The iAd Network: Personal Digital Signage
By Gary Kayye, CTS We are about to witness the largest deployment of digital signage in history.
That's right – the largest deployment of digital signage technology, ever.
How big?
Well, well over 100 million (yes, million) people (translation: sets of eyeballs) will instantly be part of the world's largest digital signage network tomorrow (July 1st) when Apple launches iAd on the iPhone, iPod Touch and, one assumes, the iPad.
Apple has laid out its plan with iAd and it's pretty simple – advertisers can embed "interactive" ads inside Apps (I also assumes that eventually – although this hasn't been addressed directly by Apple, yet – ads could be embedded into other services that Apple includes on all iPhones (e.g., Mail, Text Messaging/MMS, Safari). However, these aren't just banner ads, the ads are interactive such that you can run the ad totally inside the App itself and when you finish the ad, go back to where you were in the App. May not seem like a big deal, but one of the biggest complaints of banner ads is that they take you somewhere on a website that you may not want to go – thus, many people never click on them. Through iAd, Apple can track everything from how many times the ad was viewed, how long the user stayed on the ad, whether or not a purchase was made from inside the App (yes, you'll be able to purchase in an ad WHILE staying in the App that contained the App the entire time).
So, over 100 million potential targets for ads. And, using Apple's stat that the average person uses Apps 30 minutes per day, that translates to more than 1 billion potential impressions a day. Since we’re in the DS market are all in this to grab eyeballs and help advertisers get their messages heard through the clutter, we should see the value in this network – and it's only getting bigger (heck, Apple's not even the biggest provider of SmartPhones, yet).
This is the beginning of the personal digital signage network.
This may not seem like a big deal to you reading this today, but bookmark this issue or log this date in your calendar to read this again two years from today and you'll see the impact of this was astonishing. And, the world's first personal digital signage network will look a lot different in 2012 – here's why:
In the near future, the iAd Network could literally give marketers the ability to send ads in all sorts of ways (text messages, embedded into Apps, via GPS-location-based tracking and, even actually, e-mail) and, believe it or not, users will LOVE it.
OK, OK, I can hear the naysayers out there now – what about "personal freedom" and "privacy"?
Well, in this case, Apple's got something we all wish we had – a set of evangelical users (iPhone lovers) out there who'll gladly give up personal freedom to save a buck and try this out.
Why? Well, here's an example of how it will work – you tell me what you think…
So, you're at your local mall and you're walking by Starbucks and just then, your iPhone in your pocket starts to vibrate. You pull it out and, voila, you've got a text message from Caribou Coffee offering you a $2 off coupon to skip on by Starbucks and head over to them for a pick-me-up beverage. Or, on a larger scale, imagine you're at the local BMW dealership and you get an iAd message from the local Lexus dealer that says he'll give you two round-trip tickets to Disney World if you'll come test drive a Lexus before buying that BMW. This is targeted advertising at its finest.
How's this all work?
Well, for years (for three years to be exact – the time Apple's had the iPhone in the hands of their clients), Apple and AT&T have been building the ultimate database about you: where you live, how many phone calls you make, who you call, when you call them, where you browse to on the Internet, where you shop (remember, this phone's got a GPS inside of it), where you stop for coffee every morning, etc, etc, etc. Until now, there's nothing they could really do with that information other than, well, just store it.
But, in the future, they can leverage it – and you'll let them! Why? Well, free stuff, that's why!
We clip coupons, we compare gas prices as we come to a corner with three stations, we carefully book flights using the cheapest routes in most cases, we've moved to buying many items online just to save the tax or shipping costs – so, why don't you think iPhone users (and buyers) would allow iAds to invade their iPhones when, in this case, it's targeted, it's timely and it's PERSONAL?
We will, just watch.
And, the best part about it? As I said earlier, it's going to be the largest deployment is Digital Signage in history (something we will all appreciate when we see it).
Back to Top AMX's New Digital Signage Solution Earlier this month at InfoComm, AMX debuted a LINUX-based digital signage player called the IS-SPX-1000 that’s small enough to mount anywhere (1”x6”x3”). It manages originally created content, RSS feeds, all sorts of graphics file formats, MPEG or H.264 video and outputs it all on either VGA or HDMI ports.
Here’s a rAVe NOW Video we shot on it at InfoComm 2010: https://www.ravepubs.com/index.php?option=com_ravevideo&view=ravevideo&ravevideo_id=1077
If you want all the specs, go here: http://www.amx.com/products/IS-SPX-1000.asp Back to Top rAVe Gets Insider View of Christie MicroTiles – From the Inventor! We were given an hour with Bob Rushby, CTO of Christie Digital and inventor of the MicroTiles, at InfoComm 2010. If you’ve ever wondered how they worked, you should watch these videos in order: Back to Top Sony Showcases Rollable, Flexible Screen At the Society for Information Display International Symposium in Seattle last month, Sony's R&D labs showed a rollable organic screen, tiny enough for cell phone or movie display. You can roll it up and slip it into your pocket.
The display, made up of organic thin-film transistors, is about 4" wide and functional when flat or rolled-up. This Sony screen offers a resolution of 432×240 pixels, about what other mobile phone screens do today.
This moves display tech closer to the exploding world of mobile gadgets. We can already see prototypes of pcs/gadgets that can wrap around your wrist or reside in your clothing. But the power of flexible screens goes far beyond novelty and it seems inevitable that displays must go as mobile as the rest of technology.
'Nuff said. Let's watch the video and see if the quality is half as good as Sony says: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201005/10-070E/index.html Back to Top DT Research Announces Two New DS Players Last week, DT Research released two new digital signage players, the MS800 and MS400 – both part of their WebDT Signage System line – and capable of powering content on up to 8 and 4 screens, respectively. In addition, both offer content blending, or tiling, across screens and 1080p over up to eight screens and multi-zone management for up to 16 zones – ultimately providing a complete resolution of 3840×2160.
To learn more, go here: http://signage.dtri.com/web/index.html Back to Top Scala Launches Low-End "Do-It-Yourself" DS Software At InfoComm, Scala announced SignChannel, an offshoot of the Thinking Screen Media acquisition, a new entry-level signage software suite that is completely web-based, self-programmable and designable and is compatible with just about any digital signage media player. Scala Certified Partners can resell a discounted, prepaid annual subscription at an attractive price point. This entry-level option provides future up-sell opportunities for when the customer would like to do more. The service is expected to be available by the end of Q2.
To learn more, go here: http://www.signchannel.com/ Back to Top rAVe NOW Shoots More than 470 Videos at InfoComm 2010 Back to Top Zacky's NYC As technology continues to evolve, many retail store owners are finding the need to update their space to increase customer appeal and initiate more interaction with them. Zacky's, an independently-owned retail clothing store in downtown Manhattan, opened in 1994 and after almost 15 years, needed a technology makeover. Selling everything from shoes to jeans, Zacky's is a trendy urban store that accommodates people of all ages and nationalities, specifically catering to its numerous tourist customers. Modernizing the store to reflect a more progressive atmosphere and connect more with customers did not come without its challenges, though.
The Goal
When owner Joseph Joseph began to brainstorm an update for his store, he had a few guidelines in mind to keep the project on track. First, he wanted to take advantage of the spacious two-floor mezzanine of glass windows to intrigue potential customers walking by on the busy streets of Manhattan. Additionally, Joseph wanted to gain interaction with customers browsing the store. Creating a unique installation that would both entertain and educate shoppers was the ultimate goal while simultaneously creating a “wow factor.”
After determining that dynamic digital signage was the route to take in livening up the store, Joseph began planning the construction, using customers as the key focus. He worked with an architect to design the layout, and in their discussions, formulated an arrangement in which the new displays could be controlled as either individual units or as a group. This function would provide Joseph with the flexibility he needed to manage content appropriately, such as categorizing store departments or synchronizing displays store-wide for sales, branding and promotions.
How'd They Do It?
Zacky's interior utilizes more than 70 NEC displays throughout its two-floor space in addition to a video wall that uses 54 40” displays (in a 3×18 configuration) in the front window. This head-turning wall invites customers into Zacky's from the street with smooth, waterfall-like content. Once inside, shoppers are engaged by music videos displayed on 22” NEC AccuSync LCD224WXM-BK monitors, which are mounted back-to-back and angled down from the ceiling at 45° for easy viewing. The front window video wall and various displays along the store's walls and checkout area are comprised of 46” NEC MultiSync LCD4620 displays. These monitors allow customer interaction with dynamic store content, such as vendor promotions, product information and daily sales. The displays also flash vendor content and advertisements, while categorizing the store's copious inventory.
The content can be quickly customized and updated, making it easy to keep customers educated on vital store information while simultaneously captivating their attention. Additionally, touchscreen displays by the checkout area enable Zacky's to thank customers after their purchase by having their country flag displayed alongside the message of gratitude in their own native language. Zacky's also has the ability to take the customer's photo and display it on the video wall as they exit the store, adding a personalized touch to their experience. Such unique, and sometimes quirky, content embodies the fun spirit of Zacky's and gives the store an upbeat atmosphere. Back to Top So, that's rAVe DS [Digital Signage] for this month! Remember, we are here to HELP the AV market penetrate the DS market. Only 12 percent of the DS market is integrated by AV companies. The other 88 percent is IT-based. Now, there are AV publications and even an association that would like to draw those IT people in to AV (it would increase readers, right? – and more readers means they can charge more for ads). That is NOT what we are doing. rAVe DS is specifically designed to pull AV into the DS market and teach AV companies how to take business away from the currently dominated by IT market.
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read a 100% opinionated ePublication that's designed to help AV integrators. We not only report the news and new product stories of the digital signage industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that's why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).
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rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter rAVe ProAV Edition. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. rAVe ED [Education] launched in May 2008. rAVe DS [Digital Signage] was launched in January 2009.
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