Tao Group
 | |
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founders | Francis Charig, Chris Hinsley, Andy Henson and Andy Stout |
| Headquarters |  Reading, Berkshire, UK |
Key people | Francis Charig, CEO Joseph Berardino, Chairman |
| Products | Computer software |
| Website | tao-group.com |
Tao Group is a software company headquartered in Reading, Berkshire, UK. Branch offices of Tao Group are located in Japan and USA with resellers in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. It has developed intent, a software platform licensed to its clients to run console-quality interactive games, music and other advanced entertainment services on mobile and other digital devices. intent enables content portability, resolving fundamental industry fragmentation problems by delivering services in a platform independent format called Virtual Processor (VP) and executing at native speed on feature phones and smart phones of different architectures. Tao has protected its product line with a patent portfolio.
History
- In 1990 a small group of people joined forces with Chris Hinsley to develop an operating system. These included Andy Henson who developed the core VP translator technology.
- Tao Group was set up by Francis Charig, Chris Hinsley, Andy Henson and Andy Stout in 1992.
- In 1992, Tao Group released the first generation of its virtual machine called Virtual Processor (VP).
- In 1998, Tao Group released the second generation of its virtual machine called VP2.
- Since early 2004 Tao has licensed more than 20 million copies of intent and its players to blue-chip companies world-wide.
- The company was placed into administration on 31 May 2007.
- Support for Tao products is now performed by Tao Support Ltd in conjunction with Replevix and Cross Atlantic Capital Partners.
Products
- intentPlayers (GamePlayer, MusicPlayer and JavaPlayer).
- Products incorporating its players include mobile phones, televisions, set top boxes, cameras and home servers.
- Licensees include Sony, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, JVC, HTC.
Company Awards
- World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers (2006)
- BAFTA winners (2001/2005)
- Red Herring Europe 100 (2005/2006)
- Deloitte Fast 50
- Computing Innovation Gold Award for Excellence.