CROWTHORNE, England, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Software developers and ISV's are being given an extra competitive advantage by the introduction of the highly flexible and customisable Electrone 15x Series of programmable computer keyboards. Electrone Group, custom-built IT peripherals vendor, http://www.electrone.co.uk has launched the keyboard series in response to requests from vertical markets which require a hi-degree of pre-programmable key actions within a robust hardware unit.

The Electrone 15x range is a custom-built and programmable computer keyboard http://tinyurl.com/mfanbh which is now being used in a variety of vertical market applications, such as live-to-air broadcast and video editing applications, call centre response operations and the emergency services. The key to the success of the Electrone 15x programmable computer keyboard Series is the fact it can be custom-built to suit the requirements of a wide variety of vertical markets.

The Electrone 150 is a standard QWERTY keyboard with over 100 programmable keys. The Electrone 153 adds illumination to this for alerts and visibility, a feature well proven with video editing applications and live broadcast suites. The Electrone 155 includes a two-line LCD display for snapshot visibility of keyboard settings, application cues and queued commands. http://tinyurl.com/n8etae

The user-friendly graphical user-interface (GUI) software lies at the heart of the Electrone 15x series, permitting intuitive selection of keys for programming. Once set, programs are saved, downloaded and stored in the keyboard, eliminating the need for special drivers. In addition, the keys are arranged in logical groups of panels, making applications simple to target. The programmable key tops can be colour coded and custom-built to enable users to enter data quickly and efficiently - increasing productivity and easing the strain of tedious repetitiveness through reducing key and/or mouse actions. http://tinyurl.com/lc784e

Stuart Thorn, Chief Executive of Electrone Group, comments, Working in conjunction with companies such as specialist distributor APC-Contech http://www.apc-plc.co.uk/ has allowed us both to expand our offerings to some key specialist markets. In emergency service markets and the call centre space, we've seen great success in operating in custom installations. We believe the unit will also be applicable in alarm monitoring centres including CCTV surveillance where illuminated user alerts are an advantage

Stuart Thorn continues, These robust programmable computer keyboards are designed to work 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. The extra features of the keyboards allow users to get dynamic feedback and cues from applications, such as queued shots during the use of video editing applications and live-to-air broadcast or clear visibility through the illumination of keys. The two-line display can be used for alerts, or bi-directional communication, as it is controlled by the application.

With a logical spread of key panels and standard USB connectivity, the Electrone 15x custom-built and programmable computer keyboard series is ideal for any application in which the universe can be enhanced with compound keystrokes. This keyboard accelerates the automation of many user applications requiring standard forms or a relational database or multiple repetitive operations.

Key features include:

- Full QWERTY keyboard +105 programmable keys with 128 bytes of memory per key Keys are easily programmed and reprogrammed to switch applications - Graphical user interface for programming is now available in both English and Spanish, other languages will follow - Programming can be to store anything from simple text, to serial codes for product inventory to complicated accounting formulas for money market applications - Optional 155 model with a host application controlled, 2 x 20 character display offers limited terminal functionality - Heavy duty all metal enclosure - 12-month return to depot warranty included - 2 port USB HUB

The range of different vertical markets to which these products can be addressed is being developed on an ongoing basis. Further bulletins are available on http://www.electrone.co.uk

About Electrone

Electrone Group is a subsidiary of the privately-held holding company, which includes US-based, IT hardware vendor Electrone Americas. The company specialises in custom-built, problem solving IT peripherals, for a broad range of vertical markets. The business was founded by Stuart Thorn in the UK in 1984 before relocating to Florida in 1996.

The company has customers in all parts of the USA, UK, Europe, Middle East, South America and Africa. Electrone's experts design and build more than 100 products in more than 15 distinct product lines and in-house staff can also develop specialist software applications where the client requires them. The majority of Electrone's customers are IT resellers and systems integrators.

For further information, please contact: Nikki Miller +44(0)1932-578-800 The itpr Partnership http://www.itpr.co.uk Mike Buchanan +44(0)1344-751-797 Head of Marketing Electrone Group http://www.electrone.co.uk

For further information, please contact: Nikki Miller, +44(0)1932-578-800, The itpr Partnership; Mike Buchanan, +44(0)1344-751-797, Head of Marketing, Electrone Group