Senior Philips executive joins Canesta

APRIL 18--Joep van Beurden has joined Canesta Inc. (San Jose, CA; www.canasta.com) as senior vice president of sales and marketing, a new position. Van Beurden was most recently managing director and vice president of business unity connectivity for Philips Components.

His initial responsibilities at Canesta will include developing major corporate customers and strategic partnerships, particularly in the mobile and wireless markets, as Canesta readies its electronic perception technology for OEM applications. Electronic perception technology is a recently announced breakthrough designed to "sight-enable" machines and ordinary electronic devices with low-cost sensors. These sensors image the world around them as 3-D contour maps, enabling the devices to react and interact with people and the environment in totally new ways.

"We're on the verge of a new era in electronic devices," said van Beurden. "For the first time, it has become practical to design applications and interfaces that work through sight, rather than restrictive mechanical devices such as keyboards or controllers." Van Beurden indicated that original equipment manufacturers in the mobile and wireless areas are particularly eager to use the new technology.

Nazim Kareemi, president and CEO of Canesta, said, "Joep brings unique experience to Canesta. He has the strategic vision to understand the widespread implications of electronic perception technology. Additionally, he brings significant hands-on experience in introducing technologies to major companies in a broad base of industries, including mobile and wireless industries."