees, its customers and its competitors; and are not to post material that contains harassing, discriminatory or threatening content, no matter when or where the blogging is conducted:

4. Require employees to use their real name, not an alias, and; employees must make it clear that the views they express online are their own and not those of the employer. This policy adds credibility to the blog, as it will be viewed by readers as an independent source of information.

5. Require that any reader responses to a blog be edited for profanity, harassing, discriminatory or threatening content directed toward the company, its employees, its customers, and its competitors.

6. Create an agreement with each blogger as to the purpose of the blog, the amount of company time you will allow the blogger to devote to the practice, and any necessary restrictions regarding overtime compensation for off-site blogging.

By adopting policies that expressly address blogging, Erwin says that an employer can educate employees on specific limits and expectations. If it becomes necessary to take action against an employee because of inappropriate blogging, the employer will have fairly warned of what is problematic and what the consequences may be. This simple step will mitigate the effect on employee morale. It will also enable the employer to point to an objective, policy-based rationale for its decision to discipline or terminate, buttressing its defenses against claims of discrimination or retaliation.

If your company does not have a blog, you are missing out on an important communications medium. Currently 10 million workplace bloggers are active. More join the ranks daily. The smart ones are guided by a blogging policy that encourages meaningful communications and discourages destructive discourse.

Pierce Atwood LLP is the largest law firm based in northern New England and has 120 attorneys who serve regional, national and international clients from offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine; Portsmouth and Concord, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts. For more information about the firm, its attorneys and services, please visit www.pierceatwood.com.

Contact: Jennifer Whittier
Phone: 207-791-1244

Press Contact: Melissa Field
Company Name:
Phone: 207-229-7136
Website: pierceatwood.com

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# posted by (hris @ 1:36 PM 0 comments