Carroll Touch, Texwood Collaborate on Touch-Based Kiosk Systems

ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 1998--Carroll Touch, a leading provider of built-to-order and custom touch interface products worldwide, has signed a deal with Texwood Furniture Corp. to provide touch interface technology and products for Texwood's new kiosk subsidiary, KnowKio.

Under the terms of the joint marketing agreement, Carroll Touch will provide KnowKio with a full line of scanning infrared touch products for use in a new line of kiosks KnowKio will sell for use in training, conference and boardroom equipment, public information and public Internet access.

Texwood approached Carroll Touch to be its technology partner after determining a customer requirement for a variety of kiosk solutions. Texwood, based in Taylor, Texas, has been a leading manufacturer of fine wood library furniture for almost 40 years, and is focused on expanding its business to include kiosks.

``As our relationship with Carroll Touch matures, KnowKio sees an advantage in being able to direct customers to reliable vendors of artistic content, software development, hardware components, technology integration and field service,'' said Dave Gaskins, Texwood vice president of sales and marketing. ``We have begun the development of other alliances as well, enabling us to help our customers by working with other experienced suppliers for seamless solutions to their needs.''

Carroll Touch is focused on growing the multimedia, kiosk and interactive business segments of its markets, while continuing to provide a high-quality product across a range of industries.

``What makes this so sweet for Carroll Touch is that a new kiosk company has studied all the competitors in this space and has chosen us to be its partner,'' said Bob Christiansen, sales and marketing director for Carroll Touch.

Carroll Touch will develop the designs for the kiosk systems according to the design specifications outlined by KnowKio, which will build the enclosures for the kiosk systems. Both companies will sell the KnowKio line of information kiosks. The first products are expected to be shipped during October 1998.

Carroll Touch currently offers a line of infrared interactive kiosk products and has developed applications for public information and ticketing kiosks, public Internet access, retail information and sales, training and others.

Texwood Furniture Corporation's core business is the manufacture of fine wood library furniture for colleges, universities, schools and public libraries. With plants in both Taylor and Seguin, Texas, Texwood has close to 200,000 square feet of highly automated manufacturing and assembly space. Texwood's ``KnowKio'' Division does kiosk design, fabrication and integration for a wide client mix.

Carroll Touch is the world leader in build-to-order solutions for the touch interface market, offering products for public information, retail, industrial controls, medical equipment and a variety of specialized applications where novice users might have to interact with a computer system.

Contact:

     Carroll Touch
     Mark Austin, 512/388-5615

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