The software and design firm partners with RTI in a partnership that brings user friendly icons to touch panel control screens.

Guifx today announced that they are officially integration partners with Remote Technologies Inc. (RTI), a manufacturer of remote and touch-panel controls for complex electronic systems. The agreement is two-way. RTI will license from Guifx the high-def, user-friendly graphics they design for touch panel screens; and in turn, Guifx will design and sell templates compatible with RTI’s systems to consumer electronics dealers.

Guifx, the largest provider of professionally designed touch panel graphics in the world, launched the first commercially available touch panel template in 2002. Guifx specializes in designing the interactive and aesthetic qualities of the touch screens incorporated into many custom installers whole house installations, streamlining and integrating complicated systems into one user friendly network.

The graphics software licensed to RTI includes the Aero Icon Set and Logo Tools. “The Aero Icon Set raises the bar of the level of aesthetics and the user experience that is offered on the market today,” says Guifx director of operations, Morgan Strauss. “These icons are made for every user. Our designers create a high-definition, high-resolution product that provides ultimate usability. The package includes icons that represent all aspects of the home and business automation system, from video game and home theater controls to video and teleconferencing.”

The second product, Logo Tools, will allow RTI to incorporate network logos like the NBC “Peacock” and the VH1 “cube” into their touch panels to replace traditional channel numbers.

Guifx will begin distributing RTI touch panel templates, which feature these high-def graphics, on October 15, 2007. “We’re always excited to partner with a well respected manufacturer like RTI,” says Strauss. “They are truly a world-class organization that is always on the cutting edge of producing the most innovative designs. I think the agreement will take both our businesses to the next level.”

RTI templates will be available for download on the Guifx Web site (http://www.guifx.com), along with the templates of other touch panel manufacturers Crestron, AMX, and MX-3000.

Software and design firm launches one-of-a-kind, user-friendly Aero Icon Set for Touch Panel displays.

Guifx, the software and design division of Florida’s most recognized electronics systems contractor, Audio Advisors, launched their innovative Aero Icon Set today. This product is the first of its kind-a full package of downloadable, high-def, high-res icons that represent all multimedia and device aspects of the home and business automation systems, from video game and home theater controls to video and teleconferencing.

“Our design team strives for the highest level of usability for all our graphics, and I think we hit our target with Aero,” says Morgan Strauss, director of operations for Guifx. “This icon set is more realistic than anything we’ve developed to date.”

The icon set includes approximately 150 photo-realistic graphics designed to be incorporated into touch panel interface, each image meticulously crafted to communicate visually with the user.

Guifx offers two forms of license. The dealer license allows home automation installers to use Aero Icons in their projects, and the embedded license allows manufacturers to embed the graphics in all their products. The first embedded license will go to a designer and manufacturer of remote touch panel technology and will be announced in the next two weeks.

Logo Tools and Icon Tools have both been updated adding even more frequently requested features. Keep your assets where you want them. You can now browse for both source and destination folders. You can also load and save individual logos and icons through the preview pane — even the default Aero Icon sample.Logo Tools and Icon Tools are both free, so if you’re one of the few that hasn’t tried them yet, now would be a good time. For everyone else, the upgrade is already available in your download manager. Keep those suggestions coming.

RTI templates are starting to roll out. Meta for RTI installs as a TheaterTouch Designer Page Wizard with multiple layouts and drag-and-drop bitmap library. It doesn’t get any easier than that. The design includes several themes and can be further customized with a personalized background. No detail has been overlooked. Even the cursor control buttons have full high-contrast active states. The source pages have place-holders that you can quickly populate by dragging icons in from the bitmap library. We think our Aero Icon Set is a perfect match here. By the way, RTI has licensed our Aero Icon Set and will be incorporating it into the next version of TheaterTouch Designer so you’ll be able to use them for free on Meta or with any of your other RTI projects.Additional panel support and new designs are in production and are scheduled for release over the coming weeks.