Feature Story

STANTUM OFFERS MULTI-TOUCH EVALUATION BOARD

Stantum Technologies (Bordeaux, France; www.stantum.com), which patented multi-touch sensing, recently announced two new developments - a demonstration, evaluation and development board, which is a first on the market; and a new CEO, Etienne Paillard. Former CEO Guillaume Largillier now fills the company's newly created role of chief strategy officer.

Stantum's SMK series board, introduced at the SID Mobile Displays Conference in September, allows vendors and OEMs to evaluate the performance of Stantum's patented PMatrix resistive multi-touch technology and begin developing their own applications. Users can move simultaneously an unlimited number of fingers, nails or styli on a screen. The Stantum technology offers the features of capacitive multi-touch with the lower cost and greater availability of resistive-touch technology.

Largillier, Stantum's co-founder, said, "Our SMK series is the smart multi-touch development kit that consumer electronics and other industries have long anticipated. It gives manufacturers developing their hardware and applications a great opportunity to assess the huge advantages that multi-touch capability can offer, especially when it uses resistive technology." Largillier also has said speeds are 20 times faster than those offered by other technologies.

The board comes with a user-friendly interface compatible with Windows, MAC OS and Linux. SMK boards come with a 2.5- or 3.5-inch touch-panel sensor, a multi-touch controller, USB port, keyboard and Lemurofon software for demonstrating simple multi-touch applications like games or picture zoom in and out.

Stantum also announced the appointment of Paillard on Oct. 23. "With the market for multi-touch technology booming, Stantum required a seasoned management professional to lead our company, enabling me to execute our strategies for continued success in this burgeoning market," said Largillier. "Etienne Paillard has the right credentials to serve as CEO at this most promising time in Stantum's history." Indeed, Paillard has 25 years in management, including two previous CEO positions, and holds an MBA from the INSEAD Business School in Fontainebleau, France.

Stantum Technologies was founded in 2002 to make multi-touch surface controllers for audio and media applications, but now it works with leading companies in consumer electronics, including musical instrument manufacturers and companies in the aerospace and medical imagery fields. In 2005, it launched the Lemur, the first multi-touch product on the market. In October, Stantum demonstrated its technology for mobile use at the SmartPhone Show in London. A number of players showed multi-touch technologies at SID '08, so it will be interesting to see if these latest developments by the foremost pioneer accelerate Stantum's momentum.

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