TouchSmarter: Touch Screen Gadgets

About two weeks ago my Macbook Pro died on me. It had been serving me well for 3 years and delighted me, so obviously I would go for a Macbook Pro again, when buying a new one.

Of course I could buy it online from Apple directly and probably get it within 24 hours, however I’m intrigued by the importance of prospect / customer service, so I wanted to see how this local company in Skelleftea, a certified Apple reseller called Grafit, would treat their prospects walking into their store.

At NUITEQ our #1 priority is the satisfaction, support and service of our potential and existing partners and customers. It is important to us that the people we work with, get the attention that they expect and need, as without customers you are out of business tomorrow.

So I decided to walk into this Apple store, walked around a little bit and a very friendly store manager walked up to me and asked me if he could help me with something. I responded “I would like to have a cup of coffee please.”, to which he a little bit confused answered, “Uhm okay, can you wait 10 minutes, coffee is on its way.”

Right there and then he won the sale. I waited for my coffee, finished it and said, I’ll take that Macbook Pro with me now.

Despite no sugar in the coffee, a sweet experience for both me and the other guy.

Followup sale
As my old Mac had died and with it somewhere my license key for iWork, I needed a new license for it and thought, lets see how great these guys are really at Customer Support.

I send them a mail this morning, telling them that I was too busy to go into town to buy the software and asked them if they could come by my office instead, to deliver the software.

Half an hour ago the store manager personally showed up in my office, delivering the software.

Third sale
The next thing I’ll need is a monitor, which I can easily order online at Apple, but I will now instead order it locally through this guy, because he deserves the sale, as he truly cares about his clients’ business and such a great Customer Support deserves more business.

Future sales
Any future Apple related products that I need, I will get locally as well, simply because their Customer Support is nice.

Simply by offering me a cup of coffee, without me showing signs of wanting to buy, he earned the business.

Customer service, going the extra yard, creates client loyalty.

I hope he learned something from this experience and will continue to serve his clients and prospects as he does. I surely learned a whole lot from this experience and will utilize it to the benefit of our prospects, clients and partners.

The NUITEQ October News letter is available now.

You can find it here.

Happy reading

See the video below of NUITEQ’s award-winning multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite, running on PQ Labs‘ true multi-touch hardware.

I’ve always felt really lucky and fortunate in life. I was born healthy, grew up in a Western country with opportunities and had the good luck (and hard work) to start a company in which I work 7 days a week with a lot of love and passion. Many people don’t have the luck or fortune of having an amazing job, or a good environment or health.

I have been thinking a lot lately on what can we do with NUITEQ to give back to the people who are less fortunate and make their lives easier, so basically make NUITEQ more socially responsible. For me the obvious thought was to give to charity.

NUITEQ was recently involved in a multitouch project related to stimulating physically and mentally challenged children with their education. You can have a look at the case study here.

However I felt we could do more. Recently I received a message from Rod Hill, Manager of Morgan Signs, a UK based company active in interactive digital signage.

He told me this story about his brother in law, Lt Col Mark Wheeler commanding officer of the 2 battalion, the Royal Welsh, that he is currently serving on operations in Afghanistan and he and five other of his soldiers have decided to ‘Run Home’ to Wales on their return for a charity that is extremely close to their hearts – T? Hafan, a children’s Hospice in Sully, South Glamorgan.

In ‘Running Home’ all 6 soldiers will complete A MARATHON A DAY FOR 4 DAYS. They will start their journey at their home of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh in Lucknow Barracks, Tidworth and finish their run 4 days later at the T? Hafan in South Wales.

Their start date will be dependent on RAF flights back home but they anticipate starting their run and first marathon on Monday 29th November, finishing in T? Hafan on Thursday 2nd December.

T? Hafan provides comfort, care and support to life-limited children and is dedicated to improving quality of life for the whole family. The care and support provided by T? Hafan is offered completely without cost to all those families that need them.

I decided to talk to my UK based partner Mike Cole, Director of Visual Planet and asked him, “Mike I want to donate to this charity, do you want to join?” and he was in on it instantly.

For more info on this charity program, please have a look at: http://www.justgiving.com/runhome.

Do you feel fortunate and lucky? Even if its just a few bucks, you can really help to make a difference to the lifes of these children and their families.

NUITEQ released version 1.9.2.1 of its award-winning multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite, making it an even more robust and solid experience.

We strongly recommend you to download the latest version, as it includes fixes that are based on a lot of valuable feedback that we received from our clients and partners worldwide.

The following changes have been made to 1.9.2.1 since its last release (1.9.2)

* Fixed an issue with a console window popping up in Media Viewer
* Fixed support for PDF files with white spaces
* Fixed a focus issue when starting Snowflake Suite Windows 7 in startup
* Fixed support for portrait mode
* Fixed support for variable filetype extension capitalization
* Fixed general PDF stability and performance issues
* Fixed interaction for PDF items in Media Viewer
* Fixed a TouchCore issue where detected blobs would stay detected even when located outside of the camera crop
* Added support for caching PDF pages in Media and PDF Viewers
* Added a license message box after 1 hour usage in trial mode
* Added support for PtGrey 2.1 drivers
* Added support for OpenCV 2.1
* Added SlotMachine application to VisualPlanet version

If you are ready to enjoy the many benefits Snowflake and NUITEQ offer, including its ridiculous dedicated support or if you have any feedback for us to consider, please let us know here, as your feedback is very valuable to us, as it will allow us to improve the product and increase your satisfaction.

If you are interested to see all the improvements we have made over time, you can have a look at the Change log section of the NUITEQ Support Wiki here.

Thanks.

Harry

NUITEQ released version 1.9.2.1 of its award-winning multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite, making it an even more robust and solid experience.

We strongly recommend you to download the latest version, as it includes fixes that are based on a lot of valuable feedback that we received from our clients and partners worldwide.

The following changes have been made to 1.9.2.1 since its last release (1.9.2)

* Fixed an issue with a console window popping up in Media Viewer
* Fixed support for PDF files with white spaces
* Fixed a focus issue when starting Snowflake Suite Windows 7 in startup
* Fixed support for portrait mode
* Fixed support for variable filetype extension capitalization
* Fixed general PDF stability and performance issues
* Fixed interaction for PDF items in Media Viewer
* Fixed a TouchCore issue where detected blobs would stay detected even when located outside of the camera crop
* Added support for caching PDF pages in Media and PDF Viewers
* Added support for PtGrey 2.1 drivers
* Added support for OpenCV 2.1
* Added SlotMachine application to VisualPlanet version

If you are ready to enjoy the many benefits Snowflake and NUITEQ offer, including its ridiculous dedicated support or if you have any feedback for us to consider, please let us know here, as your feedback is very valuable to us, as it will allow us to improve the product and increase your satisfaction.

If you are interested to see all the improvements we have made over time, you can have a look at the Change log section of the NUITEQ Support Wiki here.

Thanks.

Harry

Photo: NUITEQ’s Business Development Manager Dennis Mohi (right) receiving the Best Spin-off of the Year Award out of the hands of professor Håkan Ylinenpää (left).

Read the news item on LTU’s website here: http://www.ltu.se/press/d2958/1.64544 (Swedish only)

NUITEQ®, an industry leading multi-touch technology company, announced that it has been awarded with the Best Spin-off of the Year Award, during the Luleå Technical University (LTU) Entrepreneurs Week, which was held in Luleå, Sweden.

3,5 years ago, NUITEQ was founded and spun off into a commercial company, after a successful university research project, related to multi-touch technology, at LTU Skellefteå in the North of Sweden.

LTU is seeking to develop the entrepreneurial culture at the university and is therefore yearly handing out a special award for “Best Spin-off”, to encourage the development of more academic spin-offs.

The spin-off companies formed from LTU research and training are important drivers for regional development and the entrepreneurial culture at the university. The award program highlights and encourages innovators and entrepreneurs at the university, by acting as a motivator.

The award is given to a company that has successfully developed a good and innovative idea into a well-oiled commercial company.

The jury of the award program looked at the following five criteria:

The company should have developed a unique product or service with a large international market potential, have its basis in research or education from the university, been founded in the last five years, be based in Sweden and have an entrepreneurial approach of innovation, pro activity, risk taking and at the same time serve as a role model for researchers, students and staff at the university.

The jury consisted of representatives from investment firm Lunova, Aurorum Business Incubator (ABI), LTU Innovation (including Idehuset) and people within the Entrepreneurship research world.

The award is made possible by LTU in collaboration with VINNOVA and Tillväxtverket and consists of a certificate and an advertisement (with a value of 25 000 SEK) in an appropriate media in which the winning company and the award are presented to a broader audience.

NUITEQ’s Business Development Manager Dennis Mohi had the honor to receive the award out of the hands of professor Håkan Ylinenpää.

“We are very excited to have been awarded with this prize. I think its a important sign of recognition from our roots, for the hard work of our employees, as well as our partners, clients and other people around the world, that all have contributed to the success of NUITEQ.”, says Harry van der Veen, NUITEQ’s CEO. “We appreciate it that LTU Skellefteå has stimulated us to start NUITEQ and having provided us with some assistance in the early stages, to kick-start NUITEQ. I want to thank the people that nominated NUITEQ for this award, as well as the jury for their votes and the time they invested. Furthermore I want to thank VINNOVA and Tillväxtverket for making this award possible in collaboration with LTU.”

About VINNOVA
VINNOVA (The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) is a State authority that aims to promote growth and prosperity throughout Sweden. Their particular area of responsibility comprises innovations linked to research and development. Their tasks are to fund the needs-driven research required by a competitive business and industrial sector and a flourishing society, and to strengthen the networks that are such a necessary part of this work.

About Tillväxtverket
The aim of the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth - Tillväxtverket - is to work to achieve more enterprises, growing enterprises and sustainable, competitive business and industry throughout Sweden.

About NUITEQ
NUITEQ is a VC funded, 2010 Red Herring 100 Europe award-winning, Swedish technology company, that delivers advanced multi-touch hardware and software solutions for commercial applications. Its software product Snowflake Suite, which received a Stevie Awards finalist recognition for Best New Product or Service of the Year 2009 - Media & Entertainment, is available to end clients, software developers, system integrators, VARs and OEMs.

NUITEQ’s vision is to change the way people interact with technology, by creating a natural interface between users and technology. Visit www.nuiteq.com for more information.

About LTU
Luleå University of Technology is the northernmost university of technology in Scandinavia and with world-class research and education. Their strength lies in their cooperation with companies and with rest of the world around them.

Luleå University of Technology conducts research in the Faculty of engineering and the Faculty of arts and social sciences. Research at the University has an annual turnover of EUR 70 million and comprises 70 research subjects in 6 research profiles and 6 development profiles.

Image: Dennis Mohi ready for a cool adventure at NUITEQ in the North of Sweden

NUITEQ recently appointed Dennis Mohi as its Business Development Manager (see the news item here: http://nuiteq.com/news/index.php).

I asked Dennis to write down his thoughts on his first month at NUITEQ.

“In a little northern Swedish town, in a land far, far away (from my home country New Zealand anyway), there lives a small company with a powerful vision. Sounds like the beginnings of a fairytale doesn’t it? Well for the multi-touch industry world wide, it is, as this is where Snowflake Suite was born. From humble beginnings, Nuiteq is now established at pole position in the world of interactive multi-touch solutions, having a stable of Fortune 100 clients and leading hardware manufacturers in its partner portfolio. And guess what,…this is where I work and I am one month in…..

Laptop, check+ desk and chair, check+ Skype account loaded, check. Pick the phone up and start talking to people. Simple really. Especially when you are calling Brazil one minute, Taiwan the next and the person on the other end loves Snowflake and more often than not, are in fact relieved that you have called. For a lot of people NUITEQ’s multi-touch software is the missing link in their armory, the piece of the jigsaw that was missing. Essentially I see it like this, you have the canvass (hardware) and we provide the paint and paint brushes. Snowflake provides the part of the equation to bring the vision to life + a concept that will engage, an experience that will be remembered. One thing that has amazed me since starting at NUITEQ, is the recognition and high regard our clients and future clients have for Snowflake. It really is a market defining product. Back this up with our passionate development and support teams and you have a potent combination for success. So far, so good….its an inspiring place to work and I’m sure there is a happy ever after to come….”

After the 32″and 42″ multi-user touch screen, PresTop is now introducing a 55″ Multi-User LED based Touchscreen, processed in an aluminum housing. The screen is only 2.6 inches thick and very lightweight.
Both 6 touch points and 32 touch points versions are available.

As an introduction offer they include NUITEQ’s award-winning multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite at no additional cost. With this industry leading software package, distributed by the company Omni Vision, users can quickly create presentations and games that enable the optimal functionality of the MUT-55-PT immediately.
More info on this package can be found in the shop of Omni Vision. For more information and pricing of the display, please call +31 (0)499-367600 and ask for Bas Smeets.