Agenda Set for US FPD Smart Displays Conference

NPD DisplaySearch announced the final agenda for its US FPD Smart Displays Conference, which will be held February 28-29, 2012 in San Diego, California.

For more information visit: www.displaysearch.com


Unedited press release follows:

Final Agenda Announced for US FPD Smart Displays Conference

Corning, hhgregg, Intel, LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Qualcomm, Yahoo! and Other Industry Leaders to Speak at San Diego Event

Santa Clara, Calif., February 17, 2012 — NPD DisplaySearch today revealed the final agenda for its upcoming US FPD Smart Displays Conference: From Emerging to Mainstream, which will be held February 28-29, 2012 in San Diego, California. This year’s event features an impressive line-up of speakers representing key participants in smart displays, including materials, components, user interfaces, connectivity, content platforms, delivery and display systems, and retail sectors. Leading brands from Samsung and LG Electronics to emerging players such as Vlingo and Flingo will also be in attendance.

“As competition and commoditization in the display and digital home markets become increasingly intense, smart displays have emerged as a critical concept to add value to products, to open up the potential for adoption of new technologies and usage modes, and to respond to consumer behavior,” noted Paul Semenza, Senior Vice President of NPD DisplaySearch. “Conference presenters will cover a wide array of smart display topics, from TVs, tablets and notebooks to the technologies and system designs needed to enable smart displays. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the status and direction of this segment.”

Kicking off Day 2 of the US FPD Smart Displays Conference, Dennis May, CEO of retailer hhgregg, will bring a veteran retailer’s perspective on how to deliver TV industry growth in 2012. May will also give insight into why the relationship between the display industry and the retailer at the front line will be critical for the success of new display products.

The conference will feature more than 30 presentations by NPD DisplaySearch and NPD In-Stat global analysts, in addition to industry leaders who will present their viewpoints and perspectives on the industry. Representatives throughout the flat panel display, capacitive touch, 3D display, mobile device and emerging display industries will participate.

The US FPD Smart Displays Conference provides attendees with valuable information and market data, as well as great opportunities for networking and hearing different perspectives that can benefit future business strategies.

Here is the final agenda:

Day 1: Tuesday, February 28

Session I: Advancing Smart Display Technologies

• Market Overview by Paul Semenza, Senior Vice President, Analyst Services, NPD DisplaySearch
• Next Generation Displays: We Get There with Glass by Robert O’Brien, Director, Marketing Intelligence, Corning
• Advancing the “Art of the Possible” in Large Screen Displays by Jim Sanduski, Vice President, Strategic Product Marketing, Sharp

Session II: Interactivity—New User Interfaces for Smart Displays

• Human-Machine Interactive: Touch and Touch-Less Control by Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, Vice President, Display Technologies, NPD DisplaySearch
• The Power of Multi-Touch: Revolutionizing the User Experience via a New Foundation for Tomorrow’s Industrial and Commercial Applications by Gene Halsey, Product Line Director, Touch Revolution, a TPK Company
• In Touch Between Customers and Business, the Magic of Interactive Digital Signage by Stephen Aguirre, Director Strategic Marketing, TE Touch Solutions
• The Gesture Revolution: On, Off, and In the Display by Vincent John Vincent, Co-CEO, President & Co-Founder, GestureTek Inc.
• The 4th Screen: Voice and Touch Innovation for the Digital Living Room by Gary Clayton, Chief Creative Officer, Nuance Communications

Session III: Connectivity – Controlling and Acquiring Devices and Content

• Connectivity: Controlling and Acquiring Devices & Content by Brian O’Rourke, Research Director, Digital Entertainment, NPD In-Stat
• Alex Chervet, Senior Director of Marketing, Silicon Image
• Mark Grodzinsky, Vice President of Marketing, Wilocity
• Building a Truly Smart Display by Leslie Chard, President, WHDI LLC
• Unwiring the Next Frontier Isn’t About Radios, It’s Just Software by Kerry Forell, Product Manager for Wireless Display, Intel Marketing Group
• Ben Chan, Director, Product Marketing, Entropic

Day 2: Wednesday, February 29

A Conversation with Dennis L. May, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, hhgregg

Stephen Baker, Vice President of Industry Analysis for The NPD Group, will present US sell-through results for 2011 that document the challenges facing the consumer technology industry and then follow that up with an intimate discussion with Dennis May, hhgregg CEO, about how retailers can overcome challenges during this period of transition.

Session IV: Tablets, Smart Monitors, Cloud Devices and other “Personal” Computers

• Complementing and Competing with the TV by Richard Shim, Senior Analyst PC/IT Team, NPD DisplaySearch
• Tablets in Prime Time by Young Bae, Group Manager, Consumer PC/Tablets, Toshiba
• New Uses, New Purposes, New Attach by Andy Bowden, Senior Strategic Marketing Manager, Displays Global Business Unit, Hewlett-Packard
• Enabling the Connected Smart Display by Dr. Alan Messer, Senior Director, Advanced Technologies Lab, Samsung Electronics and President and Chairman UPnP Forum
• Troy Cross, Vice President of Sales and Alliances for the Americas and Asia, Vlingo

Session V: Content and Apps for Smart Displays

• Russ Schafer, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Yahoo! Connected TV and Desktop
• Content and Ecosystem by Matt Gordon, Vice President Content and Product Solutions, Samsung Electronics
• Bob Scheffler, Director of Next Generation Video Solutions, Motorola
• Tom Paquin, Chief Technology officer, OnLive

Session VI: TV of the Future

• TV of the Future: What Is a Key Trend and What Is a Distraction? by Paul Gagnon, Director, North American TV Research, NPD DisplaySearch
• Ji Park, VP Product Management, Qualcomm
• Kurt Hoppe, Director of Smart TV Innovation and Alliances, LG Electronics
• Natural Interaction by Bill Rouady, Director, Product Planning for TV Software and Services, Hillcrest Labs
• Ashwin Navin, CEO and Co-Founder, Flingo
• Smart Sensor and Lighting for Smarter Displays by Paul Wilmarth, Director of Consumer Segment Marketing, AMS-TAOS Inc

Register Now for the NPD DisplaySearch US FPD Conference!

While flat panel display technology has advanced over the decades, the availability to intelligently connect is a more recent advancement—one that could significantly change how displays are used. Increasingly, computing power is shifting to the display itself, and smart displays are being immersed in our daily lives. From TVs to tablets, and from notebooks to phones, a huge variety of devices satisfy our need for constant communication and information. US FPD Smart Displays Conference: From Emerging to Mainstream, held February 28-29 at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown San Diego, will examine every facet of this exciting new smart landscape.

To view the latest agenda and register for the US FPD Smart Displays Conference, visit www.displaysearch.com/usfpd.

For more information about conferences and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Laura Castellano at 1.408.418.1904 or laura.castellano@displaysearch.com.

About NPD DisplaySearch
Since 1996, NPD DisplaySearch has been recognized as a leading global market research and consulting firm specializing in the display supply chain, as well as the emerging photovoltaic/solar cell industries. NPD DisplaySearch provides trend information, forecasts and analyses developed by a global team of experienced analysts with extensive industry knowledge and resources. In collaboration with The NPD Group, its parent company, NPD DisplaySearch uniquely offers a true end-to-end view of the display supply chain from materials and components to shipments of electronic devices with displays to sales of major consumer and commercial channels. For more information on NPD DisplaySearch analysts, reports and industry events, visit us at http://www.displaysearch.com/. Read our blog at http://www.displaysearchblog.com/ and follow us on Twitter at @DisplaySearch.

About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 2,000 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, entertainment, fashion, food, home and office, sports, technology, toys, video games, and wireless. For more information, contact us, visit http://www.npd.com/, or follow us Twitter at https://twitter.com/npdgroup.