Franklin Templeton Investments (India), one of the largest fund houses* in the country has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The South Indian Bank, one of India’s established private sector banks, for the distribution of its products. Mr. M. Valsan, Chief General Manager of South Indian Bank and Mr. Sandeep Singh, National Sales Head of Franklin Templeton India exchanged the MOU. Mr. Alex Mathew, General Manager of the bank was present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. M. Valsan, Chief General Manager, The South Indian Bank Ltd. said, “With the signing of this agreement with Franklin Templeton Investments, which is one of India’s leading fund houses, the bank has taken yet another step towards offering a holistic financial solution to the diverse financial needs of its valued customers. Through the sale of Mutual funds, the bank expects substantial revenue income during the current year.”

Talking about the tie-up, Mr. Sandeep Singh, National Sales Head, Franklin Templeton India, said, “At Franklin Templeton, we have always believed that reaching out to a larger number of retail investors is the way forward for the Indian mutual fund industry to attain the critical mass necessary for growth. This distribution relationship that we are establishing with The South Indian Bank is an important step in that direction. A very small proportion of the household savings in India are as yet invested in mutual funds, providing us with exciting opportunities to grow this business. This alliance will help us in reaching out to retail investors across the country who hitherto did not have access to our investment products”.

Epson, the world leader* in data projectors, has unveiled its latest feature-rich and versatile multimedia projector. With significant enhancements over its predecessor, the EPSON EMP-S4 is positioned as the definitive projector for the Small Office Home Office (SOHO) and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) segments, educational institutions and also as part of a home entertainment system.

The EPSON EMP-S4 is a highly portable projector packed with features which small business users demand. It uses the sophisticated 3LCD technology which creates sharper, clearer and more vivid visual reproductions, and supports the true expression of colour and natural gradation. Images are further optimized using Epson’s innovative E-TORL (Epson-Twin Optimise Reflection Lamp) technology, which enhances lamp brilliance by reducing light leakage and diffraction. As a result, viewers can experience significantly brighter picture quality in a smaller package with less noise and heat because a smaller and lower-wattage lamp is used. The EPSON EMP-S4 also boasts a blistering four-second start-up time and instant-off functions, which are further improvements to Epson’s strong industry reputation for fast start-ups and rapid shut downs.

“The EPSON EMP-S4 is specifically designed for small business users for whom multimedia presentations are almost a daily occurrence. The new projector integrates features which allow users to rapidly set-up, quickly stop or resume a presentation, and power off the machine immediately with minimal intervention. Its excellent visual display quality also means the EPSON EMP-S4 is versatile enough for users looking for a projector to complement home entertainment needs. The EPSON EMP-S4’s exciting features offer greater convenience and enhanced productivity at an affordable pricing, making it the perfect projection system for the modern business and home user,” said Mr Kent Lew, Manager for Visual Instruments at Epson Singapore.

Innovative A/V mute slide
Among the list of impressive functions, the main highlight of the EPSON EMP-S4 is the innovative A/V mute slide which cuts out all light and reduces fan noise when projector operations need to be suspended momentarily by the user.

The A/V mute slide function is fast-becoming a standard feature for all projectors and Epson has built-in its new A/V slide onto the EPSON EMP-S4. To activate this feature, users only need to slide the shutter to cover the projector’s lens. This simple action cuts out light completely and automatically triggers the projector to reduce noise to an indiscernible level. This will allow presentations and meetings to be carried out without the distracting light seepage and fan whirl. To de-activate, the user need only slide the shutter again, to reveal the lens and projection is resumed immediately.

Mr Lew added, “Through our interactions with consumers, many said they were bothered by the constant droning of the fan in the background when they had to temporarily stop a presentation to conduct a discussion. Also, users usually had to use a book or other materials on hand to shield light from the projector’s lens during a break in the presentation. Some also told us they had to shut down the projector completely when not in use and re-power up the device when they were ready to continue. This resulted in unnecessary waiting time for both the presenter and the audience. With the advanced A/V mute slide, it ensures presentations are at a constant ready-state and addresses the concern of light and noise interruption.” With the advanced features, the EPSON EMP-S4 is attractively priced at Rs. 52,500 inclusive of taxes. The product is available from July. Please visit www.epson.com