MONTREAL, Que. – Quebecers will be well represented at the CES conference in Las Vegas, deemed the Super Bowl for technology companies, which gets under way Thursday.
A total of 11 companies will be making the trip from Quebec, which is two fewer than last year. Quebec has the second-largest Canadian contingent at the conference, but it pales in comparison to Ontario’s 45 companies.
However, one Quebec company already making waves prior to the show is Montreal’s ExoPC for its software designed specifically for tablet computers. The company boasts it is the only user interface for a tablet that runs on the Windows 7 environment. ExoPC was actually developed by a group in Rimouski, but the company was bought by St. Laurent-based Groupe Hypertec Inc.
The software began selling on tablet computers last month in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. In Las CVegas this week, ExoPC has announced several new partners, which will be selling tablets in the U.S. and Europe. The company also showed off a proof of concept for a 3D interface that will be coming to ExoPC-powered tablets by 2012, said CEO Shan Adhoot.
Adhoot said although his is a small company, he’s not intimidated by the fact there are many people presenting their ideas for tablet PCs, in what industry experts are already calling the tablet show.
“It’s actually good for us, because we’re a software, so it’s not too difficult for us to distinguish ourselves,” Adhoot said.
This is the first time ExoPC has been present at the conference, and it will be a chance for thousands of people to see the technology for the first time. ExoPC has the goal of selling one million tablets with its software by the end of the year.
Another Montreal company presenting at CES is Point St. Charles-based Sensio Technologies Inc., which provides technology to broadcast events in 3D. It was a good year for Sensio, which provided the technology to broadcast the World Cup live in 3D in several movie theatres around the world. Sensio also won the contract to provide the technology for Videotron’s 3D offering, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
Other Quebec companies presenting at the conference are:
“¢ Terrebonne-based Plasticase Inc., whose Nanuk line of cases is geared toward expensive electronic equipment.
“¢ Xsilva Systems, a Montreal company making its debut at CES. It provides point-of-sale software that turns mobile devices like iPhones and iPods into virtual cash registers. The phones can read a bar code, scan a credit card and print receipts.
“¢ Vdera Inc., a Granby-based firm that makes the Splat cleaning blob, which pulls dirt from hard-to-clean nooks, like keyboards and speaker grills.
“¢ Sonomax Technologies Inc., a Montreal-based company that makes custom-fitted earphones.
“¢ Simaudio Ltd., a Boucherville company that makes stereo equipment.
“¢ SOS Finder Inc., a St. Eustache company that uses embedded technology to help people find lost items.
“¢ Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Montreal company that makes animation software.
“¢ Tribair Inc., a St. Constant company that provides voice-over IP calling services to cellular phones using Wi-Fi connections.
“¢ Verity Audio Inc., a Quebec City-based company that makes high-end loudspeakers.
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