Stantum and Sitronix Team to Meet Demand for Cost-Effective, High-Performance Multi-Touch in Consumer and Mobile Applications

Stantum and Sitronix, a global leader of LCD driver and SoC IC design, announced a partnership to provide voltage matrix multi-touch single-chip solutions. Under a licensing agreement, Sitronix will integrate Stantum’s patented multi-touch screen technology into its own products and supply high-performance multi-touch controllers for consumer electronics and mobile applications.

The multi-touch screen market is driven today by mobile phones, PNDs and MIDs but also by devices with larger screens, such as tablet PCs, netbooks and notebooks. Stantum voltage matrix multi-touch is a proven technology developed and deployed in real products since 2004 and is particularly well suited for mobile and consumer electronics products.

“This partnership will answer the market demand for economical multi-touch controllers with unprecedented performance,” said Etienne Paillard, CEO of Stantum.

Said Sitronix VP Weber Chien: "Stantum’s technology is the most advanced and proven multi-touch approach on the market, and we are very happy to have the opportunity to bring it to the consumer electronics market."

The first Sitronix product based on Stantum technology will be able to drive small to medium touch panels – up to 10.1 inches, depending on the touch panel specifications. Two or more chips can be cascaded in order to control larger touch panels.

The product will benefit from the latest capabilities of Stantum’s multi-touch technology and Sitronix’s IC design integration, including an unlimited number of touches, finger and stylus input (a must-have for handwriting recognition), finger pressure detection, and unmatched performance in terms of scanning rate and power consumption.

The first samples of this elegant and affordable solution will be available in Q3 2009 and in mass production by Q4 2009. Pricing is available from Sitronix upon request.

More about Sitronix’s application of Stantum technology can be found on our GRAPEVINE page.

Francois Jeanneau
Stantum's Director of Sales & Business Development North America

Stantum Opens U.S. Office

Stantum announced it has opened its first office in North America. Located in Berkeley, Calif., Stantum’s U.S. office will enable the company to build new partnerships with North American OEMs and touch-panel, display and silicon vendors, as well as offer greater commercial and technical support.

“North America is a vitally important part of Stantum’s global business goals because it is a major market for developing gaming consoles, PCs, smartphones, car navigation systems, touch panels and displays,” said Robert Pelissier, Stantum’s vice president, sales & business development.

Since 2005, Stantum’s successful deployment of multi-touch technology in professional audio products has established its high robustness, reliability, and solid intellectual property foundations. The company now brings highly integrated and production-ready solutions to the market by having its multi-touch technology licensed to leading semiconductor companies.

”Stantum’s multi-touch technology will be deployed in high-volume consumer products by 2010,” Pelissier added. “Throughout the world, many device manufacturers and their vendors are currently evaluating Stantum patented multi-touch technology for integration into their newest offerings. The time is now ripe for establishing a presence in North America.”

Heading Stantum’s new U.S. office is Francois Jeanneau, director of sales & business development, North America. With more than 15 years of technology and international experience, Jeanneau brings a variety of sales, marketing and business development skills to Stantum. Most recently, he was director of sales for the Americas at UPEK, Inc., where he helped establish the company’s leadership position in the PC market for trusted fingerprint biometric solutions. He has also held key marketing and management positions at such companies as STMicroelectronics and PeopleSoft. Jeanneau holds an engineering degree from ICAM France and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

“Because of its unmatched advantages, Stantum’s unique multi-touch technology promises to be a leading standard for mobile phones, mobile Internet devices, game consoles and laptop computers,” said Jeanneau. “I am very excited to be bringing Stantum technology to the North American market.”

Stantum’s technology portfolio offers true multi-touch interfaces that let users simultaneously move an unlimited number of fingers, fingernails or utensils such as styli on a screen. Fitting any form-factor, it enables integrators to design extremely innovative multi-touch interfaces for their own products, thus simplifying the development process and considerably shortening a product’s time-to-market.