Consumers Agree the Power Model is Broken -- Industry to Consider Emerging Standards...

Consumers Agree the Power Model is Broken -- Industry to Consider Emerging Standards at Second AUPS Conference on June 13

Photo Sweepstakes Winner to Highlight User POV, New Consumer
Research
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--
What do consumers want?

When the subject is power management for consumer electronics
devices, it's a good bet that clarity, convenience and, yes,
standards, will figure into the answer.

During the second gathering of the Alliance for Universal Power
Supplies (www.allianceforuniversalpower.org/home.php) -- set for June
13 in San Francisco -consumers will be at center stage. John Trosko,
grand prize winner of Green Plug's recent "What's Under Your Desk?"
photo sweepstakes, will give voice to consumer concerns. AUPS is an
industry standards group committed to developing a universal power
interface for electronic products that use external power supplies.
AUPS will meet at PG&E Auditorium, 77 Beale Street, from 9 a.m. to 1
p.m.

Trosko, a professional organizer and blogger from Los Angeles,
took top honors in the competition. In April, Green Plug
(www.greenplug.us) asked consumers to literally shine a light on the
mess of cables that lurks under virtually every desk and capture the
scene digitally -- and received hundreds of responses from consumers
nodding in agreement. The "What's Under Your Desk?" photo blog is live
at http://greenplugcontest.typepad.com.

Trosko will formally present the findings from a new nationwide
survey, which revealed that more than 60 percent of American consumers
regard the status quo in consumer electronics as "wasteful" or
"frustrating." Chicago market researcher Synovate asked 1,000 online
consumers about their attitudes around the purchase of consumer
electronics devices, which typically come with external power supplies
that don't work with any other product.

Trosko will join John Katz, Pollution Prevention Coordinator at
the EPA Region 9; Guili He, China Academy of Telecommunication
Research of the Ministry of Industry and Information, who will share
China's successes in implementing a cell phone charging standard;
Daisaku Yukita, JETRO, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Economy, Trade
and Industry for Japan, who will chronicle his nation's experience;
and Joel Zwier, Manager, Advanced Marketing, at Steelcase. Zwier will
discuss "Power Distribution and Connectivity Challenges in Today's
Office."

The half-day conference will also feature an industry panel,
"What's Stopping All of Us from Doing What Everyone Wants?"

"AUPS was created to address a global problem, so it's only
fitting that we have representatives from three of the world's most
important players - China, Japan and the U.S. - on hand for our second
conference," said David Canny, Senior Program Manager in Customer
Energy Efficiency at PG&E and acting chair of AUPS. "We'll also
consider the distinct perspectives of the consumer, the office and the
industry itself. PG&E is again delighted to host AUPS and we're
pleased to be part of this important, ongoing conversation."

AUPS is comprised of a diverse group of organizations, including
consumer electronics manufacturers; ASIC and power supply power firms;
energy and waste management companies; various government agencies;
equipment and tools manufacturers serving the automotive and aircraft
industries; residential and commercial builders; cable and telephone
companies; and the hospitality sector. Through development of industry
standards, AUPS members seek to enable their products and services to
be universally compatible and eco-friendly. AUPS focuses on multiport,
reusable and efficient developments that ensure interoperability and
encourage innovation and market growth.

In the past decade alone, the consumer electronics industry has
developed and sold billions of devices that require AC to DC power
supplies. Because every new CE device comes with a charger, some 3.2
billion power supplies will be designed and shipped in 2008 alone. And
because every electronic product has a unique voltage and current
requirement, many incompatible power supplies must be designed,
produced, packaged, shipped and discarded unnecessarily. By making
power supplies universal and reusable through digital collaboration,
manufacturers can eliminate costs, consumers enjoy the convenience of
powering any product with any power supply, and significant reductions
in solid waste can be achieved.

About AUPS

AUPS (www.allianceforuniversalpower.org) is an organization that
supports and will set industry-wide standards for the development and
adoption of universal AC to DC power supplies. AUPS promotes and
develops timely, relevant standards for the power supply industry,
ensuring interoperability and encouraging innovation and market
growth. AUPS, positioned as a true public private partnership, is
poised to become one of the leading standards organizations in the
electronics industry.

Edge Communications, Inc.
Ken Greenberg, 818-990-5001
ken@edgecommunicationsinc.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008