
Pure International Ltd. is a British
consumer electronics
Consumer electronics or home electronics are Electronics, electronic (Analogue electronics, analog or digital electronics, digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for ...
company, based in
Kings Langley
Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village ...
, Hertfordshire, founded in 2002. They are best known for designing and manufacturing
digital audio broadcasting
Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.
Types
In digital broadcasting syst ...
(DAB) and DAB+ radios. The imprint on the devices' casing states that they were designed in the UK and manufactured in China.
Pure have sold over five million products worldwide. All products are digital tick approved, with three years'
warranty
In contract law, a warranty is a promise which is not a condition of the contract or an innominate term: (1) it is a term "not going to the root of the contract",Hogg M. (2011). ''Promises and Contract Law: Comparative Perspectives''p. 48 Cambri ...
as standard. Pure is also a member of World DAB
Pure products are available in the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, and via online suppliers.
History
2002
Pure was formerly a division of another Hertfordshire-based company,
Imagination Technologies
Imagination Technologies Limited is a British semiconductor and software design company owned by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a private equity fund based in Beijing that is ultimately owned by the Chinese government. With its global headqua ...
, which primarily designs
Central processing unit
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
s and
Graphics processing unit
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mo ...
s. Imagination did not originally set out to sell consumer electronics and the first Pure radio was merely a demonstration platform for its DAB decoding chip.
The success of the first sub-£100 DAB receiver, the Evoke-1, led to the development of further products.
2003
In 2003, Pure launched the PocketDAB 1000. It was the world's first pocket digital radio.

2004
Pure released the Bug, the first-ever digital radio with
EPG, pause, rewind and record.
2005
Sonus-1XT was launched by Pure and became the world's first digital radio for the blind and visually impaired.
2007
Pure released Highway, the world's first in-car digital radio adapter, in 2007.
2008
Pure launched the first
Energy Saving Trust approved radio range. Under the name EcoPlus, products had reduced power consumption, packaging materials from recycled and sustainable sources and components selected to minimise their environmental impact.
2009
The world's first
high-resolution
Image resolution is the detail an image holds. The term applies to digital images, film images, and other types of images. "Higher resolution" means more image detail.
Image resolution can be measured in various ways. Resolution quantifies how cl ...
touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...
digital radio, Sensia, is launched by Pure.
2012
Pure celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2012 with a brand revamp. They also commemorated the landmark with the launch of the Evoke Mio Union Jack Edition.
2013
Pure partners with renowned classical music label, Deutsche Grammophon.
2014
Pure introduced its three-year warranty.
2015
Pure shipped in excess of five million digital radios worldwide positioning itself as the best-selling digital radio manufacturer.
2016
Pure became Pure International Ltd.
Parent company Imagination Technologies sold the Pure brand to AVenture AT, in September 2016.
Products
Evoke range
Pure's flagship family of digital radios. Models range from medium to high-end and include multi-functional music systems which offer listening via
internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitte ...
,
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
,
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limit ...
and CD.
This range has included collaborations with designer brands such as
Sanderson and Mini Moderns. Its first designer styled radio came in 2010 with the launch of the Evoke Mio by
Orla Kiely. It featured the designer's signature stem print.
In 2006, Pure joined forces with recognised English company
Marshall Amplification
Marshall is a British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, speaker cabinets, brands personal headphones and earphones, drums and bongos. The company also owns a record label called Marshall Records. It was founded in Lon ...
to launch the Evoke-1XT Marshall. Models of the radio were signed by rock stars including
Eric Clapton,
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment[Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/ mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...]
and auctioned for the
Nordoff-Robins music therapy charity.
One range
The One range represents Pure's entry-level radios and is the world's best-selling digital radio range. Models include: the One Mini, One Midi and One Maxi. Designed for portability, they can be powered with
AA batteries
AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* '' America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army
* '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992
* Aa!, a J-Pop musical group
* Do ...
or an optional rechargeable ChargePAK.
Pop range
A series of digital radios designed with portability in mind. All models can be powered with AA batteries or an optional rechargeable ChargePAK. Designed with a pop button on top of the device, users can control power and volume with one touch. Recent models in the range include Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming.
Highway range
Pure's series of in-car digital radio adapters. Current models Highway 400 and Highway 600 work with a vehicle's existing audio system using an aux-in cable or by transmitting over an unused
FM radio frequency.
On top of digital radio, users can listen via Bluetooth and Spotify Connect. The Highway's Go function allows for music discovery, track tagging (Powered by
ACRCloud
ACRCloud (Formerly Syntec TV) is an automatic content recognition platform based on acoustic fingerprinting technology. Its creator intended to help media, broadcasters and app developers to identify, monitor and monetize content on the second sc ...
)
and wireless playing with the Pure Go companion app.
Siesta range
Pure's range of bedside alarm clock radios, which enable users to wake up to the sound of digital radio or a simple tone alarm. Siesta models automatically set the time from the radio signal, meaning the device's clock is always accurate.
Other
Other models are the portable, colour screen Elan E3 digital radio and the pocket-sized Move 2500 personal radio.
References
External links
{{Commons category, Pure (company)
Pure company website
Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States
Electronics companies established in 2002
Companies based in Three Rivers District
British brands
Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
2002 establishments in England
Radio manufacturers