Apex Software has been setting the standard in desktop sketching solutions since 1987. Most appraisers know Apex as a desktop product that's focused on making appraisal sketching fast, easy, and accurate. I can't even remember when I last had to "calculate" the square footage of a home! But how many ALSO think of Apex Software in terms of mobile sketching, data collection, training and support?
Randy Garrett, CEO of Apex Software says; "I think the biggest turn Apex made as a company was when I decided we were going to do more than sketching."
"We haven’t really told our customers, but since that decision we’ve created new products, expanded into new markets, and even into another country."
"What I love best is we’ve taken what we’ve learned and are developing dramatically better solutions for appraisers and related industries."
"Medina, our upcoming new desktop version of Apex, and Nexus, our upcoming mobility product, are two examples."
READ ON . . .
Medina? Nexus? Huh? - What are THEY?
Medina will be ready for release this November and is designed to replace their current desktop sketching package - both the standalone and "forms software" versions. It will read all prior versions of Apex sketches and capable of doing a "Save As" back to the older version 3 file formats.
Nexus is a new tablet/UMPC "mobile" sketcher that is being rolled out now in Australia as part of a contract for the largest lender "down under". It's currently in Beta testing for the mass appraisal market in North America, and will be announced for Assessor's in October 2006 at the IAAO conference. It's scheduled to be released for the fee appraiser market in January 2007.
Apex has dedicated an ENTIRELY NEW section of their web site just to the Medina and Nexus products - click here. In a nutshell, here are a few of the changes . . .
- New simplified user interface
- New Streamlined drawing - Hit ENTER and you're ready to go.
- New drag and drop and "Stamp" libraries for text, symbols and fills
- New On-line registration! No longer need to "call" for your registration codes
- Nexus Ready! Contains core components for working with their mobile solutions
- Vista Ready! Vista is the next operating system from Microsoft and Medina is READY!
- New Videos! See how Nexus is going to allow us to FINALLY throw away the clipboard.
- New & Improved support, pricing, and training
"It's NOT Just Sketching Anymore!"
I saw the pre-Beta version of Medina/Nexus at an Apex "Beta" meeting in Las Vegas earlier this year and was BLOWN AWAY at what I saw. With this release, Apex has made the move from being evolutionary in terms of software development to being revolutionary!
Medina sets the stage for the release of the mobile Nexus product. I believe that Nexus will be the mobile product that will finally push users and developers alike into thinking beyond the "clipboard" for data collection.
I plan on attending the IAAO conference in Milwaukee so I should be able to report back some first hand reports on how it's received by that industry.
Until then, you can get an idea of their capabilities by watching the Nexus video on their web site - click here and then the [Medina With Nexus] button.
This is NOT your father's sketch package!
By they way, be SURE to watch the Nexus video and see if you can spot the "Appraisal Scoop" logo anywhere!?
Additional Resources: Apex Mobililty Blog
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