'Window' Breaks Into Britain

The Independent
27 August 2003

By Wilson Owen

Auckland high-tech start-up NextWindow has scored its first big international deal.

Fujitsu UK, a major systems integrator with a large kiosk operation, has agreed to sell and service NextWindow touch-screen kiosks in Britain.

It's the first international success for NextWindow, a designer and developer of touch-screen technology seeking a slice of the global market worth an estimated $US24 billion a year.

NextWindow has developed what it calls optical imaging, distinct from touch-technologies developed elsewhere. NextWindow uses two optical sensors positioned behind the glass screen to visually identify touch on different positions of the screen.

CEO Al Monro says:"From a functionality position we are better, from a packaging point of view we are better and, yes, we can do it at a better price."

He says a major advantage over competitors' products is that NextWindow doesn't require a touch-sensitive overlay on the screen's surface. By far the biggest advantage is that units can be scaled into large screens.

NextWindow began taking its product to the market early this year and already has 140 27-inch screen kiosks installed nationally, mainly at Telecom and Vodafone retail sites.

The company says the major growth area will come from its plasma screens. These consist of plasma flat screens, like those of digital TV sets, mounted on glass, with touch icons on the surrounding glass frame enabling interactive use. NextWindow can scale these to very large sizes.

Still in its infancy, the plasma-screen market is doubling each year. Monro calls this a high-value end of the market and says NextWindow has"found a sweet spot."

The company is talking to potential customers in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, where one customer alone may order 1,000 50-inch touch screens. There, potential buyers see large-scale applications for interactive billboards and advertising screens.

"Anecdotal evidence so far suggests our bigger screens have an advantage, because the bigger-sized screen draws people," Monro says.

A NextWindow screen in the Imax complex in Auckland has attracted 4,500 touches in a 10-hour day, one touch every eight seconds.

NextWindow is 45% owned by venture capital company 1-Cap Equity Partners, with the balance owned by the original angel investors.

The company has not aggressively sought additional capital because it has grown so well, Monro says. However, its now considering raising more capital to fund growth.