Digital Signage

INTRALOT and Nebraska Lottery Launch Digital Signage Pilot Project

Posted on Sep 2, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

According to Digital Signage Expo.net, the Nebraska Lottery and its on-line network provider, INTRALOT, are working with display provider Blast Panel on a digital signage pilot project that will change the way advertisers and retailers reach consumers.

The pilot involves a new digital signage program for qualifying lottery retailers. INTRALOT service technicians have recently installed 32-inch high-definition, LCD screens (referred to as Blast Panels) at select locations in Omaha and Lincoln to determine how much this new technology can help the retailers increase sales.

Headquartered in Athens, Greece, INTRALOT is a supplier of integrated gaming and transaction processing systems, innovative game content and sports betting management to state-licensed gaming organizations worldwide.

Digital Signage-oriented Tradeshows Make Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50

Posted on Aug 12, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

According to editor Bill Yackey of Digital Signage Today.com, . . . digital signage-oriented tradeshows have made the list of Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50.

JD Events and Exponation both announced today that their digital signage-oriented tradeshows have made the list of Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50, which recognizes the 50 fastest-growing trade and consumer shows in North America based on total net square footage and percentage growth between 2006 and 2008.

JD Events operates KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show, and Exponation operates Digital Signage Expo. Both companies will be honored on Nov. 15 at an awards ceremony in Houston, Texas.

“To be recognized by a publication that is so well-regarded by our peers and professionals in this industry is truly an honor,’ said Joel Davis, CEO of JD Events, the organization behind KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show. “We are thrilled to be included as one of Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50 shows and now with our fourth award honoring the shows, we are excited to join an extremely elite group of less than 20 events that have received this award four or more times.”

“We are honored to have again been selected as one of Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50 shows,” said Angelo Varrone, CEO of Exponation, LLC, which produces Digital Signage Expo. “We won this award in 2007, which was the first year we were eligible. We are thrilled that our show has joined this select group of winning events for the second time in three years.”

Digital Signage Expo, which includes the Interactive Technology Expo, the Out-of-Home Network Show, The Digital Content Show, and The Mobile Marketing Show, will be at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas to run February 23-25, 2010. KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show is scheduled for November 10-11, 2009, in New York City.

AlivePromo Adds Options for Digital Building Directories and Menu Boards to GSA Schedule

Posted on Jun 5, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Expo.net tells us that AlivePromo has more product options:

Digital signage provider AlivePromo announced that it has made more product options available to its digital building directory and menu board solutions listed on its GSA Schedule. The building directories and menu boards, which fall under projects such as those in Public Buildings Service, can be purchased with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through AlivePromo’s GSA contract, GS07F5401R.

According to the Minneapolis company, its digital building directories have been well received by government and military building managers, often as a way to raise the profile of a building while saving labor-related updating costs. Directory features include LCD touch screen navigation, interactive building maps with blinking “you are here” buttons, upcoming events and picture slideshow modules, and the capability to add video, television, news tickers, building messages and other media.

Recent AlivePromo digital signage government installations include a multiple-facility building directory network for Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. The directory includes a touch navigated personnel list with building maps and wayfinding, a calendar showing upcoming events on the base, a picture slideshow module of recent events and conferences, and a picture-in-picture television section.

To date, AlivePromo has implemented menu board signage at Fort Knox, Fort Bragg, Andrews AFB, Nellis AFB, Fort Hamilton, Fort McCoy and other facilities.

CBS Outdoor Launches wannaBILLBOARD.com

Posted on Mar 27, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From DigitalSignageExpo.com comes word that CBS Outdoor has launched its new web-based wannaBILLBOARD.com, a service that lets local advertisers choose their own outdoor ad creative for static or digital signage from a catalog of customizable designs.

Here is the Digital Signage Expo article in its entirety:

CBS Outdoor has announced the launch of wannaBILLBOARD.com, a web-based service that lets local advertisers choose their own outdoor ad creative from a catalog of customizable, ad-agency quality designs to display on static billboards or dynamic digital signage in choice locations.

The web-based program offers clients more than 50 local categories to start from, letting them choose industry-tested templates to start the design process. Clients can then add in their business name, address and contact information, as well as a text code to action, in just a matter of minutes, the company said.

According to the company, the new program is its latest offering designed to eliminate the lack of creative as a barrier to entry, which has prevented many smaller advertisers from taking advantage of out-of-home media. WannaBILLBOARD.com will allow both large and small companies to access the kind of professional ad-agency quality designs they could not have afforded before.

The process begins with clients selecting designs from CBS Outdoor’s library of creative, which includes many categories of businesses and different style designs. The Web site allows advertisers to customize the ad space, including uploading their own logos into specified areas of the creative. They also can choose what type of media they want from a menu of different options, including billboards, bus ads, kiosks and bus shelters, among others. Electronic billboards and LCD urban panels are among the digital signage choices.

Once the design process is complete, clients can search and then choose their preferred locations, using a map element to the site that allows users to zoom in on specific areas to see the billboard in its natural surroundings. Finally, wannaBILLBOARD.com lets the client request specific space for their signage from CBS Outdoor’s vast portfolio of outdoor media, one of the largest collections in North America.

“wannaBILLBOARD.com gives local advertisers entree into a medium they might not have considered before,” said Jodi Senese, executive vice president, marketing, of New York-based CBS Outdoor. “We are offering a portfolio of the very best designs by CBS Outdoor artists, and it’s a collection that will consistently expand in choices and categories. This is a great way for local advertisers to begin the out-of-home media experience, with a hands-on-element few other advertising media can offer.”

The company said it plans to grow wannaBILLBOARD.com beyond its current stage with more enhanced features and greater customizability for clients. CBS Outdoor has begun promoting the site through radio and its nation-wide network of billboards and transit ads.

Westinghouse Introduces New Digital Signage Products

Posted on Mar 11, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

neonSource, neonNow, and neonPlayer digital signage products were all introduced at last month’s Digital Signage Expo in Vegas.  Westinghouse Digital’s latest signage innovations were created specifically for the hospitality, education, food service, retail, and point-of-sale industries.

According to John Araki, vice president and general manager, Commercial Business Unit, at Westinghouse Digital, “Our new solutions are very easy and intuitive to use and do not require a dedicated IT person for execution.”

Click here to read details about Westinghouse Digital’s neonNow, neonPlayer, and neon Source.

Is Digital Signage Right For Your Business?

Posted on Mar 4, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

The following article is by  Oleg Potemkin, Founder of Elite Digital Signs LLC, a digital signage solutions company from Honolulu, Hawaii.

The latest, and possibly the most effective new advertising and marketing tool since the Internet, is the new medium of digital signage. Also known as electronic signage, this dynamic media, with its Flash technology, massive and not-so-massive display screens, its sharply focused LCD ad player screens, its motion, sound, and color is clearly the future in mass marketing. Narrowcasting networks, LCD-dominated advertising kiosks, electronic billboards, all offer a solution to your point-of-purchase advertising needs, among many other advantages.

With this emerging new marketing medium, of course, come emerging difficulties, including cost issues, return-on-investment (ROI) questions, the adaptability of the technology to various methods of programming, an as-yet-unproven record of success within the advertising and marketing industry, and a plain lack of understanding of the technology and systems involved. This lack of understanding encompasses not only the hardware and software, but installation and programming parameters, as well. Unfortunately, this lack of understanding was often expressed by venders of digital signage technology, as well as users. A lack of interoperability, as well as what is known as a “ complex value chain”, also complicates, sometimes even compromises, the effectiveness of this innovative technology.

Clearly, digital signage, though beyond its initial teething stage, is still in the midst of its inevitable growing pains. Considering the complex technological and broadcasting standards involved with in-store, narrowcasting networks that are designed to provide out-of-home programming, such problems are not surprising. Fortunately, neither are they unsolvable.

Studies, by Arbitron, among others, show that digital signage is an effective tool in prompting customer appreciation, retention, and recall of the information they see when presented as dynamically, and as vividly as it is via electronic signage. Also, smaller scale investment of, for example, one LCD screen in a particular location would cost only some $3,000-$5,000 dollars. The ROI for such an installation would be returned almost immediately.

The development of more open and compatible standards for digital signage is being actively pursued by industry groups like the Point-Of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI), and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA). Each of these organizations are working feverishly to relax and ease technical standards in order to facilitate interoperability of the equipment and technology of various different venders.

New enterprises are constantly emerging to confront and to solve all the various technical, mechanical, and operating issues common to any new system.   System venders, digital signage service providers (DSSP), and advertising service providers all have lately come into being to help businesses and institutions take full advantage of the marketing potential of digital signage.

Conferences and trade shows are being held more and more frequently, and, in concert with increasingly prevalent Internet-based information, all are instrumental in helping both users and venders better understand and keep abreast of this constantly-evolving digital marketing technology.

Source

Digital Signage Expo: Buzzword Is “Small to Medium Businesses”

Posted on Feb 27, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

The Digital Signage Expo started yesterday, and according to Digital Signage Today.com, , “Economy makes the big players take the low–cost route.”

The article, edited by Bill Yackey, follows:

LAS VEGAS — The buzzphrase of the first day of Digital Signage Expo seemed to be “small-to-medium businesses,” or customers that have only a small number of screens or deployments. There has always been a segment of the digital signage industry focused on this long-tail market, but the economy has no doubt lead even the big players in the digital signage industry to reconsider their target customers.

That was highly evident when Scala issued a press release this morning, announcing six new initiatives to “lower the barrier to entry to digital signage.” Most notable of the six is a partnership with FASTSIGNS, a traditional signage provider that announced in January that it is offering a packaged digital signage solution using NEC hardware and Scala software. FASTSIGNS CEO Catherine Monson said that in the six weeks since the product announcement, the company has received $2 million in quotes for the system.

Scala’s other initiatives consists of:

• A partnership with Frame Media to launch SignChannel, a new low-cost, self-service, easy to use, entry-level digital signage service based on wireless photo frame technology.

• Scala as a Service, a hosted version of Scala Content Manager that provides an online digital signage network for a monthly fee.

• The “Ultra Low Cost PC” (ULCPC), at approximately half the cost of traditional PCs.

• Support for several all-in-one devices that include a “PC built into the Screen” form factor.

• An initiative to support cost-effective video appliances (aka “MPEG Players”) reducing the total cost of ownership of both the hardware and software per Player.

Although NEC Display Solutions was highlighting its impressive 82-inch LCD and its ultra-thin bezel MultiSync X461UN for video walls, Mike Zmuda, director of business development, made a point to emphasize the release of NEC’s MultiSync 15 Series and the 46-inch LCD4615, designed for entry-level digital signage applications.

“You have to give up the thin bezel for the 15-series, and there is less firmware, but the 15-series easily allows the addition of touch overlays and protective panels at a cheap price,” Zmuda said.

In the sense that time is money, Omnivex’s next release of its Moxie software (due March 1) is engineered to save users time scheduling content using a system similar to iTunes’ Genius, where songs are given attributes and tags and play when those attributes are selected. Here digital signage content is given meta-tags and assigned to play based on the user selecting relevant tags.

Black Box Network Services has had the SMB customer in its mind all along, offering a complete digital signage solution and emphasizing its 24/7 tech support specific to digital signage. Although the company has more than 180,000 SKUs in its catalog, it showed the iCompel, a player designed for small deployments which comes with software already installed in the player. Brian Kutchma, director of marketing, also said that although the software is licensed, customers aren’t charged for future upgrades.

Check back to Digital Signage Today all this week for constant coverage of Digital Signage Expo. For live updates from the show floor, follow us on Twitter.

TiroMedia Introduces New HD Network Player

Posted on Feb 20, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

TiroMedia is pleased to announce the introduction of a new HD Network Player: The TMP N4. The new player player features an HDMI interface as well VGA. It supports resolutions up to 1080p. It has built-in wireless (802.11b/g) in addition to wired Ethernet. This allows for great flexibility in deployment.

At 6.8″ x 4″, the TMP N4 is one of the smallest HD digital signage players available on the market. The player uses very little power compared to a a PC. This results in considerable savings in energy costs, especially in environments requiring 24/7 operation.

Like all players available from TiroMedia, the TMP N4 is 100% solid-state and has no moving parts. All content is stored on a local CF card. The new player is fully compatible with TiroMedia’s web-based CMS. The CMS is not only compatible with the TMP N4 but it also compatible with all network players offered by TIroMedia, such as the TMP N2.

The CMS is available free of charge with the purchase of a network player.

Priced at $799.99, the TMP N4 competitively priced and offers customers to deploy high definition digital signage networks at reasonable costs.

This article is from NewsWireToday.com.

Digital Signage Expo Will Showcase New Products!

Posted on Jan 16, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From INewsWire comes a preview of the newest, most cutting-edge technology for digital signage and all kinds of interactive technologies!  The Digital Signage Expo will be in Las Vegas at the Convention Center, from February 24-26.  If you want to attend, or wish to exhibit, please contact Chris Gibbs at 770-649-0300 ext. 17, or visit the Digital Signage website, where you will find even more information!

Here is a partial list of what you can expect to see in the way of new digital signage/interactive technology at this year’s Digital Signage Expo:

•    BroadSign’s Creator, a web-based content creation tool that allows simple and intuitive template-based dynamic messaging.
•   Adder Corporation’s new Adderlink X50 Extender allows greater user flexibility among others: a system administrator who works on a PC that is located in a secure or isolated area at the site, or the ability to make presentations in a room where it is not feasible to have a computer.
•    AdFlow Networks’ Media Player Engine, an interactive selling tool that encourages impulse buying, may be updated in real-time, is easy to use and requires no IT resources or large up-front investment.
•    Allure Global’s DigiBox allows display of fully animated digital movie posters with movie times and ratings in full color.
•    DT Research’s DS1700, 17-inch all-in-one-signage system which provides an integrated computing display in one slim, mountable package, ideal for digital signage and kiosk applications.
•    NEC’s new MultiSync 15 Series with new mechanical design, comprehensive output panels and robust functionality.
•    Omnivex’s Moxie offers digital signage design and management tools, through a browser interface.
•    Samsung’s Matrix Interlocking Display 2 allows sturdy, stable video walls up to four displays high, by an unlimited number of displays wide.
•    Thomson’s PRN’s new interactive product Display TV merchandising solution.
•    Tightrope Media Systems’ new Carousel 5.2.0 offers Carousel Touch, allowing interactive bulletins through touch screen panels.

According to the President of ExpoNation, LLC, and producer of Digital Signage Expo Chris Gibbs:  “The Digital Signage, Interactive Technologies and Out-of-Home Network Industry is still growing.  As of this date, we have a record high number of exhibitors and more registered attendees for 2009 than we had for the 2008 show.  Those statistics suggest that organizations are focused on the significant benefits and opportunities that our industry’s technology and solutions offer.”

The Expo will feature, among many other things, a full day conference called “Revolutionizing Interactive Marketing in Public Spaces with Mobile and Gestural Digital Signage.”

The International Pavilion will host exhibitors from around the world, and the New Product Pavilion will showcase what’s brand new in the world of digital signage!  And there’s more, much MUCH more!

The full press release for the Digital Signage Expo may be read here.