Smart Move

Auckland-based technology firm, NextWindow, has been bought out by privately-owned Calgary company, Smart Technologies. NextWindow, which employs 125 staff in offices in New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States, makes touch screens for personal computers manufactured by companies including Hewlett-Packard and Dell. “We are combining two companies with complementary expertise and a remarkably similar culture focused on innovation and excellence,” NextWindow’s chief executive, Al Monro, said. The technology that brought Smart and NextWindow together involves “optical touch,” the use of cameras in computer screens or other electronic windows to allow manipulation of data through movement, without actually touching the screen. Monro, who will become part of Smart Technologies’ executive team, said NextWindow increased revenues by nearly 50 per cent in the year just closed.