Kramer Electronics has acquired 50% of WOW Vision, a Singapore-based manufacturer of collaboration tools that enable wireless connection to, and the sharing of, large screen displays from laptops and mobile devices.
As a result of this new partnership between Kramer and WOW Vision, Kramer will assume responsibility for worldwide branding and distribution of Wow Vision’s products. Wow Vision will continue to conceive and develop industry leading products that make meetings and learning environments more productive and more interactive.
Nigel Hodgson, MD of Kramer Electronics UK, told InAVate that the deal had been cooking in the background for some time and would bring Kramer into a whole new market area.
“We are a strongly distributed company anyway and that is the strength we bring to the Wow product,†he said.
“[Wow Vision] didn’t really have the muscle worldwide to capitalise on what is a very good system. This move will make us an even broader based supplier than ever before. We’ve got a really good product and with that we will make an impact. “The reality is that BYOD is becoming a known commodity - it’s being offered by several other companies and this puts us in line with them.â€
Hodgson said a comprehensive training plan was being out together so that systems integrators will be confident about using and installing the system.
In a statement from the company, CEO Dr Joseph Kramer, said BYOD, collaboration and wireless applications were increasingly critical in today’s converging AV/IT world.
"WOW Vision offers the best solutions in the market and this partnership allows us to add these products to our already comprehensive line of solutions," he said.
“Most importantly though, as WOW Vision continues to design and build cutting edge product solutions to make meetings smarter and more productive in business and education environments, we can leverage the strengths of our Kramer brand, our marketing acumen and our worldwide distribution channels to get the products into the hands of our customers.â€
Dr Dinesh Tripathi, CEO of WOW Vision, said: “In this relationship with Kramer, we believe we have found the perfect partner. Kramer has incredibly well developed worldwide distribution channels coupled with a very strong brand name recognized for producing reliable products, and supported by knowledgeable and dedicated employees."
Kramer Electronics will be launching its first two products: the Kramer VIA Collage and the Kramer VIA Connect. The products will be introduced at InfoComm 2014 which will be held June 18th through the 20th at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For the collaboration market, the fully featured BYOD oriented Kramer VIA Collage can do all of the following: wirelessly allow up to six participants to show their screens on one display, with the possibility of using two displays and allowing up to twelve participants to be simultaneously displayed; it allows collaboration from any mix of devices – PCs, Macs, tablets and Smartphones.
The compact VIA Connect is a wireless presentation hub which provides quick and easy wireless connection to, and sharing of, a large screen device by several users. Multiple meeting participants can display their images or at any time one individual presenter can easily choose to have their device be the only image displayed. As with the VIA Collage, the VIA Connect can accommodate any PC, Mac, iOS or Android device.
UK MD Hodgson said VIA Collage would be the most full-featured unit in the market of its type.
"We know from out customer base that meetings are becoming much less formalised, and the trend is moving toward people being able to walk in with their devices in a university or business environment and be part of a meeting instantly," he explained.
“With the release of these new products we will be able to go to our existing customers and offer them an extra facility that up until now we weren’t able to. It’s enabling us to be a one-stop shop; it gives us the strength to cover all scenarios.â€
Kramer already have an office in Singapore, it’s Asia Pacific office, but there is not suggestion any staff or operating bases would be merged.
“Wow Vision are really going to focus on the development part of it,†Hodgson said. “We have offices in all major countries and very good distributors in a lot of others so we’ve got a pretty good spread. We’ve got a strong, localised distribution concept. The concept is to be in the same country as the customer, to be at arm’s reach and not be divorced from them.â€
The Kramer VIA Collage and the Kramer VIA Connect will be on display at the InfoComm show in Kramer booth C7736 located in the Central Hall of the Convention Center.