A virtually unknown UK-based company, Promotion & Display Technology (PDT) has done a great deal to build its international reputation with the launch of the first portable Internet radio, the InTune 200, at CES 2003 in Las Vegas.
The GlobalTuner InTune 200 delivers audio anywhere in the home (within a 300 ft. range), from multiple PC-based sound sources including:
* thousands of Internet radio stations
* downloaded or ripped MP3 files
* regular CDs and DVDs
* regular terrestrial radio broadcasts
* text-to-speech for caller ID and e-mail
Portability makes the product unusual, even unique. Unlike other broadband solutions for home entertainment, the InTune 200 does not require a hard-wired network RJ45 connection. The user simply plugs the base unit in to a free USB socket on their computer, and it sends audio to the remote unit from GlobalTuner’s PC client application. The PC is still free to be used for other tasks.
The InTune 200 features a large back-lit LCD display that allows users to see relevant information at a glance, such as radio station name, streaming data, and CD track names.
Over the years since it was founded in 1988, developer PDT has found a unique niche within the consumer electronics market. Thus far, the company has not created its own brands. Instead, PDT has designed and supplied innovative products (such as Voice-Over-IP phones) to some of the leading global blue chip companies, working for BT, Olympus, Sharp in Japan, and Tele Danmark.
Another area of strength for PDT is the promotional telecoms market, where they are global leaders in designing and supplying products to all the leading telecommunication companies. In the UK, BT Consumer Products (British Telecom) regularly uses PDT for their promotions: a typical example is BT’s Caller Display Widget Promotion, which increased take-up of subscription Caller ID service by 100 fold during the promotional periods.
Oddly enough, the InTune 200 was the result of a PDT initiative to develop a promotional product to drive broadband subscriptions. The result is a user-friendly, affordable device that opens up broadband to a market that has previously not been persuaded by the usual discount promotional offers.
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