AMX anniversary party celebrates 30 years in control

AMX celebrated 30 years in the custom install and control business last night with a glitzy soiree at London's glamorous Zetter hotel. In attendance were integrators and partners from across the UK. "There's no other agenda for us tonight," European marketing manager Nicollete Minnie told Inside CI. "We simply want to celebrate this milestone. We've seen consistent growth as a brand, despite difficult times. The past year has been a record-breaker for us."

In addition to the hospitality, the event provided a rare opportunity to revisit landmark products from the brand's history, with key exhibits stretching back to the company's origins in the early eighties. The original MX20 garage door opener-turned slide carousel remote, devised by founder Scott Miller, was not on display, but its two-button successor was. The MX20T had both forwards and reverse modes, a major innovation in 1983! Also on display was the AXP-EL (1988), the first monochromatic touch panel; the TX-MLCD remote with LCD display (1990); the TXC32 and TXC4 wireless (IR and RF!) remotes (1992) and the XT-CA10 (1997), the first TiltScreen touchpanel to offer a fully customisable user interface, allowing integrators to assign control to whatever products they wanted. This ability to change the size, shape, colour and action of every button was to prove a transformative user experience.

Undoubtedly attracting the most comment though was the VPT-CP ViewPoint, the first wireless touch-panel (1998). This extraordinary looking product, in transparent lime green, clearly reflects the impact that Apple was having at the time with its original multi-coloured iMacs. Today the VPT-CP divides opinion, but we firmly believe it looks magnificent!

"I know I speak for everyone at AMX when I say how grateful we are of our 30 year legacy. Things have certainly changed a lot from those early days but AMX's commitment to innovation remains the same," said Kevin Morrison, managing director and VP, AMX Europe. "2012 has given us a lot to celebrate. This event has given us a great opportunity to thank our customers, partners and friends for their support and their contribution to our continued success."

The exhibition concluded with two Moderos, a first generation NXT-1200V (2002) and the MXT-1000 X Series (2011), and a pair of (2012) Enova DGX Input and Output Boards, the industry's first modular digital media switcher with a built-in central controller. It's the latter which signpost the direction AMX will head over the next three decades, as the business moves rapidly to an IP-based ecosystem.

"This anniversary is especially exciting to all of us as we embark on a new journey with the introduction of the Enova family of products," said Morrison. "As is suggested in the name, Enova is the definition of innovation. Early response from customers has exceeded our expectations and I see this being the flagship line that will catapult us into the next 30 years."