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danielgibson
The new CEO could use previous experience from Oxford to help Nxt find a new way ...
Jimelectr
Hmmmm... I have mixed feelings about flat speakers. I've heard the Magnepan ...
Flat speaker firm appoints James Lewis as CEO
Peter Clarke
7/14/2010 6:37 AM EDT
LONDON -- NXT plc, a public company that has pioneered the use of flat panels as audio speakers, has appointed James Lewis, cofounder of fabless chip company Oxford Semiconductor, as chief executive officer with effect from Aug. 1, 2010.
NXT has operated with an intellectual property licensing business model and achieved sales revenue of about £3.5 million (about $5.3 million) in its last complete financial year. Lewis's experience with Oxford, where he also served as CEO, was based on a product business model. Lewis told EE Times that his appointment would be a chance to apply that model to NXT's business in many areas. "With a license and royalty model it is difficult to grow strongly. Sometimes you think ARM is the exception that proves the rule."
NXT's present CEO, Peter Thoms, will become vice chairman of the company and continue to be based in the Hong Kong office with responsibility for maintaining and developing key relationships in Asia.
Lewis has been a non-executive director of NXT since October 2009 and led an initiative to acquire the audio amplifier technology from fabless chip company Audium Semiconductor Ltd. (Bristol, England), where he was also a director.
Lewis is an electronics engineer and entrepreneur who has worked in Europe and the United States. He co-founded Oxford Semiconductor in Oxford in 1992 and headed up its sales and marketing activities, turning it into a global business with 150 employees. Oxford Semiconductor Inc. was acquired by PLX Technology Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) in January 2009.
NXT licenses patented sound and touch technologies to designers and manufacturers of audio systems, TVs, PCs and laptops, PA systems, cars, aircraft and equipment for use public buildings around the world. The company has expertise in the field of bending wave haptics, which is expected to be part of next-generation human interface technology.
Related links and articles:
Articles:
NXT acquires Audium's IP for use in USB-powered speakers
Audio chip startup raises $8.5 million
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Jimelectr
7/16/2010 12:38 AM EDT
Hmmmm... I have mixed feelings about flat speakers. I've heard the Magnepan speakers at the Consumer Electronics Show High-End Audio Pavilion or The Home Entertainment Show (held at the same time nearby in Las Vegas), and the first time I heard them I thought, "They sound just like everybody says - the midrange is gorgeous and easy to listen to, but the dynamics are missing. Strings and such are just delicious, but anything else leaves a bad taste in one's mouth (ears?)" Then at a later show, Magnepan had some new speakers and I think a DVD of a Diana Krall concert, and I was impressed; the dynamics were there. And some other company whose name escapes me had some big box speakers one time with these flat aluminum disk speakers, but I was not at all impressed with the sound. My experience at CES/H-EAP/THE Show 2001-2005 (before my second son was born and it was no longer feasible for me to attend) was that indeed manufacturers would have great sounding stuff one year and mediocre the next or vice-versa. It just pointed out to me how difficult it is to make recordings sound real.
Sorry I've kind of digressed here, but leave it to an audiophile to comment on consumer-level speakers! I, for one, am appalled at the "race to the bottom", "quantity not quality" aspect of audio gear these days. It's such a shame that Sony did the worst marketing effort ever with the Super Audio CD - I bet many of you have never heard of it! But everyone knows what MP3's are, horrible as they sound. Don't get me started (too late, I know!)
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danielgibson
5/10/2012 2:18 AM EDT
The new CEO could use previous experience from Oxford to help Nxt find a new way to do business. A change of leadership is required to bring the nxt to the next level.
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