Panasonic's LUMIX cameras win PC Magazine's 'Manufacturer of the Year' award at GITEX 2006

The awards, instituted by the region's most influential and largely read technology magazine, acknowledge manufacturer excellence, and are based on hands-on product reviews conducted by the PC Magazine labs team.

Yasuo Kimoto, Product Manager, Panasonic Marketing Middle East, received the award at GITEX 2006, the region's largest technology exhibition. Panasonic had launched six new digital cameras during GITEX - including the first digital SLR camera DMC-L1 with interchangeable lenses. The line-up also includes DMC-FZ50, DMC-FX3, DMC-LX2, DMC-FX50 and DMC-FX07 - each with a host of unique and innovative features to meet varied requirements of professional and amateur photographers.

'We are delighted to win this coveted award from PC Magazine. This award is in many ways testament to Panasonic's relentless focus on product innovation and quality. The fact that our digital cameras beat a host of other major brands after being assessed on several stringent criterions goes to reinforce our core strengths in this domain,'

said Kimoto.

For each submitted product, the PC Magazine lab teams deliberated over a variety of parameters such as innovation, product distinctiveness, quality, performance, pricing, image and packaging.

Panasonic's digital cameras have witnessed a steady demand in the recent years given its excellent design, innovative features, technical superiority and competitive pricing. Some of the key features offered in the LUMIX range include MEGA OIS (Optical Image Stabiliser); Venus Engine Plus LSI for high performance image processing, both in terms of speed and image quality; Leica lenses and the world's first Intelligent ISO control.