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Product Magazines: Product Trends |
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FROM Japan, home of electronics makers and earthquakes, has come some of the most sophisticated equipment for detecting and understanding earthquakes. Most of this equipment is produced for official earthquake observers, but now there is one item for the home.
Mizuyoshi (Hong Kong) Co Ltd produces the Earthquake Safety Lamp. Founded in Japan in August 1993, the Mizuyoshi parent company has factories in Hong Kong, China and Japan. Its product range includes torches and other types of lights.
The earthquake lamp, produced in Hong Kong, is designed to withstand most powerful earthquakes and enable the user to safely find refuge when all power lines are down. The lamp consists of an upper lamp and a lower lamp. The upper lamp lights up when the internal microcomputer senses an earthquake with the seismic intensity of more than three on the Richter scale. It will light continuously for five minutes and flash on and off every five seconds after that. The continuous light enables the user to find somewhere safe to shelter and the subsequent flashing will act as a warning or signal to rescuers that someone is trapped.
The lower half of the lamp is a flashlight or spotlight that can be used when power supplies are out. The flashlight's handle slots inside the lamp. It also has attachments to securely fix it to a wall or bed. The battery is rechargeable so there is no need for replacement batteries.
The target market is residents of notorious earthquake areas and the major market is Japan. The earthquake lamp is made primarily of ABS and PP from Taiwan. The minimum order required is 3,000 units and delivery takes 60 days.
Written by Mairi Mulholland
ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY solutions for keeping mosquitoes and other insects out of the house are hard to come by, but Mag-Shield (DIY) Insect Screen Fty has come up with a simple and effective product to make life easier.
The Mag-Shield (DIY) Insect Screen for Windows consists of a fibreglass mesh screen, PVC strips, and soft rubber-encased magnets and angled corner pieces that can be put together to make a frame. The completed unit then attaches by magnet to the window frame.
One set consists of eight magnets, four strips, four angle connectors and one mesh screen. The length of the strips depends on window frame size. A set for a 1x1 metre screen is about US$13 FOB Hong Kong. A 560x1,000 millimetre screen set is US$11. There is no minimum order requirement.
According to marketing manager Paul Wai, while the firm is looking to sell the product worldwide, countries with warmer climes are immediate target markets.
The firm expects to make about 50,000 sets per month. Established in 1995, it has a 4,000-square-foot factory and a workforce of 400.
Written by Mairi Mulholland
SMOKE alarms save countless lives every year. Burglar alarms are also becoming a common home appliance. Canon Audio Device Ltd has combined the two to come up with its new product, one that speaks up when trouble occurs.
The Indoor Siren With Voice Driver, as well as having an alarm facility of two separate tones, also has a voice driver, which will actually play a spoken message when activated. The two separate tones are alarms for the two separate incidents of fire or burglary.
When activated by a home burglar alarm, the siren announces, "Attention! You have activated a security system. The authorities have been notified." Five seconds of yelping burglar tone follows. This sequence continues until the siren is switched off.
In the case of the fire alarm detecting smoke, the siren says, "Attention! A fire has been detected. Leave the premises immediately." A steady, five-second bell tone follows, and again this sequence continues until the alarm is deactivated. The siren is attractively enclosed in a pale-colored plastic case measuring 168x105x41 millimetres with vents for the alarms and voice driver to sound.
To operate, the siren must be attached to a larger control panel, which is why the major buyers of this product are security companies. The control panel must be mounted inside the house and the siren placed in an area where it can be heard from all rooms in the house. Major markets for this product are the US and Sweden. It is made mainly of plastic manufactured in the US and electronic components from the US, Taiwan and South Korea. Canon Audio Device plans to achieve most of its sales of the siren through direct marketing. Delivery time is 45 days and the minimum order requirement is 1,020 units.
Written by Mairi Mulholland
WHEN microwaves first arrived in the shops last decade, tales developed among consumers saying that standing too close to the microwave door made people radioactive. Although microwaves are common today and usually regarded without suspicion, the reality is that the possibility exists of electromagnetic wave leakage and many consumers are still concerned about this fact.
From Vanton Ltd comes a solution that does not require the user to cart the microwave all the way back to the dealer for annual check-ups or setting aside a part of the day for a technician to come to the house. The solution comes in the shape of a slender green box about the size of a chocolate bar and is called the 3-in-1 Green Box Detector. As well as operating as a microwave leakage tester, it can be used to check batteries and bulbs for continuity, and as a metal detector.
Eva Lee, general manager of Vanton Ltd, believes buyers will be mainly those who own microwave ovens in Vanton's principal markets of Japan, Germany, the US and Europe, and that consumers will find uses for the device in other parts of the house. The company's experience includes production of remote control cards and other small electronic testers.
To detect microwave leakage, the microwave must have food or water inside and be switched on. The green box is then turned on and moved around the outside walls of the oven. If there is no leakage, the green box will remain silent and if anything is detected the green box's buzzer will sound.
The box is made up of an ABS plastic case, an electric circuit and a small metal roller ball at the front. On the side there is a light, a sensitivity control and the select switch.
The metal detector sensor is at the back end of the box. To test batteries and light bulbs, the metal ball makes contact with the pole of the battery or bulb. The strength and steadiness of the buzzer and light will indicate the strength of the charge.
The 3-in-1 Green Box Detector is sold in electronics and home appliance stores. Delivery takes 45 days and the minimum order size is 1,000 pieces. Each piece costs US$3.60 FOB Hong Kong. The colour can be changed for custom orders of 1,000 pieces or more.
Written by Mairi Mulholland
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