Userful

Last updated
Userful Corporation
Type Private
Industry
Founded2003
FounderTimothy Griffin
Headquarters
San Ramon, California, United States
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Key people
John Marshall, President & CEO
Products
  • Visual Networking Platform (software-defined AV-over-IP platform)
  • Emerald Engage (corporate signage)
  • LED Media Commander
  • Topaz Trends (data dashboards)
  • Diamond Decisions (mission critical operations centers)
Number of employees
100
Website www.userful.com

Userful Corporation is a Canadian multinational software company that is known for its visual networking platform for communication and collaboration across the enterprise. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Userful’s platform enables users to deploy video walls, digital signs, and kiosks for uses including control rooms, corporate communication, dashboard walls, and customer experience centers. [4] The company was founded in 2003 by Timothy Griffin and is now led by John Marshall, who was named CEO in 2018. [5] Userful is headquartered in San Ramon, California and Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with additional locations in São Paulo, Brazil, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Userful is a privately held for-profit corporation with resellers around the world.

History

Founder and Chief Technology Officer Timothy Griffin founded Userful Corporation in 2003. [6]

Userful released its initial software enabling desktop virtualization, which is used predominantly in settings that require secure desktop virtualizations, including the military, oilfields, and schools. [7]

In 2012, Userful released v5 of its MultiSeat software, which added Ethernet zero client support. [8] The same year, Userful, partnered with ViewSonic to produce a Linux-based zero-client product. [9]

Userful launched its Userful Multiplatform 6, which enables running Windows, Linux, and browser desktops in a multiseat environment in 2013. [10] Multipaltform 7.0 was launched in 2014. [11]

Userful again partnered with ViewSonic [12] in 2014 to create the SC-U25 Value VDI Client with Userful Multiplatform software. In late 2014, Userful launched Userful Network Video Wall software, [13] which turns a standard PC into a video wall controller or video wall processor.

In 2015, Userful released v8 of the Userful Network Video Wall to improve performance. [14] The company then released v8.5 [15] in January 2016 to support 6K source content in real time, and the ability to support up to 40 screens from one standard PC and up to 60 screens from one high-end PC.

In 2019, Userful launched its Visual Networking Platform, which can centrally manage all video and visual communications across an entire business. The company created three products for this platform: Userful Enterprise; Userful Cloud; and uClient. [16]

Userful Enterprise can push content to a variety of screens with tools such as content scheduling, remote desktop sharing and virtual keyboard-video-mouse interaction. Customers can use Userful Cloud to remotely manage content on the cloud from multiple locations.

Userful built the uClient app as a replacement for media players, cables, extenders and other hardware components. It is available on LG's webOS signage platform and smart displays.

In 2019, Userful opened offices in Dubai to strengthen the company’s presence in the fast-growing Middle East, Turkey, and Africa market. [17]

In 2022, LG Corporation and Userful announced a joint solution designed to make digital signage and other visual display applications feasible and more reliable over the local and wide area networks of enterprise-level corporate clients. [18]

In April 2022, Userful secured CA$10 million in an all-equity investment. [19] This investment follows a $3 million seed round in 2019, [20] and a $950,000 federal loan in 2008 from the Canadian government as part of the Western Innovation Initiative. [21]

In July 2022, Userful named Dr. Mohammad Moshirpour, a professor at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering as a strategic advisor to the company. [22] Userful and the University of Calgary are working together to build a deeper knowledge of AV-over-IP technology by offering multimedia workshops. The new initiative teaches students the basics of the multimedia software framework GStreamer, API, and video streaming.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thin client</span> Non-powerful computer optimized for remote server access

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citrix Systems</span> American software company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">VMware</span> Multi-cloud service provider for all apps

VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture.

Win4Lin is a discontinued proprietary software application for Linux which allowed users to run a copy of Windows 9x, Windows 2000 or Windows XP applications on their Linux desktop. Win4Lin was based on Merge software, a product which changed owners several times until it was bought by Win4Lin Inc. Citing changes in the desktop virtualization industry, the software's publisher, Virtual Bridges, has discontinued Win4Lin Pro.

Parallels is a software company based in Bellevue, Washington; it is primarily involved in the development of virtualization software for macOS. The company has offices in 14 countries, including the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Japan, China, Spain, Malta, Australia and Mauritius and has over 800 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiseat configuration</span>

A multiseat, multi-station or multiterminal system is a single computer which supports multiple independent local users at the same time.

Desktop virtualization is a software technology that separates the desktop environment and associated application software from the physical client device that is used to access it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VirtualBox</span> Open-source x86 virtualization application

Oracle VM VirtualBox is a type-2 hypervisor for x86 virtualization developed by Oracle Corporation. VirtualBox was originally created by InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH, which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2008, which was in turn acquired by Oracle in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remote desktop software</span> Desktop run remotely from local device

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Ericom Software, Inc. is a Closter, New Jersey-based company that provides web isolation and remote application access software to businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NComputing</span>

NComputing is a desktop virtualization company that manufactures hardware and software to create virtual desktops which enable multiple users to simultaneously share a single operating system instance.

In computing, virtualization or virtualisation is the act of creating a virtual version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, storage devices, and computer network resources.

Wanova, Inc, headquartered in San Jose, California, provides software allowing IT organizations to manage, support and protect data on desktop and laptop computers. Wanova's primary product, Wanova Mirage, was designed as an alternative to server-hosted desktop virtualization technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyse</span> American computing system manufacturer

Wyse Technology, often shortened to Wyse, was an independent American manufacturer of cloud computing systems. As of 2012, Wyse is a subsidiary of Dell. Wyse are best remembered for their video terminal line introduced in the 1980s, which competed with the market-leading Digital. They also had a successful line of IBM PC compatible workstations in the mid-to-late 1980s. But starting late in the decade, Wyse were outcompeted by companies such as eventual parent Dell. Current products include thin client hardware and software as well as desktop virtualization solutions. Other products include cloud software-supporting desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices. Dell Cloud Client Computing is partnered with IT vendors such as Citrix, IBM, Microsoft, and VMware.

QVD is an open-source virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) product built on Linux. Its main purpose is to provide remote desktops to users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teradici</span> Canadian software company

Teradici Corporation was a privately held software company founded in 2004, which was acquired by HP Inc. in October 2021. Teradici initially developed a protocol (PCoIP) for compressing and decompressing images and sound when remotely accessing blade servers, and implemented it in hardware. This technology was later expanded to thin clients/zero clients for general Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Teradici's protocol or hardware is used by HP, Dell-Wyse, Amulet Hotkey, Samsung, Amazon Web Services, Fujitsu, and VMware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2X Software</span> Maltese software company

2X Software was a Maltese software company specializing in virtual desktop, application virtualization, application delivery, Remote Desktop Services, remote access and Mobile Device Management. On 25 February 2015, 2X Software was acquired by Parallels, Inc. The 2X products, Remote Application Server and Mobile Device Management, are now included in Parallels' offering.

VDIworks is an American software company founded in 2008 that provides services like desktop virtualization, desktop as a service (DaaS), networking, PCoIP and cloud computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SONiC (operating system)</span> Open-source network operating system

The Software for Open Networking in the Cloud or alternatively abbreviated and stylized as SONiC, is a free and open source network operating system based on Linux. It was originally developed by Microsoft and the Open Compute Project. In 2022, Microsoft ceded oversight of the project to the Linux Foundation, who will continue to work with the Open Compute Project for continued ecosystem and developer growth. SONiC includes the networking software components necessary for a fully functional L3 device and was designed to meet the requirements of a cloud data center. It allows cloud operators to share the same software stack across hardware from different switch vendors and works on over 100 different platforms. There are multiple companies offering enterprise service and support for SONiC, including Hedgehog and Aviz Networks

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2023-08-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-08-10. Retrieved 2023-08-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2023-08-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ Charlize Alcaraz (2022-04-29). "Userful Secures $10 Million for Tech that Centralizes Brands' Visual Network". betakit.com. Archived from the original on 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  5. ↑ Corporation, Userful (2018-10-17). "Userful Corporation Names John Marshall as CEO". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  6. ↑ "Userful Overview". Archived from the original on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  7. ↑ Lai, Eric. "Linux firm to supply Brazil schools with PC-sharing software". Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  8. ↑ Corporation, Userful. "Userful Revolutionizes Thin-Client Computing, with Solution that is Twice as Fast and Half the Price". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  9. ↑ Corporation, Userful (2012-04-11). "ViewSonic(R) and Userful Partner to Bring High Performance Ethernet and USB Connected Linux(R) Zero Client Solutions to Market". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  10. ↑ "Userful Multiplatform™: Groundbreaking Virtualization Technology to Deliver Windows™, Cloud or Linux Desktops using Low-Cost Zero Client Devices". PRWeb. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  11. ↑ "Userful Dramatically Simplifies Desktops and Lowers Costs with Breakthrough Light Desktop Virtualization". www.businesswire.com. 2014-02-19. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  12. ↑ "ViewSonic Introduces The SC-U25 Value VDI Client". The IT Nerd. 2014-11-07. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  13. ↑ Brennesholtz, Matthew (2014-12-03). "Userful Uses Ethernet to Drive 4K Videowalls". DisplayDaily. Archived from the original on 2023-08-13. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  14. ↑ Couldwell, Clive. "Userful addresses challenges for control rooms and videowalls". AV Magazine. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  15. ↑ "Userful Synchs Interactive Content up to 6K for Video Wall Networks". Digital Media World. 7 March 2016. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  16. ↑ "Userful launches visual networking platform". www.digitalsignagetoday.com. 2019-01-25. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  17. ↑ Corporation, Userful (2019-10-02). "Userful Announces Expansion into META Region". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  18. ↑ says, craig Allen keefner (2022-02-10). "LG, Userful Partner On Integrated AV-Over-IP Digital Signage And Visual Display Solution". Sixteen:Nine. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  19. ↑ "Userful secures $10 million for tech that centralizes brands' visual network". 2022-04-29. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  20. ↑ Fund, Accelerate (2019-06-11). "Accelerate Fund II invests in Userful to broadcast visual content to virtually any screen". Accelerate Fund. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  21. ↑ "Alberta tech companies receive $21 million from federal government | BetaKit". 2018-11-20. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  22. ↑ "UCalgary software engineering prof strengthens academic ties to industry". News. 2022-07-22. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
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