C-Pen and a mobile camera turn into meter reader

C-Pen and a mobile camera turn into meter reader Anoto Group (publ) - through its business unit C Technologies - and Hong Kong listed Nam Tai Electronic & Electrical Products Limited, are jointly developing a camera for optical reading of electricity meters. The concept is validated by a joint pilot installation with Öresundskraft in Helsingborg during the fall, however already today an optical technology for meter reading is presented that could dramatically reduce future investments in remote meter reading. C Technologies, the company that developed the C-Pen and presently a business unit within the O listed Anoto Group, and Nam Tai Electronic & Electrical Products Limited ("Nam Tai EEP"), a well-established vertically integrated manufacturing solutions provider with operational facilities in China, a public company listed on the main board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and a subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange listed Nam Tai Electronics, Inc., are jointly developing a camera for optical reading of electricity meters. The concept is validated by a joint pilot installation with Öresundskraft in Helsingborg. The Swedish power companies are expected within a period of five years to invest a minimum of SEK 10 billion in systems for collecting meter reading data. The pilot group can today present an optical technology for meter reading resulting in at least a 50% reduction of these costs. Systems for monthly reading of meters comprises the major part of investments for may Swedish electricity companies. A coming Act requires mandatory meter reading of all meters at least once a month, for major customers even by the hour. Almost 5 million meters will need to be provided with communication for automatic transmission of meter reading data, which so far has meant replacing the electricity meter. By utilising C Technologies patented technology platform, found in products such as C-Pen, C Technologies' scanning pens and in camera accessories for mobile phones, a small convenient optical meter reader device is launched that is easily connected to the present mechanical meter at the customer's metering site. Thus the reliable mechanical electricity meters of today can be kept throughout their entire life span, turning both digital and communicating interactively with all present communications systems known. The same applies to meter reading data for water, gas and heating. Obligation to customers Magnus Grill, President of Öresundskraft: The technology and calculation presented to us would enable us to reduce our investments in remote reading equipment by close on 70% where the meter reader is regarded as suitable. No matter what investments the power companies make, the customer ends up paying in the end. This is also the case with remote meter reading. We have an obligation to our customers in finding solutions and reduce costs. That is the reason why we are happy to provide this pilot group with our expertise. Improving existing meters Pelle Håkansson, Manager of Business Unit Communication at Öresundskraft: C Technologies' meter reader features a number of interesting capabilities, it is independent of communication systems and it can be connected to existing meters while still delivering meter readings. 99% of the electric meters in Sweden consist of electromechanical (Ferraris) meters containing inductive devices. They are regarded as superior to any other meters universally known both in respect of performance and accuracy. They keep working for 18 years, are modified and may continue for another 18 years, and so on. Today we have fully functioning meters that were installed in the 60-ies. In addition to the power mains based communication solution, C Technologies has a mobile communication solution worth its price that we wish to test in rural parts and in holiday houses, where costs accelerate. Patented technology Peter Johansson, Anoto Group, Head of Research & Development within C Technologies: For C Technologies the step towards further industrial applications is another proof of the advantage of our technology platform. The fact is that the optical meter reader is based on the patented technology used in, for example, our different version of the C-Pen. As technology provider we aim to prove to the industry that there is a highly competitive complement to present solutions, which require that the actual meter be exchanged, to enable automatic reading of the power consumption. We focus on the optical reader and therefore we are naturally communicating with existing providers of communication systems - mobile as well as those based on power mains. Turnkey solutions Christer Johansson, Anoto Group, Vice President, Business Unit C Technologies: The purpose of cooperating with Öresundskraft is utilising their expertise to secure that industrial requirements are correctly addressed, and to create a reference installation. If larger amounts are involved we are talking about hundreds of kronor instead of thousands for a remote meter reading kit including communication. Together with Nam Tai EEP, our research and development partner for a number of years, we aspire to offer turnkey solutions to the power industry. Our joint experience from development and production of large volume products will come in handy considering the world-wide potential in this field in a number of years to come. As is the case with our reading and scanning pens - C-Pen - we intend to license our solution to industrial partners. Great potential Karene Wong, Chairman of the Board of the Hong Kong listed Nam Tai EEP: Like C Technologies Nam Tai EEP sees enormous world market potential. We are convinced that the legislation in the rest of Europe, Asia and in the US will be heading the same way based on the same motives as in Sweden - energy will be in short supply forcing the consumer to become aware of saving energy. For this pilot project Nam Tai EEP will be contributing resources and expertise including product development, industrialisation, qualification, manufacturing, quality control and supply chain management. For more information: Anoto Group Öresundskraft Namtai EE&P Ltd. Christer Johansson Magnus Grill, President Karene Wong, COB and CEO +46 733 451008 +46 42 490 30 10, +852 2263 1030 +46 70 418 30 10 magnus.grill@oresundskraft.se karene@namtai.com.hk cjo@anoto.com Peter Johansson Pelle Håkansson,Manager Guy Bindels +46 733 451075 BU Communication Director pjo@cpen.com +46 42 490 33 10 +852 2263 1003 pelle.hakansson@oresundskraft.se gbindels@namtai.com.hk Öresundskraft Öresundskraft is an expansive energy Group based in Helsingborg, Sweden. The Group has 350 employees and supplies some 220,000 customers with electricity, district heating, natural gas and district cooling. Öresundskraft also offers a wide range of services in communication, power trading and maintenance. For further information please visit www.oresundskraft.se. Nam Tai Electronic & Electrical Products Limited Nam Tai Electronic & Electrical Products Limited is a public company listed on the main board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. The company is a well-established vertically-integrated manufacturing solutions provider with operational facilities located in China. In the Meter-Camera project Nam Tai EEP will provide services ranging from product development, industrialization and qualification, volume manufacturing and quality control to supply chain management. Anoto Group AB is a Swedish hi-tech company with unique solutions for transmission of handwritten text from paper to digital media and scanning of printed text. All products are based on digital camera technology and image processing in real time. The Anoto Group today has two brand names: Anoto® - a comprehensive solution entailing paper, pen and server technologies, allowing us to connect all types of writing paper with the digital world and C-Pen® - a scanning pen that can store, interpret and transfer printed text. The Anoto Group has around 120 employees, offices in Lund (head office), Stockholm, Boston, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Major shareholders are Ericsson, Capital Group and Logitech International S/A. The Anoto share is traded on the O-list, Attract 40 of Stockholmsbörsen (Stockholm Stock Exchange) under the ticker ANOT. For more information: www.anotogroup.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/05/21/20040521BIT00200/wkr0001.pdf