Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Microsoft closes Perceptive Pixel deal

The company's large, touch displays are expected to boost Microsoft's collaboration products like Lync

Just weeks after announcing the deal, Microsoft has closed its acquisition of Perceptive Pixel (PPI), whose large-scale, multitouch displays Microsoft plans to use to boost its collaboration, meetings and presentation products.

PPI will become part of the Office Division and its founder, president and CTO Jeff Han will become a general manager reporting to the division's President Kurt DelBene, Giovanni Mezgec, general manager for Lync said in a blog post on Monday.

In an interview when the deal was announced on July 9, Mezgec said that "a tremendous opportunity" exists in the collaboration and productivity market to change how meetings are conducted.

By making large, touch-screen displays "mainstream" in workplaces, the work environment can be "fundamentally" changed, he said at the time.

In that respect, Microsoft will likely be locking horns with Cisco, which has had for years a line of video conferencing and telepresence products designed to improve virtual meetings.

Cisco is now in the process of integrating those products with its other enterprise collaboration tools.

PPI's large displays can be hung on walls and used with hand gestures or stylus pens.

The fact that Microsoft chose Mezgec as the official in charge of speaking about this deal is a clear indication that the PPI products will be first and foremost integrated with Lync, which offers instant messaging and presence, web meetings, video conferencing and IP telephony.

The PPI technology also fits in with Microsoft's Metro redesign of the Windows user interface in Windows 8 for computers, tablets and smartphones whose screens support touch and stylus input. Windows 8 will be released commercially at the end of October, at which time devices running the new OS will also begin to appear.

Founded in 2006, PPI has customers in industry verticals including government, defense, broadcast, energy exploration, engineering and higher education.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.

Related Articles

  1. From CMO to CEO: Anametrix’s Pelin Thorogood

    CMO

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

Comments are now closed.
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Agentless Security for Virtual Environments
    Virtualised datacentres, desktops, and cloud computing should be secured by the same strong protection technologies as physical machines. However, traditional agent-based solutions that are not architected for virtualisation can result in a number of significant operational security issues. Find out more about the first agentless security platform solution.
    Learn more »
  • Endpoint Security and Virtualisation
    Besides form factor, virtual systems are not really that different than physical systems. They both use the same operating systems and applications. They both present users with computing resources such as RAM and hard drives. Consequently, the ability to exploit vulnerabilities in a physical environment will present a significant threat to virtualised environments as well. This paper examines the different endpoint security methods for virtualised environments and presents how Endpoint Protection security provides optimal performance, protection and manageability.
    Learn more »
  • New Demands for Real-time Threat Management
    Many organisations are evaluating a new security model based upon IT risk management best practices. This is a good idea, but not enough for today’s dynamic and malevolent threat landscape. To keep up with IT changes and external threats, large organisations need to embrace two new security practices: real-time risk management for day-to-day security adjustments and real-time threat management to detect and remediate sophisticated, stealthy, and damaging security breaches (i.e., advanced persistent threats, or APTs). Learn more.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments