Company: Lantronix, Inc., Irvine, CA
Company Description: Lantronix(NASDAQ:LTRX) is a global leader of smart, secure M2M communication technologies that simplify access and communication with and between virtually any electronic device. Our smart connectivity solutions enable sharing data between devices and applications to empower businesses to make better decisions based on real-time information, and gain a competitive advantage.
Nomination Category: Products & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Hardware - Peripheral

Nomination Title: Lantronix xPrintServer

Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and performance to date.
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Our new CEO, on the job for weeks, walked in with his iPad and said "I can't print! - can we solve this problem?" Three months later we launched the xPrintServer, the first and only appliance for iOS printing. It enables printing from iPad and iPhone to more than 4,000 printers. No software, no apps, no configuration. Open it, plug it in, print!

Marketing & Sales Highlights:

-- First three months in market, more than 300% ROI and 600+% marketing ROI;
-- Major awards (Macworld Best in Show, CES Top 25 Product, Engadget Peripheral of the Year).
-- Our company's best selling new product in 20 year history.
-- More than 3,000 articles / media coverage
-- 25,000+ hits on our launch video

Bottom line: Shoestring marketing budget, we launched a campaign that was

(1) highly creative,
(2) on-message,
(3) viral,
(4) generated huge press coverage, and
(5) generated record product sales.

We leveraged PR (product reviews, press outreach), viral videos, email, online marketing (PPC, SEO), blogs, and events to get first-to-market. See uploaded launch video and other materials for details.

Product Features / Benefits:

-- Turns virtually any printer (4,000+ leading models) into an "AirPrint Printer"\
-- allowing you to print from your iPad or iPhone to network printers;
-- No apps to download and manage
-- No software to buy or deploy
-- No configuration! (It auto-discovers and auto-provisions your printers)
-- Web GUI for advanced configuration if necessary
-- Works with the native "print" menu on iOS devices

Performance-to-Date:

-- First-to-market and leading/only hardware ("network appliance") solving this problem

-- NetworkWorld, InfoWorld, TUAW, Engadget, and nearly a dozen product reviews at 4 or more stars (out of 5)

-- Rave reviews from thousands of customers!

Upload a collection of supporting files and web addresses to our server to provide more background information to the judges. You may upload any number of attachments and URLs through the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above. (Do NOT list your URLs below.)

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

Kurt Busch, president and chief executive officer of Lantronix. Prior to joining Lantronix, he was senior vice president and general manager of the high-performance analog division for Mindspeed Technologies.

Mr. Busch has more than 20 years experience in the networking communications industry, including business development roles at Analog Devices as well as roles in engineering, sales, marketing and general management at Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel, and others.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering and a bachelor’s degree in biological science from the University of California at Irvine, and an MBA from Santa Clara University

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