SiPix, a relatively new company with the modest goal of “delivering category killer digital imaging appliances to the consumer market,” has contracted with IDEO, an “innovation and design” consultancy group, to develop a new line of digital imaging and PDA accessories for consumers and business professionals.
IDEO’s portfolio boasts the design of products including the first Apple mouse, the Palm V, the Handspring Visor Edge, toothbrushes for Oral-B, and Steelcase’s Leap chair.
The first wave of SiPix-IDEO products can be seen at the upcoming PC Expo, June 26-28, in New York. These products will offer “sleek, modern designs and innovative user controls to provide the most enjoyable and productive experience possible,” according to Michael Weizer, director of product marketing at SiPix.
Will they be Mac compatible? Hopefully. In January, when SiPix launched, Alexander Curyea, SiPix public relations manager, told MacCentral the company “will look at the Macintosh market, as it is an important area for these markets.”
SiPix received strategic funding exceeding US$100 million led by Goldman Sachs, the global investment bank. Other key investors include Baring Private Equity Partners, CitiCorp Capital, Worldview Technology Partners and Telligent Investment Management.
The company has dedicated plants for digital imaging appliances in Zhuhai and Shanghai, China, and an even larger new facility under construction in Zhuhai. Curyea said SiPix would have the capacity to manufacture approximately one million digital cameras per month this year. In the US, China and Taiwan, SiPix has established a total of five research and development laboratories.