I have neglected this blog for the last couple of months, largely because I have been very busy with other things. Thus far, I have posted what I consider op-ed type postings which, I hope, have some value as editorial or analysis. This won’t be that sort of post, but rather shameless self promotion. My company Planet Telex is truly beginning a new era this month, and frankly I’m excited to share what we’ve been up to.

Let’s start with the fact that Planet Telex has developed and released its first major product, the jNet Menu System. Along with a few other free products, the jNet Menu System is available in our new online store, store.planettelex.net. These are two major milestones for us, and we are quite proud of our product, which we believe it to be the best menu system on the market. We built it because we had no other choice. We have bought several others in the past and have been disappointed. Having crafted a solution that can fit any desired implementation in an elegant, SEO friendly way, we are excited to share it with the world. If you need a menu system for ASP.NET or DotNetNuke, check out the jNet Menu System- you won’t find a better system on the market. I know, I’ve tried.

The process of bringing the jNet Menu System to market has given me a deep appreciation for what it takes to bring any product to market, software or otherwise. The code was largely done a few months ago, unit tests and all. Then we needed to create demos, write technical documentation, write marketing materials, figure out our licensing model, write a EULA, figure out support procedures and options, create a new merchant account, determine pricing, create graphics, in addition to building and integrating the storefront. And we have only begun thinking about our marketing strategy in any detail. Suffice to say; bringing a product to market, even one as simple as a menu system, takes a lot of effort, and I have newfound respect for anyone who manages the feat.

Besides jNet Menu System and the store, another event that marks this as a new era for Planet Telex is the press coverage we have received due to our Microsoft Surface computer. Last week, we were at the CSIA’s DEMOGala and I was interviewed by Channel 9 News. Tomorrow we head back down to the convention center for STEMapalooza, an event to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to students grades K-12. These are subjects near and dear to my heart, and I can’t say how pleased we are for the opportunity to help inspire kids to excel in these fields. What’s more, Laura and I have discussed at length about potential applications for large multi-touch devices in schools, and are excited to talk with educators and hear their ideas.

I was asked several times at DEMOGala how the Surface (or multi-touch in general) fits into a web design company’s growth strategy. In reply, I first must dispel the notion that Planet Telex has ever been limited to simply the web. We are a software design and development company. It just so happens that most software worth developing is web software. In today’s world though, I think it makes less and less sense to separate web software development from other software development. Most applications made today, if not built on a web platform, still make judicious use of the internet and internet protocols. Simply put, every app is a web app.

That said, I want to emphasize that the focus of Planet Telex is, and has always been, human-computer interaction. We pride ourselves on building excellent interfaces, web-based or otherwise. In that context, developing for the Surface is the next logical step for our company as it represents a new, more intuitive way for humans to interact with the computer. In addition to our Surface, Planet Telex will be the first vendor in Colorado to offer a FlatFrog multi-touch device, a new flat panel multi-touch device hitting the market next month. We will not limit ourselves to one type of large multi-touch device, as each has benefits and limitations that must be considered before the right solution to a given situation is determined.

So have we developed anything for the Surface yet? Yup, we have just finished version one of our new Surface product, inTouch UI for Microsoft Surface. We have developed this app based on the needs of the Four Seasons Sales Center here in Denver. A prospective buyer at the sales center will be able to look at floor plans, drag the ones they like into a target area, and fill out a form with the basic lead information. It will launch at the sales center at 1080 14^th St. Denver, CO 80202 this month. This will be the flagship location in several sales centers in both the U.S. and Canada that have expressed interest in the software. Like the jNet Menu, inTouch UI for Microsoft Surface is pretty limited in scope, but it served as the perfect starting point in what we hope will be a long line of multi-touch applications. Here is a screenshot:

A capture of our new inTouch UI for Microsoft Surface

Finally, as if all the above weren’t enough to keep me busy, I want to announce that Dan and I are starting a new company, Twitterep. Twitterep is a new way to advertise using Twitter that is more credible and not prone to spam. I encourage everyone to read about it at Twitterep.com. The service is scheduled to launch in Q1 next year, but you may join now to recieve offers for free system credits as a beta tester as the system comes online.

Phew. If you are read this far, hopefully you are interested in one or more of these products. I appreciate any sort of feedback regarding any of them. Besides the comments area of this blog, you can send an inquiry to Planet Telex here, or contact me via my Twitter account: @robdixoniii.