As recently as ten years ago, patents were almost entirely a positive thing for companies. They were the embodiment of a firm's innovative energy, both spurring the creation of new products and providing legal protection for those products in the marketplace.Equally important, patents have helped preserve a healthy balance-of-power between competitors. Almost all companies today maintain large portfolios of broadly-applicable patents (which, for reasons described below, often have claims that are very similar to or overlap those of other issued patents), so there has always been a tacit understanding that any infringement litigation would be met with a countersuit. Truly intractable patent disputes – such as the recent Apple-Samsung court battles – might go all the way to trial and judgment, but for the most part companies have used patents to ensure market equilibrium and not to enforce legal rights.Over the last decade or so, however, this benign balance of power has changed. The agent of that change is the non-practicing entity (or NPE), a firm that does not make products or sell services. The NPE business model is simple: acquire patents, identify operating companies that may be infringing those patents, and bring legal action to generate a settlement and/or license payments. Because they have no products or services, NPEs are not susceptible to being countersued.And that, according the Hisao Yamasaki, has changed everything. Yamasaki leads the Asian operations for RPX Corporation, a leading patent risk management provider. He points out that where companies used to regard the patents they own purely as contributors to operating growth, today those same companies are being forced to see patents that they don't own as a source of large and unpredictable risk and expense. In 2011 alone, the total cost of NPE-driven patent litigation in the United States was $5.8 billion."That's up from $1 billion just six years ago and the trend is steadily upward," says Yamasaki, "And the number of companies being targeted by NPEs is rapidly expanding, too. In 2006, 499 companies were asserted by NPEs. In 2011, that had risen to 1,312 companies."The problem, Yamasaki notes, is large, growing and increasingly global. "Our research shows that for the top 50 Asian technology companies, the number of NPE litigations has grown from 63 in 2006 to 234 in 2011," he says. In response, RPX has steadily expanded its outreach in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and other regional technology centers, and will be hosting its annual RPX Asia Patent Conferences in Kyoto on October 22 and in Taipei on October 24. The events cover a wide range of issues, including recent attempts at patent reform, the spread of NPE activities into new vertical markets, troubling trends in how NPEs are being financed, and new ways to quantify and predict patent risk.Founded just four years ago, RPX has already made a significant positive impact in the patent space by providing innovative patent risk solutions for operating companies, including those facing the threat of NPE litigation. It does so by taking a market-based approach to a traditionally legal problem."The problem," says RPX Chief Executive and co-founder John Amster, "is not that patents are being monetized; it is how they are being monetized. Any owner should be able to extract value from an asset, including patents. But NPEs use the court system to determine that value. It's a legal transaction, instead of a market transaction. And legal transactions are incredibly inefficient and costly."In fact, according to a recent study by James Bessen and Michael Meurer of the Boston University School of Law, the total cost for responding to NPE litigation in 2011 was $29 billion, and RPX calculates that fully half of this cost was legal fees. No market-based transaction has anywhere near such high transaction costs.RPX was founded in the belief that the most efficient and rational way to transfer value from patent user to patent owner is through an ecosystem with unlimited participants, complete price transparency, and broad sharing of valuation information. In short, a market. To that end, the firm has built a growing network of 120 operating companies, each of which pays an annual fee based on operating income. RPX uses this capital to acquire high-value, high-threat patents on behalf of all its members.The size of its client base gives RPX the scale to compete with well-capitalized NPEs when bidding for patents. The cost of each acquisition is efficiently shared across the entire network. To date, the company has deployed $490 million to acquire more than 2900 patents and patent rights. The firm calculates that it has reduced NPE risk for its clients in aggregate more than 40% by acquiring patents that would have otherwise been litigated against them. The RPX solution is purely defensive and the firm specifies in every client contract that it will never offensively assert the patents it owns.Amster notes that there are many factors contributing to the overall growth in patent risk for operating companies. The US Patent and Trademark Office has been faulted for issuing so many patents (more than 2.3 million since 2000, alone) and for issuing patents that so often have vaguely described claims or technology that clearly overlaps the claims in previously issued patents. This ends up giving NPEs access to an almost unlimited supply of patents that they can acquire and litigate against operating companies. It has also created a growing number of latent patent conflicts between operating companies with competing products."Clearly there are many points of friction in the current environment," Amster points out. "And any company that incorporates technology into its products or services and sells in the United States is bearing an increasingly heavy patent risk. But dealing with this risk doesn't have to be irrational and inefficient anymore. Our market-based solution shares the risk among multiple participants and dramatically mitigates the transaction costs. And as the RPX network continues to expand, we will be able to remove progressively more patents – and more risk – from the operating ecosystem."There is clearly still a great deal of work to be done to fully rationalize the patent ecosystem, and RPX believes the current system can be further improved with a market-based solution and that billions of dollars in wasted transaction costs can be saved every year. Based on its success to date, the company appears to be on the right track.For more information about RPX's Asia Conferences, please contact: events@rpxcorp.com

In late 1990, Taiwan's Freeway Bureau began planning the construction of National Highway No. 3 to open up better transportation links and create more balanced regional development. The highway construction would have to go through steep terrain and mountains which made the project even more difficult, not to mention the difficulty of follow-up maintenance. Lantan Tunnel is well known among engineering associations and government agencies because it overcame numerous natural barriers and introduced many leading engineering methods."Because the Tunnel is located in the mountain area, its maintenance is a demanding challenge. Thanks to Advantech's help, their stable system gave us a big hand," said Mr. Chen, Senior Engineer of Southern Region Engineering Office, Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau.Advantech's SCA DA system provided easy management and control of the tunnel monitoring system which is comprised of front-end sensors (including a luminance meter, smoke and dust detector), APAX controller, and back-end PAC with WebAccess software to provide safe surveillance."Illumination is one of the most important aspects of driving safety. Due to tunnel's 1.2 km length, the lighting system not only had to provide basic lighting but also had to have adjustable illumination to help avoid accidents because brightness differences can cause motorist's eyes discomfort and problems," Mr. Chen said.A user friendly graphical interface enabled engineers to easily locate the luminance settings, and the webbased design, hyperlinking, and remote communications, helped external engineering staff easily communicate with central management when out on site.Building a traffic safety control system in the cloudThree years ago, when the Freeway Bureau planned to replace the old system, a system with easy maintenance and a simple graphical user interface were the top priorities, Mr. Chen said. "Previous maintenance work used to waste a lot of time on account of using products from different suppliers, which meant problems became very difficult to resolve. We once called several vendors to come in, only to find out it was just a fuse problem! That's why, Advantech really impressed us—with Advantech things got much simpler."Mr. Chen explained that contact was made with Advantech four years ago to help with an unknown fault. It was only a few thousand NT dollars of work but Advantech quickly sent maintenance staff to resolve it. In addition, with the benefit of a web-based monitoring system, Advantech could offer the integration of a transmission and SCADA system to enhance overall maintenance performance. Thereafter, Advantech began to participate in the improvement of the tunnel monitoring system as a strategic partner.Currently, there are 43 of Advanetch's APAX controllers distributed in the Lantan Tunnel connected to backend PACs with WebAccess software to control the whole tunnel. All of those devices were provided by Advantech which significantly improved the system. Mr. Chen added, "Advantech's PACs, which integrate control, data processing, images, video, and internet communications, are ideal products for maintenance engineering to safely monitor the tunnel."With increased maintenance and monitoring, the new system has attracted many engineering departments and agencies who visit the tunnel to take a look. And now, the Pingtung Zhongliao Tunnel team is also planning to replicate this project and use Advantech's products.According to t he contractor's manager, "Advantech's IPC products prov ided the best stabilit y and integrat ion. Secondly, Advantech offered complete technical training and support services, plus quality products at competitive prices, which is why Advantech has become the first choice of contractors."Advantech's SCA DA system provided easy management and control of the tunnel monitoring system.Finding more case study articles

The Hospital Alpes Leman in Contamine sur Arve, France, was originally built in 1841 and serves the Geneva area as a premier public hospital offering a complete range of medical and surgical specialties. The hospital has a 640 bed capacity, and its wide range of care options across various fields of competence is available to all. The hospital was completely rebuilt in 2012 which afforded planners the opportunity to computerize the facility in surgery, endoscopy, recovery, anesthesia, and other areas. Hospital staff identified the need to build systems that allowed full patient management, room scheduling, and regulatory checklists in surgery; intervention and recovery processes in anesthesiology; and patient plan care and prescription continuity in pharmaceutical dispensaries.Advantech's POC-S197F Slim Point-of-Care terminals were selected to handle the hospital's needs. The all-in-one terminal is connected to the hospital's information systems, and allows real-time access and recording of patient data. It was installed in the hospital using convenient VESA standard swing-arm mounts, making for an ergonomic workstation with mouse and keyboard suspended above worktables maximizing the work area. The POC-S197F's 19 inch display gives medical personnel, such as anesthesiologists in surgical units, a broad visual interface. Having instant access to data optimizes workflow, reduces risks from errors and ensures premium access to information is always available.Advantech's POC-S197F is a 19" TFT LCD display powered by an IntelR Core2 Duo processor. The 1.2 GHz processor is the basis for a powerful system which supports 2 GB of DDR3 memory, and has a full set of I/O connectors (3 USB ports, 2 serial ports, and 2 LAN ports) to meet the hospital's requirements. WiFi and touch panel functions are also available to provide more flexibility, ease data entry, and allow the system to connect to other HIS platforms throughout the hospital.The Hospital Alpes Leman noted several benefits from the installation:- Better performance and increased productivity resulting from modernized workstations- Mitigation of risk factors, as real-time access to relevant data reduces errors- Ease of use with a convenient touchscreen- Fanless operation, ideal for sanitized and quiet areas like surgery- Great ergonomics and space-savings features- Compliance with regulatory requirements- Flexible connectivity options- Flexible mounting choicesThe customer is satisfied with the connectivity afforded by POC-S197F, its slim profile, and its ease of cleaning. Patrice Sondag, a clinical worker in the surgical unit at the hospital said, "POC-S197F can be easily cleaned with the disinfectants used in the hospital, such as Surfa" safe or Surfanios. With its true flat panel, it permits easy and thorough cleaning."Advantech's POC-S197F is a 19" TFT LCD display powered by an IntelR Core2 Duo processor.The all-in-one terminal is connected to the hospital's information systems, and allows real-time access and recording of patient dataFinding more case study articles

While Taiwan's passive component makers generally saw poor performances during the first half of this year, Chilisin - Taiwan's largest inductor manufacturer - was the exception, achieving excellent results in terms of both revenue growth and earnings per share (EPS). With revenue growth of 10% and EPS growth of 26% for the half year, Chilisin outperformed all other inductor manufacturers.Chilisin's ability to grow in face of weak economic conditions is closely connected to its entry into the handset market in 2009. Chilisin progressed from having no products at all in the handset sector to it contributing more than one fifth of the company's overall revenues up to August 2012, making Chilisin a global supplier in all international major mobile phone markets.According to forecasts from Topology Research Institute, smartphones shipments in China will reach some 188 million in 2012, with a year-on-year growth of 36.2% to drive-shipments to reach 256 million in 2013. The rapid growth rate means that the China smartphone market will become one of Chilisn's main drivers for sustainable growth.Chilisin has a complete portfolio of inductors and technologies – thin-film processes, multilayer printing processes, molding processes, and wire wound processesChilisin's new products are designed for greater precision, miniaturization and thinness to meet the requirements of handheld, slim and lightweight portable devices. Chilisin will begin mass production of its TFL Series RF thin-film chip inductor for usage in high-end smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2012, using a thin-film process. The company also has three product categories for power solutions to serve handheld devices: miniature molded power inductors (AME/MHCD Series, compatible with the TOKO DFE Series), miniature magnetic-resin shielded wire-wound power inductors (LVF Series), and multilayer power inductors (MPB Series). This wide product range enables Chilisin to cater to customer requirements with three different types of technology. Chilisin believes that power consumption will be an even greater challenge in coming years, as dual-core and quad-core processors become the norm; as a result, current-related applications will cause a significant increase in demand for power inductors.Chilisin aims to continue its strategy of diversification by opening up new markets. It has already begun taking orders from new regions including Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe. Chilisin has indicated that it will strive to operate through partnerships in regions such as these that are focused on developing niche markets including solar power and security equipment.Market conditions are ripe for a push into the Japanese marketJapan is another focal point for Chilisin's market development activities this year. Chilisin has been building close contacts with numerous Japanese clients through strategic alliances with leading distributors in the country, and its products have been very well received. Chilisin has stated that development in the Japanese market will center on demand for consumer electronics products. Chilisin's factories in China's Dongguan, Suzhou and Henan regions are close to-and capable of supporting the China factories of its Japanese clients. Chilisin's comprehensive product line, range of technologies, ferrite-core and powder materials development technology, and strong vertical integration capabilities make Chilisin unique among Taiwan-based inductor manufacturers. Many Japanese manufacturers have therefore given the highest praise to Chilisin for the diversity of its products and the maturity and sophistication of its technology.Chilisin stresses that the development of these new markets will become its growth engine in the near future. Chilisin's revenue results are likely to move up a step from the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, with the firm's penetration into the global market becoming broader, deeper and more international.Chilisin has a complete portfolio of inductor and technologies – thin-film processes, multilayer printing processes, molding processes, and wire wound processes

APLEX Technology Inc., a global industrial computer products solution providers, today announces its latest Mini-ITX motherboard - ASB-M8671. This newest APLEX PC-based industrial motherboard is equipped with 2nd generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3 processors."APLEX has been working on embedded system for ages and each of APLEX embedded products offers various platforms such as Intel Atom, Socket P Core 2 duo series and Socket 988 series. Although the ASB-M8671 is not a very new platform in the market; actually it targets the customers who are serious concerned with product reliability and quality. For example, all solid capacitor are designed on motherboard, all of external I/O on the ASB-M8671 come with 4KV ESD protection, as well as countercurrent protection on USB port circuit design, and switching regulators for power parts circuit. In short, ASB-M8671 is ideal for wider applications such as factory automations, gaming machines, military and networking, as we know our clients are looking for solutions that deliver computing and graphics performance on a board with trusty design." Said Conrad Ai, Manager of Product Manage Division.APLEX ASB-M8671 key features:-Intel Socket 988B, support Intel Core i3/5/7, with Intel QM67 PCH-24bit LVDS support-1 X DVI-I and HDMI output-2 X SATA2 and 2 X SATA3 connector-APLEX designed 120 pins connector for PCIe and PCI raiser card expansion-Wide range DC power input: 9~32V-Wide operating temperature: -20~70 degrees C*-Optional CFast and SIM card slot *Depends on memory & CPU spec.The ASB-M8671 is now sampling to early access customers. Pricing is available upon request.

The Apple iPhone has ignited consumer demand worldwide for 3G smartphones, but many consumers are unaware that Taiwan-based flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) makers have made great contributions to handsets from Apple, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and HTC, particularly in terms of innovative development of new materials.These innovative new materials help realize thinner and lighter product designs. Their influence actually extends beyond the smartphone industry. Products such as e-book readers, tablets, LED-based LCD TVs and notebooks can also benefit from these.Flexible electronics play a key role in breaking through the limitations of existing technology for components. Flexible electronics are produced by directly printing electronic circuits and electronic components that are created using semiconductor technology on to flexible substrates by means of photo-imaging technologies.Such circuit boards, which are line-etched and covered with FPCB solder mask protection, are known as flexible printed circuit boards, but are more commonly referred to as FPCB.These light, thin, flexible and shock-resistant products have a broad range of applications, including RFID electronic tags, smartphones, LCD monitors, notebooks, e-book readers, flexible solar cells, flexible lighting, flexible memory and flexible digital signage.Resolving the longstanding yield problems for bonding PCBs and FPCBsTaiwan's FPCB industry got off the ground later than that of Japan, but it is rapidly catching up. However, as the use of IT and consumer electronics products has expanded, the ability to replace traditional connectors with FPCBs has effectively enabled reductions in the thickness of product components and helped enable IT products to become thinner and lighter. As a result, FPCB makers have experienced their first boom in several years, putting them in the enviable position of running at nearly full production capacity.An issue with the FCBP manufacturing process that has plagued R&D engineers for a long time concerns the intersection between the FPCB and the rigid PCB. This area can easily fracture after being bent several times, with the result that makers have been unable to raise yield rates.The crux of the problem is the solder masks used, since many rigid PCB makers only entered the FPCB business in the past few years and their previous experience led them to use solder masks intended for rigid PCBs when manufacturing FPCBs. Since rigid PCB solder masks are not sufficiently flexible, the resulting boards easily crack when bent. A good FPCB solder mask is made using epoxy resin as the basic raw material and the mask can withstand baking in a high-temperature environment, while remaining soft and highly flexibility. When the board is bent, the mask will extend along the substrate's curvature to avoid cracking.Taiwan's FPCB industry has made great strides forward in terms of production technology over the last few years. FPCB makers using continuous roll-to-roll production have increased capacity fivefold without adding equipment or manpower, while those that have adopted panel production methods have seen capacity increase by as much as eight times, again without adding equipment or manpower. The most important factor in the explosion in FPCB capacity is perhaps the use of the latest thermosetting FPCB solder masks. These newly developed masks make it possible to reduce the baking time from more than an hour to just one minuteThis critical one-minute curing allows a dramatic increase in production capacity.TeamChem demonstrated new FPCB mask applications to production process managers from FPCB makers at a technology show, as well as introducing its latest quick-dry FPCB mask and conducting onsite demonstrations involving a one minute bake in a 150 degrees C oven and a five minute test bake in a 120 degrees C oven – to demonstrate that the company's mask can be fully dried on the FPCB in five minutes, so that the FPCB could be used straight away for bending experiments. The mask's characteristics of quick drying and strong bending tolerance have impressed FPCB makers and led them to think again about ways to reduce costs and raise capacity using the new process.FPCB makers that attended the demonstration noted that while TeamChem did not reveal the manufacturing process of its new quick-dry FPCB mask, their observations on the look, feel and smell of its formulation, mixture and screen coating led them to speculate that the mask uses macromolecular nanomaterial technologies to change the polymer structure of the ink to reduce the baking time to a mere one minutes.Dr. Todd Yeh of TeamChem indicated that the company's flexible mask is a type of thermosetting resin, which has both solder masking and surface heat dissipation properties. When the mask is used to replace PI cover film, the flexible ink will envelop the flexible cables and stretch to protect them from breaking when the board is bent. The heat dissipation properties of TeamChem's flexible mask also help dissipate the heat created by current in the cable through the layers of ink, allowing greater stability in the signal within the cable. The company's flexible masks are already the designated handset FPCB mask for several major handset brand vendors, while wider R&D on further applications of the product are currently underway.TeamChem's FPCB mask allows FPCB to better tolerate bending

Barnes & Noble has introduced Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets. The 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch Nook HD+ feature displays for reading and entertainment starting at US$199 for the Nook HD and US$269 for Nook HD+. Both are available for pre-order on Barnes & Noble's website and in stores for delivery beginning in early November.Both Nook HD and Nook HD+ offer access to a collection of popular movies and TV shows through the new Nook Video. And an all-new built-in email app supports popular email services including Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.The Nook HD includes a newly invented display that delivers a resolution at 1440 by 900, with 243ppi and HD video playback up to 720p. Nook HD is armed with a dual-core 1.3GHz processor and 1GB RAM to allow the device to operate faster than Kindle Fire HD for an overall experience and 80% faster when it comes to graphics processing for smoother, faster animations, renderings, apps experience and more, the company claimed.The 7-inch Nook HD is now available for pre-order in two colors. Starting at US$199 for an 8GB model and US$229 for a 16GB version, both feature expandable microSD memory storage.The Nook HD+ offers a Full HD 9-inch display with resolution of 1920 by 1280 and 256ppi for up to 1080p movies, magazines and more. The fully laminated display reduces glare and provides excellent viewing angles, perfect for personal or shared viewing, claimed B&N.Weighing 18.2 ounces (515g), Nook HD+ is easy to hold and take anywhere. The Nook HD+ is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM.The Nook HD+ features expandable memory for even more storage with options of 16GB for US$269 and 32GB for US$299Both Nook HD and Nook HD+ will ship in late October and be available in stores in early November.Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ tabletPhoto: CompanyBarnes & Noble Nook HD tabletPhoto: Company

With the advancement of solar photovoltaic technologies, many related industries are booming as well. As a leader in industrial control, Advantech has become one of the major pioneers pushing for progress in the photovoltaics industry.An Interview with Hsu Pei-hsiu, Product Manager at Advantech's Industrial Automation Group, China"Today, when new renewable energy industries including solar and wind power are thriving, we provide the solar photovoltaics industry with products and services supporting their manufacturing equipment and remote maintenance, and also all-in-one services and total solutions", remarks Hsu Pei-hsiu, Product Manager at Advantech's Industrial Automation Group in China.As for China's present development in the photovoltaics industry, Advantech provides support services for manufacturing equipment, and is able to offer bundled HMI/SCADA products with Ethernet telecommunications for each process involved in the creation of solar cell modules. These major steps include the growth of mono- or poly- crystal silicon ingots, slicing, cleaning, diffusion, etching, coating, screen printing, assembly and packaging, done by machines with an automation control structure composed of supervisory level of human-machine interfaces (HMI) and programmable logic controllers (PLC) communicating via industrial Ethernet switches. The solar module manufacturing machines, Ethernet devices and SCADA software packages are installed at the production lines in the facilities and exemplify operation reliability and maintenance convenience.For the stand-alone machines, there is need for an HMI to monitor and control all systems accompanied by three to four PLCs. "In this way the equipment manufacturers can choose an embedded fanless Touch Panel PC (TPC) connected to Advantech's UNO-Series fanless embedded controllers via Advantech's EKI Ethernet switches. The UNO-Series configures, monitors and controls the PLC and stores production data, and the EKI switch serves as the communication bridge between TPC and UNO-Series, and the TPC is manipulated with remote monitoring and control software that oversees the status of each UNO-Series and each PLC. The HMI, network, control and data storage devices have their own function blocks separate to each other, thus the reliability and security of the whole apparatus is ensured," Hsu mentions.Benefiting from the idea of vertical market orientation, each business group in Advantech has a profound understanding of the specific and specialized needs of their targeted industry. Hsu said, "Using a globalized technological platform, we are dedicated to providing our customers with products and services related to equipment maintenance in the photovoltaics industry, with successful application cases increasing every year."Presently, in remote maintenance, Advantech offers DiagAnywhere software, which is an abbreviation of "Diagnose Anywhere". DiagAnywhere is Windows-based remote maintenance software for remotely monitoring and controlling Advantech TPC, UNO-Series and ADAM devices. It includes software tools for client users and server software for the targeted equipment, and supports operation system platforms including Windows XP, Window XP Embedded, Windows CE.NET 4.2 and Windows CE.NET5.0.According to Hsu, this practically useful software can report to its user the tasks completed at the remote end, including remote monitoring and control, acquisition of remote screen images and record data, file uploading and downloading. It also supports Windows security certifications. "With this software, the equipment manufacturers can easily maintain the remote equipment based on TPC/UNO structure. They can complete all the needed operation steps through the Internet and thus reduce personnel cost for the maintenance of equipment," Hsu said."In the photovoltaics industry, we have heard more and more frequent calls from our customers for the establishment of integrated projects, so we continue to adjust our market strategies to accommodate this trend. At present, the photovoltaics industry is obviously moving toward more "project-oriented" demands, so Advantech continues to enrich its products for solar power plant control, network management, software service and power storage, endeavoring to make itself a trusted 'all-in-one service provider'", Hsu said.Advantech provides support services for manufacturing equipment, and is able to offer bundled HMI/SCADA products with Ethernet telecommunicationsFinding more case study articles

Real products on real display stands are the standard way to promote products in the cosmetics industry. Even though, customers cannot search for specific products that are suitable to them, display stands present customers with real experiences to touch, feel, and try different products the vendor is promoting, and thereby entice them to make qualified purchase decisions.To help customers better understand their products, marketing and sales people try to design visually engaging retail displays which attempt to interact with customers and promote products, ultimately with the aim to encourage them to make a purchase. Therefore the challenge is to understand the motives than inform consumer choices so that the vendor's brand is translated into customer experience.Nowadays, there are numerous solutions out there. Some cosmetic brands have tried creative and innovative promotions through multimedia signage displays which sell visions of glamorous lifestyles that can be attained by simply purchasing their product. The consumer experience is enhanced and the relationship becomes more active.Signage displays can quickly and effectively help build up the brand image in the mind of the consumer. Even though customers may not know much, or indeed anything about a product, creative, bold and eye-catching designs pull people in, engaging their curiosity about a product in a visually entertaining way.Well-designed retail signage content puts consumers at ease and encourages them to freely browse products without specific preference or intention. They can choose to learn more about a product, search for new products, or just browse general information for the fun of it.The most important thing is that signage displays do not overpower retail areas but rather form part of a carefully designed consumer experience and process that ultimately leads to a successful purchasing decision. Signage displays also help reinforce an active relationship between sales people and customers by making the buying experience more satisfying. Digital Signage features such as their all-in-one design, easy and portable installation and fast updates, all appeal to cosmetic manufacturers who see digital signage systems as an exciting means to get their brand message across.Well-designed retail signage content puts consumers at ease and encourages them to freely browse products without specific preference or intentionFinding more case study articles

BIG SUN Energy Technology Inc., a professional solar cell manufacturer in Taiwan, has recently launched its latest solar cell with 19.4% high conversion efficiency to fulfill strict demands from worldwide customers. BIG SUN Energy with its patented Combo-Cell technology, make mono-crystalline cell conversion efficiency reach 19.4% and increase power output over 260W (on 60-cell basis).Combo-Cell series products utilizes 6" mono wafer with shallow junction process and its special alkaline texturing solution (IPA-less) to create a "highly anti-reflective texturing" structure on front surface. This texturing structure improves its light absorption so that the cell External Quantum Efficiency (EQE) and short circuit current (Isc) can be enhanced.Additionally, BIG SUN Energy is going to demonstrate its latest patented iPV Tracker at PV Taiwan 2012, a lightweight and dual-axis sun tracking system for high efficiency solar panels. iPV tracker, moving in both horizontal and vertical axes, can track the Sun's apparent motion automatically and precisely. By adjusting dynamically the position of PV modules to track the sun can boost the power yield by 30-40%. With lightweight structure design and unique iPV real-time monitoring platform, the company defines the next generation of robust, reliable, and affordable solar tracking system.The patented iPV Tracker, Combo-Cell-S cell and Combo-Cell cell will be presented at PV Taiwan 2012, BIG SUN booth (booth number D0230), October 3-5. Welcome to visit us at D0230.TOPPER SUN's iPV Tracker, Dual Axis Tracker, TS-T6006 Rooftop / Ground type19.4% High Efficiency Mono Cell