ROCKVILLE, Md., April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillcrest
Labs announced today that Lenovo's new line of Smart TVs is using
Hillcrest's patented Freespace® in-air pointing and motion control
software. Freespace enables point-and-click, gesture and motion
control of Smart TVs through simple in-air movements of a remote
control. Lenovo's Freespace-enabled Smart TVs include the new S9
Smart TV that was unveiled on April
16 for sale across China.
Freespace will form the foundation of Lenovo's Smart TV user
experience and enable improved content navigation, better gaming
options, and simple Web browsing. It provides simple to use
point-and-click controls and 3D motion tracking optimized for
consumers in the living room environment. This is particularly
important for Android™ TVs, as the technology replicates the touch
and tilt based controls commonly used by Android apps on other
devices.
"We are very proud that Lenovo has chosen Freespace motion
interface technology as the foundation of its Smart TV user
interface," said Dan Simpkins, CEO
of Hillcrest Labs. "A strong brand,
spirit of innovation, and focus on quality will undoubtedly
establish Lenovo as a Smart TV market leader. We are pleased that
our products and intellectual property will be used throughout
Lenovo's impressive Smart TV product line."
"Smart TV adoption continues at a tremendous pace, and we fully
intend to take a leadership role in this market," said Xiong Wen, General Manager of Digital Home
Business Unit at Lenovo. "Hillcrest is a proven global leader in
motion-enabled TV products with essential intellectual property
that enables key features in these products. Moving forward,
Freespace will be a core technology for our Smart TVs. Together, we
will deliver the best user interfaces for TV, Web, and apps across
Smart TVs."
Lenovo's choice of Freespace is further evidence of the
technology's importance across advanced Smart TV platforms. It also
marks another major, Asia-based
consumer electronics OEM to adopt Hillcrest's technology. To
support this growing market, Hillcrest also announced today that it
will open a new regional office based in Taiwan, which will address the local demand
for Freespace in Smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, wearable
electronics, and more. The office will consist of both sales and
technical support staff to support Hillcrest's growing customer
base in the region.
Hillcrest has a commanding worldwide intellectual property
portfolio that includes over 110 granted out of over 220 total
filed patents exclusively owned by Hillcrest Labs. This includes patents which are
critical to the orientation compensation, automatic calibration and
intelligent motion stabilization features that ensure motion
control technology is simple and intuitive to use on Smart TVs.
Additional information about Lenovo Smart TVs can be found at:
tv.lenovo.com.cn. Additional information about Hillcrest Labs can be found at:
www.HillcrestLabs.com.
About Hillcrest
Labs:
Hillcrest Labs
is the leading global supplier of software and hardware for
motion-enabled products. Our Freespace® technology transforms human
movement into high quality, application-ready motion information.
With a decade of development and many unique patented features,
products come to life with Freespace motion. Companies that have
licensed or use Hillcrest's motion technology include: Atmel,
Eastman Kodak, Hisense, Intel, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Logitech,
Oppo, Roku, SMK Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., TCL
Multimedia, Universal Electronics (UEI), and others.
Hillcrest has received numerous awards and recognitions
including the prestigious CES Innovations Honoree Award multiple
times, IMS Research's TV Innovation Awards, EE Times' ACE Award, PC
World's 100 Best Products and Greatest Tech Designs, Popular
Mechanics' Editors Choice, ECN's Reader's Choice Tech, and many
others. Additional information about Hillcrest's broad portfolio of
motion control products is available at: www.HillcrestLabs.com.
Follow Hillcrest on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HillcrestLabs or
Twitter at @HillcrestLabs.
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a
US$34 billion personal technology
company – the largest PC maker worldwide and an emerging PC Plus
leader – serving customers in more than 160 countries. Dedicated to
building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices,
Lenovo's business is built on product innovation, a
highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic
execution. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM
Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and
markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology
products and services. Its product lines include legendary
Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well
as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices,
including tablets and smartphones. Lenovo, a global Fortune 500
company, has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information
see www.lenovo.com.
Hillcrest Labs, Freespace, and
MotionEngine are trademarks of Hillcrest Laboratories, Inc. All
other company names and trademarks remain property of their
respective owners
SOURCE Hillcrest Labs