Over at the Daily DOOH, writer Gail Chiasson has posted a list of the Visix Expression Award winners:

Wireless digital photo frames, considered one of the hot new categories in consumer electronics back in 2006 and 2007, haven’t taken off as quickly as expected. People love digital frames, but they’ve tended to buy them as gifts pre-loaded with photos they uploaded to the Web, meaning many frames still don’t come with their own connection to the Internet. That’s a problem for Wellesley, MA-based Frame Media, whose whole business, when I last profiled the startup in 2007, revolved around providing fresh digital content for the frames, such as news and sports headlines, weather, and photos shared by friends.

But while Wi-Fi-equipped frames are still playing catchup, another channel for the company’s programming is emerging: so-called “connected screens,” meaning a whole variety of Internet-ready displays that are turning up in homes and offices. As a result, Frame Media is rechristening itself Thinking Screen Media, and going after what CEO Alan Phillips calls “a whole category [of displays] defined primarily by the fact that, unlike PCs, they are limited in their ability to easily search and configure content.” That includes not just digital frames but high-definition TVs, cable set-top boxes, game consoles, Internet radios, and even printers.

Through its FrameChannel platform, Thinking Screen works with publishers such as Time magazine, the New York Times, People magazine, and Weatherbug to offer more than 1,000 channels of content customized for such screens. (Users choose and configure the information feeds at Thinking Screen’s website.) The company is also partnering with virtually every consumer-electronics company on the block—names like Kodak, Motorola, Nintendo, Philips, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba—to make it easy

“Most of the connected screens haven’t hit the market yet, but they will over the next six months,” says Phillips. In particular, Phillips says, “We’ll see an aggressive push by TV manufacturers to enable TVs to go beyond video.” A taste of what he’s talking about already familiar to millions of video game fans is the home screen of the Nintendo Wii, which, in addition to games, offers links to news, weather, shopping, and photos.

The 15-employee startup collected $5 million in Series A funding from Longworth Venture Partners and CommonAngels in May 2008, and there are plans to raise a Series B round this fall, Phillips says. When it comes to supplying content for tomorrow’s connected screens, Thinking Screen has both technical and strategic advantages over existing and potential competitors, he says.

San Diego-based Chumby, whose interactive media player displays information through “widgets” analogous to Thinking Screen’s channels, is the company’s closest competitor, in Phillips’ judgment. But he thinks Chumby will have a hard time delivering content to devices other than its trademark soft-sided appliance, since the widgets depend on Adobe’s Flash video format, which most other connected screens can’t handle. Thinking Screen’s data, by contrast, is delivered using the Media RSS format, created by Yahoo in 2004 and used by thousands of content publishers.

Thinking Screen also has a network of content and manufacturing partners that would be hard for any other company to match, Phillips says. “The barrier to entry is about partnerships on the content side and more importantly on the screen manufacturer side,” he says. “As we create a critical mass of users, the revenue from advertising is shared with both content providers and screen manufacturers, so there is a stream now that encourages the screen partners to make sure that FrameChannel is enabled on their devices.”

Two new products set to emerge from Thinking Screens in the coming months are designed to widen the service’s appeal to consumers. One is a line of inexpensive digital frames dedicated to a single type of content—examples might include a frame that just shows celebrity news from People magazine or news and scores for the Boston Red Sox.

The other is a selection of 35,000 channels aggregating local information. For example, Phillips says, “You could have a Hopkinton, Massachusetts channel, where we’ve licensed content from local news sources, traffic, weather, relevant sports scores, stock quotes for companies, lottery numbers, a Twitter feed from your state representative—everything to do with Hopkinton. So you can imagine watching the Today show at seven in the morning and as a picture-in-picture experience you’re also getting your local town’s feed.”

Wade Roush is Xconomy’s chief correspondent. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at (617) 252-7323, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wroush.

Newswire Today

NewswireToday – /newswire/ – Exton, PA, United States, 06/12/2009 -Scala, the leading provider of end-to-end solutions for the digital signage and advertising management industries, and some of its technology partners will exhibit Scala 5 Release 5 software and compatible hardware that allows end users to power digital signage networks at virtually any price point (Booth 2354).

Scala’s latest innovations for cost-effective video appliances (MPEG players) will be displayed by IAdea Corporation. IAdea has worked closely with Scala to develop firmware that allows Scala Content Manager and Ad Manager platforms to connect with compatible video appliances, including ViewSonic’s RISC-based media player. These appliances reduce the total cost of ownership of hardware and software per player.

FrameMedia Inc. will present its low-cost and easy-to-use digital signage based on wireless photo frame technology. Small to medium-sized companies can now take advantage of digital display technologies without high service and equipment costs. Through FrameMedia’s new service SignChannel, Scala 5 Release 5 provides template-driven digital signage content and messages that can be automatically delivered to select WiFi-enabled digital photo frames, including devices manufactured by Kodak, Samsung, D-Link, ViewSonic.

Equus Computer Systems Inc. will also exhibit its commercial-grade hardware solutions in Scala’s booth. Together, Scala and Equus Computer Systems support end users seeking to use built-to-order hardware to meet their digital signage needs.

MediaVue will showcase its fanless and solid-state PCs designed to provide a low total cost of ownership to digital signage end users. Built with specialized, industrial-grade storage solutions and specified to operate at cooler operation levels, its SureVue2A digital signage player is able to withstand the most demanding digital signage applications and avoid downtime.

For more information about Scala or its technology partners, or to schedule a booth interview at InfoComm, please contact Lorena Crowley.

About IAdea Corporation
Founded in 2000, IAdea (IAdea.com) is dedicated to the development of leading-edge, industrial-grade digital signage systems. IAdea’s media players feature the XML-based W3C SMIL scripting interface allowing system integrators to quickly customize functionality tailored to project-specific requirements. IAdea is an active member of the Digital Standards Committee of POPAI, the industry’s organization to promote open, standards-based digital signage systems.

About FrameMedia Inc.
FrameMedia (framemedia.com) is the leading platform provider for content delivery to wireless digital picture frames and connected gadgets. Its flagship product, FrameChannel, can be branded and tightly integrated to work with any WiFi- or Internet-enabled photo frame, media player or connected gadget, transforming these devices into dynamic information appliances.

About Equus Computer Systems Inc. Corporation
Equus Computer Systems Inc. (equuscs.com) is a 100% employee-owned company and has over 200 employees. It is one of America’s largest manufacturers of build-to-order desktops, notebooks, servers and workstations. Recognized as a top OEM of industry-leading vendors such as Microsoft® and Intel® and named by Computer Reseller News as one of the top North American systems builders, Equus has delivered more than two million custom computer systems to business, education and government customers.

About MediaVue Systems
MediaVue Systems (Hingham, Mass.) designs and builds fanless, high-performance PCs for digital signage and other demanding applications. Products are designed to operate continuously under heavy load in severe-duty environments. (mediavuesystems.com)

About Scala
Driving more than 300,000 screens worldwide, Scala (scala.com) is a leading global provider of digital signage and advertising management solutions. Scala is the world’s first connected signage company, offering the leading platform for content creation, management and distribution in digital signage networks and the first unified platform for advertising management of both traditional and digital signage networks. The company’s digital signage customers include Rabobank, IKEA, Burger King, T-Mobile, Virgin MegaStore, Warner Brothers, The Life Channel, Rikstoto, Repsol, NorgesGruppen and thousands more. Advertising management customers include CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel Outdoor and Magic Media, among others. Scala is headquartered near Philadelphia, USA, and has subsidiaries in Canada, the Netherlands, France, Norway and Japan, as well as more than 450 partners in more than 60 countries.

There are few aspects of the electronics world that I can honestly praise, that do not include FrameMedia in some way. RMI and FrameMedia have been working together for over a year, . . . to enable advanced FrameChannel use cases in wireless digital photo frames and digital signage applications.

Here is the press release:

At The NAB Show™, RMI Corporation, a leading provider of high-performance processors for communication and media-rich applications, today announced the availability of its Home Media Player® Application Development Kit (ADK) challenging the television and the PC for multimedia consumption in the home. The ADK is an open development system and includes a complete software Board Support Package (BSP) for customers and original design manufacturers (ODMs) targeting media-based applications such as wireless Digital Photo Frames (DPFs), Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), Digital Signage, Information Dashboards and other home networking and consumer devices.

The comprehensive RMI® Alchemy-based™ ADK development environment is complemented by ODM partners and applications partners such as FrameMedia, the leader in content and tools for wireless digital picture frames, and CoreCodec, a leading provider of digital media technology. With these technologies included, the HMP ADK provides developers a powerful environment for creating advanced applications quickly.

“RMI is truly changing the way silicon providers work with the development community,” stated Mike Wodopian, vice president and general manager, RMI. “This ADK is the first step in changing the paradigm in the wireless DPF and MID markets. As the open development environment is cultivated, more and more applications and features will be enabled, allowing OEMs to quickly and thoroughly differentiate their solutions.”

Comprehensive Application Development Kit

RMI’s Home Media Player Application Development Kit is the ideal development platform for connected, media-centric devices. The hardware includes a 10.4” high resolution (1024×768) LCD, 2GB of NAND flash, 256MB of DDR2 RAM, Wi-Fi connectivity (through partnership with Atheros®), two USB ports, Ethernet and serial ports, stereo speakers, IR receiver, and a 5-in-1 card reader.

The ADK utilizes the Linux OpenEmbedded environment to create a Board Support Package based on Linux 2.6. It includes a media stack and player from CoreCodec for D1 resolution video playback (MPEG-1/2/4, VC1/WMV, H.264, DivX, XviD), hardware-accelerated DirectFB, GTK+ middleware, a complete toolchain, filesystem, and an example application.

Broad Ecosystem of Partners

RMI’s Partner Alliance has assembled a broad ecosystem of partnerships including ODMs as well as Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with a range of capabilities and solutions well suited for the HMP and related consumer media markets.

CoreCodec and RMI have partnered to bring the world’s most powerful embedded media player technologies, CorePlayer and CoreUI to the HMP ADK platform. These technologies are included with the platform, allowing third-party developers to add audio, video, and picture support into their applications quickly and efficiently.

“CoreCodec is excited to have our technology included in this offering,” said Dan Marlin, CEO of CoreCodec, Inc. “This ADK raises the bar for digital photo frame and portable media player device capabilities, while significantly reducing OEM time to market.”

FrameMedia has also begun development on the HMP ADK, creating an advanced multi-stream RSS reader with video and audio capabilities for ODMs and OEMs to quickly leverage to enable advanced FrameChannel use cases in wireless digital photo frames and digital signage applications.

“The market RMI is addressing is exciting and we think that our development is a great fit for what users are trying to do,” said Jon Finegold, Co-founder of Frame Media. “We set out working with RMI over a year ago and the advancements that we have seen are unmatched. We look forward to extending this relationship and driving this market together.”

The ADK is immediately available directly from RMI or through its distribution channels for $499.

About Frame Media Inc.

Frame Media is the leading platform provider for content delivery to wireless digital picture frames and connected gadgets. Its flagship product, FrameChannel, can be branded and tightly integrated to work with any Wi-Fi enabled photo frame or connected gadget, transforming these devices into dynamic information appliances. With FrameChannel, a frame owner can program a unique stream of content that is updated dynamically, marrying their own photos with fresh content from a library of hundreds of channels including news, sports, weather, traffic, stock quotes, horoscopes and imagery from leading photographic collections. For more information please visit www.framemedia.com. Frame Media can be reached at info@framemedia.com or 718-235-3006.

About CoreCodec

CoreCodec, Inc. (www.corecodec.com) is the leading provider of mobile and embedded media player technologies for general-purpose computing devices. With over 70 million users worldwide, and 1100 supported devices on 8 operating systems, CoreCodec players and technologies power every class of device. From cellular phones to televisions, PDAs to in-car GPS, CoreCodec is at the center of the digital ecosystem.

About RMI

RMI Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company providing High-Performance Super System-on-a-Chip (SuperSoC™) Processor solutions for the Infrastructure, Enterprise, and Consumer Media markets. Applications include Wireless, Networking Security, Thin Clients, and Connected Multi-Media. RMI offers a broad platform of advanced MIPS-compatible processor solutions with both 32/64-bit architectures supporting frequencies from 300MHz to 1.3GHz. RMI is headquartered in Cupertino, CA with branch and subsidiary operations in Texas, United Kingdom, France, India, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. More information about RMI can be found on the company’s website at http://www.RMICorp.com.

© Copyright 2009 RMI Corporation. All rights reserved. RMI, the RMI logo, HMP, Alchemy-based, Alchemy, RMI Alchemy, Au1250, Home Media Player, HMP Processor, Home Media Processor, SuperSoC, and the other trademarks named on the RMI website are trademarks of RMI Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Written by TechShowWIRE.com · Filed Under Las Vegas

(M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) — Stand C45, Screenmedia Expo Europe, 7-8th April 09, National Hall, Olympia, London, UK — Today at Screenmedia Expo Europe, Europe’s biggest digital signage and DOOH media event, Roku announced the availability of Frame Media’s SignChannel content service with its networked high-definition BrightSign digital signage solutions. The newly available combination of BrightSign digital signage control solutions with SignChannel’s content service deliver flexible digital messaging capabilities with streaming content such as news, weather and more.

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“We are thrilled to be working with Roku and the BrightSign team,” commented Alan Phillips, Frame Media’s CEO. Mr. Phillips commented further, “the feature-rich BrightSign HD players coupled with SignChannel content service delivers a complete, ready to implement digital signage solution. Users simply select relevant content channels to playback over the networked BrightSign unit and complement it with their own messaging content to reach their audience in a meaningful way.”

According to Anthony Wood, CEO and founder of Roku, “SignChannel provides Roku with an even stronger value proposition for our users who are seeking cost effective digital signage content.”  Mr. Wood also said, “By pairing a ready-made content solution with BrightSign networked digital sign controllers, we’re able to provide users a way to easily implement an affordable, rich media display without the complications of a PC-based solution.”

Streaming Content Resource for Meaningful Digital Signage, SignChannel is a low cost content service that allows a business to display timely messages, products, and services at any Internet-enabled location around the world. The SignChannel user can take advantage of Frame Media’s vast array of timely up-to-the-minute content including weather, news, traffic, finance, and RSS feeds, as well as thousands of other available Internet sources. A user can also develop custom content using simple templates and other standard business software tools. SignChannel is available world-wide in four major languages with content from virtually every country. Users can manage their content for any and all globally located displays from any other Internet location. SignChannel is Frame Media’s commercial version of FrameChannel, its Internet platform for the selection and delivery of personalised content to wireless digital photo frames.

The BrightSign HD2000, HD1010 and HD210 are fully integrated; high-definition digital sign controllers that offer plug-and-play networking to streamline content management for robust, high-impact digital sign and kiosk applications. When combined with SignChannel content service these units allow the user to create powerful and affordable digital signage across a wide range of display platforms, from 22 to over 60 inches. Roku is demonstrating its BrightSign networking solution with SignChannel in Stand C45 at Screen Media Expo Europe in London’s Olympia National Hall, April 7-8th.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

About Roku: Roku develops products and software for digital media delivery including digital signage in Saratoga, CA. BrightSign solid-state digital sign controllers set new standards for both individual and networked digital signage applications with its superior HD video quality, reliability, price, ease of use and interactivity.

Online information of BrightSign units is available at www.brightsign.biz.

For sales inquiries, please contact sales@brightsign.biz or +44.
For information about our BrightSign partner program, please visit www.brightsign.biz/partners.php.

About Frame Media, Inc.

Frame Media is the leader in content and tools for wireless digital picture frames and connected devices. Both its flagship product, FrameChannel and its new commercial product, SignChannel, can be branded and customized to work with any Wi-Fi enabled photo frame or connected device, transforming them into dynamic information appliances. With SignChannel or FrameChannel, a frame owner can program a unique stream of content that is updated dynamically. The owner can couple their own photos or product/service information with advertising and fresh content from a library of hundreds of channels including news, sports, weather, traffic, stock quotes, horoscopes and imagery from leading photographic collections. The owner selects the channels they are interested in, sets the rules for each channel and the frame updates continually with entertaining and informative content fed directly to their wireless or wired Internet connected media player or wireless picture frame. For more information please visit www.framemedia.com.

CONTACT: Emily Logan, Frame Media Inc.

Tel: +1 781 235 3006 ext: 105Peter van der Sluijs, Neesham Public RelationsTel: +44 (0)1296 628180e-mail: peterv@neesham.co.ukM2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.

For more information please visit www.framemedia.com or visit any of the Frame Media blogs www.wirelesspictureframe.com, www.informationappliance.com and www.wirelessdigitalsigns.com.