What does it do?
The Phillips Plastics Movie Presentation Folder is a low-cost reprogrammable video display tablet that slips into a plastic presentation folder. It’s intended as a go-anywhere presentation pack that can play up to four digital movies with sound, with no start-up times and no need for internet access.
Managing director Peter Phillips says: “We already had our POD range of presentation and display products that can be modified with printed inserts. We thought that video would be a good idea, but we could only find items from Asia in quantities of 25, 50 or 100, and their content cannot be changed. So we decided to develop a refreshable template.”
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
It was announced last year and demonstrated at Ipex 2014. Customers can upload their artwork to templates that are accessed through a dedicated website. These are then returned as printable PDFs for local printing, or as finished print.
The POD range is available to end-users and resellers. It is also available to other printers, who can link the POD customisation website anonymously to their own web-to-print systems.
Target markets are sales people, who can make video-aided presentations, pausing and resuming at any point. As it’s easy to change the content, it can be pre-loaded for individual sales calls. The folders can be left with important prospects, or mailed directly to them. They might also be given to conference delegates.
Phillips says that so far most sales have been of one or two folders at a time, suggesting they’re being used and re-used for sales presentations, or only sent to top sales prospects.
How does it work?
The product is supplied in a package of four parts: the polypropylene folder; the video tablet with instructions; and two packs of unprinted A4 paper. One of the paper packs is for menu inserts and has a microperforated window that you press out to give a window for the video display. The unperforated sheets can be printed as a front cover. The idea is that you print the cover and menu sheets to any design you want, then slip them inside the folder together with the video tablet.
The tablet itself is a little less than A4 sized and 4mm thick. Beneath the 4.3in video screen are seven control buttons, for volume up and down, video pause/resume, and one for each movie. The printed menu sheet goes over these and provides the labels, so the text can be customised with the names of the movies.
On the back of the tablet is a mini-USB port that takes a cable for connection to a Mac or PC. Compatible video formats are MP4, AVI or MOV and the total capacity is 2GB. The USB port also recharges the tablet. A fully charged battery provides about five hours of playing time.
When the folder is opened the video begins to play, thanks to a magnetic switch that also stops it when the folder is closed. The inside of the folder also has flaps and slots to hold paper presentation sheets or a notepad, plus a business card.
What’s the USP?
The easily changeable content and the folder container with its own variable content. The cost is a lot less than a laptop or tablet, but of course there isn’t the interactivity of, say, a tablet with a spreadsheet. You can’t rewind the video, only pause or restart it.
What training and support is offered?
Very little training is needed for the tablet, but Phillips has produced instructions and an operations video, and also provides free telephone help. The templates are standard PDFs that the user can merge with any content.
What does it cost?
One-offs are £89, two or more cost £79 each, and there are trade prices for resellers, on application.
Installations and targets
So far some 200 units have been sold in the UK, mostly in single sales. Phillips now has a distribution deal with Xerox, which will sell the units via Antalis with the name Create Movie Presentation.
SPECIFICATIONS
Folder material Polypropylene
Tablet size A4, 4mm thick
Video screen size 4.3in diagonal
Weight 280g (in folder)
Capacity 2 GB (up to four video files)
Connectivity and battery charging Via USB cable
Video formats MP4, AVI, MOV
Price £89 (£79 each for two)
Contact Phillips Plastics 0845 4567007 www.phillipsplastics.co.uk
ALTERNATIVES
Apple iPad Air tablet
Tablet menus take longer to navigate than the Phillips tablet’s dedicated buttons but tablets are of course much more interactive. Tablets switch on almost instantly, they have large touchscreens and can connect to the internet, to communicate with a CRM or MIS for example.
Price From £499 with 4G provision
Screen size 9.7in diagonal
Weight 478g
Capacity From 16 GB
Connectivity USB to proprietary Lightning port, wi-fi, 3G/4G SIM
Video formats MOV plus web-friendly formats
Contact Apple 0844 2090611 www.apple.com
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1J8 laptop
This is a typical modern mid-range Windows-capable laptop. Any laptop has more internal storage capacity than a tablet, but is otherwise very similar as a presentation device. Start-up times will be much slower.
Price From £385
Screen size 15.6in diagonal
Weight 2kg
Capacity 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD
Connectivity USB, Ethernet, wi-fi, Bluetooth, DVD
Video formats Most
Contact Toshiba UK 020 3051 9738 www.toshiba.co.uk
USER REVIEW
“It has given two recent presentations the true vow factor. They only took us a few minutes to set up and we now keep a couple in stock. They can also be re used if a meeting is cancelled.”
Tim Lance, managing director, X1 Slough
