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Volume 2, Issue 9 — September 29, 2010
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Why Location-Based Services are Important for Place-Based Screens
By Stephen Randall
Founder/CEO, LocaModa Location-based services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and Yelp are variations on a theme that encourages users to “check-in” to locations, announce their status and location to friends, collect points and/or badges for visits and even win recognition as the mayor of a venue for checking-in most frequently. As the market for these services matures, they will invariably evolve into marketing or loyalty programs and will become an engaging part of the media loop on place-based screens. Recently, The Boston Globe reported on the latest location-based service to turn the heads of media mavens: “Foursquare, the mobile phone software and accompanying website turn your daily peregrinations into a competition: every time you venture somewhere (your neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts, or the Boston Garden), you use the Foursquare app or mobile website to “check in,” getting credit for being there. The person who has checked in the most at a particular location becomes the mayor — at least until someone else shows up more often and steals the title.” (“The 21st century’s version of ‘Killroy was here,’” The Boston Globe, Scott Kirsner, 28. January 2010). Unless disabled by the user, Foursquare check-ins automatically send a message to the user’s “social graph” (the number of friends people have on social networks), and if the user so chooses, updates his Twitter feed as well. The average number of friends, followers or fans on social network sites such as Twitter is 126 (source: The Guardian, 29. June 2009). Facebook’s social graph is 130 (source: Facebook). The user experience is fun and engaging, and it’s obvious why some enterprising venues have started to reward customers who use these apps to announce their presence to their friends. The merits of displaying location-based services for locations should be apparent – they are a user-generated marketing tool for the venue. It is therefore ironic that location-based services are not designed for place-based screens at all, but for web and mobile screens. The Globe article went on to mention a local battle for mayorship of Toscanini’s, a well known café not far from MIT in Cambridge, MA. LocaModa’s HQ is five minutes away from Toscanini’s (Tosci’s to locals). As long-time fans of Tosci’s and friends of its larger-than-life owner Gus, we use the café as a lab to test new place-based social media applications. In November ’09, we started testing Foursquare on Tosci’s LCD screen, the first time Foursquare was used as a real time interactive DOOH application. The LocaModa Foursquare app (shown above) dynamically displays a picture of the mayor, the number of check-ins and user tips about the café. The screen also displays real time Twitter messages tagged “Toscanini” and “Tosci.” I have previously written about ensuring place-based screens have a range of miles, not feet (i.e., that they connect venues across channels to brand websites and social network fan pages, etc.). Location-based services are an excellent example of cross channel engagement and are therefore likely to be a mainstay of many place-based networks. Stephen Randall is founder and CEO of LocaModa, Inc., a place-based social media company. Reach him at srandall@locamoda.com. This article originally appeared on LocaModa's company blog here: http://theweboutside.com/digital-out-of-home/why-location-based-services-are-important-for-place-based-screens/ Back to Top |
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Where Digital Signage Software Is Going
By Dave Haynes
Editor, Sixteen:Nine I did a webinar the other day with Digital Signage Magazine and NEC. I was asked to yak about trends and an outlook for what NEC and some others call digital signage CMS systems. I still just call it digital signage software, but whatever…
The plan was to put this up on SlideShare, but I have discovered it doesn’t really take your notes as I thought it did. I like big graphic slides to talk to, instead of walls of text. So the Powerpoint on SlideShare with one or two word statements was kinda useless.
Instead, I did something like 20 slides so I will break it into two, as some people asked me to send them the Powerpoint. This gets it around more effectively. Nothing too rattling or kooky. Just my thoughts and observations. The narrative are the notes attached to the Powerpoint, and essentially what I blabbered on about.
Overview
There are at least 300, and perhaps as many as 400 digital signage content management systems out there, globally. At least two more came on last week. About 80 percent of what they offer matches up with what everyone else offers. - Competition is fierce.
- End users are overwhelmed.
- The sales cycle is very long.
- And the landscape is steadily changing.
Leader?
Many companies, somehow, make empty claims these days about being the global leader in this sector. There is no clear market leader yet, and probably won’t be for some time.
However, this is a war of attrition, and larger, better financed companies will survive and take more market share with time. Companies like NEC will be around because of their size, product diversity and history.
Lots of VC or personally funded start-ups will not.
Pricing
It’s heading south. It’s a simple supply versus demand thing.
With so many built offers out there, that can’t help but drive competition on price. There have been quasi-free offers for a few years, but this year we saw NEC Displays announce its hosted VUKUNET platform is now free… to anyone. It’s a general use platform for the small to medium business crowd, and what it has done, or certainly should, is make a lot of companies get focused.
There are other offers out there that are free… ish, or very low cost, as well.
On the flip side, there are companies that have managed to hold their pricing at where it’s been for a while. That’s because what they do is more specialized, or they offer levels of service and support that make the extra cost seem entirely reasonable.
Focus
Many companies are now getting far more focused on certain verticals, such as menu systems, wayfinding, hospitality, and retail. The days of having a general offer are fading.
Companies need to differentiate. If they don’t, they’re probably done.
When you can’t be picked out of the crowd, all you have to compete on is price, and that’s deadly.
Tunnel Vision
There is still a fair amount of tunnel vision out there — executives at companies who take a very narrow view of what their offer needs to be.
They blithely ignore other technologies that can do what they do… plus, plus, plus. Inside AND outside the sector.
Aspects of what they do are open. They may have limited APIs. But they are largely working in walled gardens, with closed development.
Open
The way forward for a lot of companies with digital signage software systems is removing the walls from their development and IT gardens, and both opening up and tapping into web services.
There are tremendous technologies and services to use that help create and manage content, more effectively plan and manage networks, and keep devices in the field operating, just to name a few.
There are piles and piles of web services companies that have capabilities that can plug in with just a little effort. Platforms that integrate these sorts of services and make them run off one login, one bill, one database will have a leg up on the others. Why build something that already exists and is used?
Hardware
We are seeing more and more tiny little non-PC boxes like the Spinetix unit from Switzerland. Iadea, Advantech, Noxel and others also have their own small form factor units that are based more on set-top box technology than PCs.
Now PC folks will argue, “Why pay as much or more for that when you can have a full x86 PC?”
Answer: reliability.
And frankly a lot of networks do not and should not be running multiple zones and Flash and all the other things that have full PCs groaning to keep up. And locking up.
Technologies such as SMIL and SVG that run on these units enable dynamic, low-overhead content that gets moved around efficiently and is all, in many cases, a network needs for programming.
Reliability
Companies like Intel and AMD have recognized the growth opportunity of this sector, and one of the ways they think they can play is through encouraging the use of tools like Intel’s Active Management Technology.
CMS systems have wildly varying levels of access and control over what’s happening with their devices in the field, and what often gets overlooked in the early stages of networks is the high cost of field servicing. Sophisticated remote management and monitoring tools take a lot of that cost out.
Five years ago, few people seem to be talking about device management. Now it seems, hardware and software will change that and start bringing up reliability and reducing operating costs.
Widgets
Media Centers and IP-TV capabilities are being built into little boxes (like Apple’s) and right into TVs (Sony and Google TV) and running apps and widgets and gadgets that could easily turn TVs and commercial monitors into what look like pretty typical digital signage network displays – with news and weather widgets overlaid on screens, targeted ads and so on.
But organizing all that into something meaningful is a big chore. Companies like SignageLive in the UK are already putting the pieces in places to make its services a Google Android app that could be activate just as others apps are activated on phones and iPads.
We also already see some software companies in include widgets as part of their built-in content offer, and if and when someone develops a true content marketplace, it will be possible to simply grab apps and widgets to build a program up.
Interactive
This is a British company called ScreenReach that specifically builds mobile apps that interactive with digital screens, for things like games and polls. Companies like Boston’s Locamoda and Aerva have also done mobile to screen interactive apps. More basic touchscreen apps are done by a lot of companies, but I’d argue it’s a bolt-on for many of those, and not at the core of the offer.
Integrated support for interactivity is growing increasingly fundamental to an offer. Touch is not going away now, nor are technologies such as enhanced bar codes. Networks need to be able to engage, react and measure, and CMS systems that stay current will align with this.
Yes, there are lots of circumstances when interactive will make no sense, but being the CMS provider that doesn’t do interactive is not a particularly strong point of differentiation.
Media RSS
Developed by Yahoo originally, these are text feeds … but juiced up with multimedia. This technology automates and significantly improves the presentation of content like news and weather. It also allows end-users how to create, publish and manage their own feeds for their purposes.
This slide shows ScreenFeed’s excellent use of MediaRSS. CNN is providing a feed for LG’s new SignNet service. SignageLive uses a feed from SkyTV in the UK. I believe the sector will see more of this.
Google
Will Google ever announce a pure-play digital signage product?
Probably not. In their world, digital signage is too small and unfocused.
But they probably don’t need to have a declared product to have a toolset that does much or all of the digital signage job. They have simplified online static and video ad production tools, and among a steadily building list of offers, a targeted TV Ads service and their own stripped-down OS and browser. They also own something called YouTube.
Mobile
I am in my early 50s and while I get much of the social thing, and use it, a lot of the location-based check-in stuff eludes me.
However, there are some things that have strong, obvious business cases and tie-ins to Digital Signage.
This woman is using an app called ShopKick to scan products in stores and build up loyalty points. This is one of endless location-based services out there and this one is particularly aimed at retailing.
A tiny handful of digital signage companies are working with mobile applications. Like ScreenScape with its FourSquare integration. Nanonation and Starmount Systems have apps integrations. Ignoring millions of smartphones and apps that make getting information easier would be a mistake, and the smart companies are figuring out how what they do ties in.
Social
We’re now thoroughly in a real-time world, and tools like Facebook and Twitter are how people communicate and distribute information. We’ve seen companies like Locamoda provide tools and integrate their capabilities to display Tweets and Flickr images. I have chatted extensively with a company in LA that has patented filtering technology CMS providers can integrate to automatically moderate user-generated content streams.
UGC streams understandably scare the pants off people and human moderation is costly. If it can be safely moderated through algorithms, that’s interesting stuff.
Adobe
Can you use Flash or not in digital signage apps without licensing?
Big gray area and has been for years. Adobe has promised an unambiguous position statement on this, but that was last year. I know a CTO for a CMS company that has had lengthy discussions with Adobe as recently as two weeks ago, and they are telling him Adobe’s Flash Web Player is not allowed in any digital signage application unless it has been licensed.
This applies to CMS companies (many) that run the Web Player that is used in a browser and the ActiveX version as well.
Wouldn’t it be swell if Adobe just laid it out there?
HTML5
So does that mean a lot of companies will cut over to HTML5, taking Apple’s point of view about Adobe and Flash? Well, maybe, but…
HTML5 as a standard has been around a while, but the authoring tools are limited and right now it is a geek tool. The creative community works in the Adobe Suite and loves Flash. One answer – create in Flash, output to MPEG4 video.
The attraction of HTML5 is, in part, the stability. Flash runs PCs hard, and leaks memory. HTML is at least thought to be easier, and requires no licenses. It also crosses browsers and Operating Systems, and nothing needs to be installed.
The Cloud
We will see a lot more integration of CMS offers with Internet cloud-based, high scalable and open web services. More and more companies are realizing there are great tools out there that they can plug into and integrate, as opposed to build.
We’re seeing companies integrating with ad-planning front ends and content creation tools and libraries. Companies like Rise Vision are re-inventing themselves as cloud-based, right down to using online support systems that do the bulk of their work with e-commerce companies.
You will see companies coming out with more and more bundled, integrated offers that increase their capabilities without building it. In fairly short order all kinds of devices will be IP-connected.
This is no longer about one central point pushing out content to a distinct set of nodes. Potentially, everything is intertwined.
Crowded Field
The problem with integration, cloud-based services and open, flexible software architecture is it gives more companies an idea that they can add a little of this and tweak a bit of that, and join the race. A big trend I am seeing in digital signage platforms now is white-label products being introduced by companies like AMX and Polycom, among others. Not to mention all the display guys.
While consolidation is happening, as is natural selection, the numbers might not really be shrinking as yet more firms come in.
Looking Ahead
As with most industries that build up to many, it will thin out considerably. You will see software companies doing a far better job of defining what they do and their field of play. Some pretty big names will drop off. There will be consolidation. Offers will get highly specialized so that the companies can retain their pricing model.
Other offers well be far more rounded, layering in third-party and complementary technologies. There will also be a new gush of companies who are active other areas, but have most or all of the components to deliver a digital signage solution. Burstpoint, for example, is a streaming company that has its eye on this sector and offers DS as something it can also do, as opposed to all it can do.
So what does all this mean? The sector has in some respects changed very little in the past five years. The pace of that change will really crank up over the next two years.
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I haven’t worked for a software company for 18 months or something, so I am slightly removed from the action. But that also means I am not working in a bubble. People are a lot more open to telling you what’s up – surprise, surprise – when you are not selling against them.
This isn’t the last word on this stuff, and as noted, represents a pretty high level overview and misses, I’m sure, lotsa things. So what do you think?
Dave Haynes is a rAVe contributor, and editor of the digital signage blog Sixteen:Nine – a partner publication with rAVe [Publications] – and he's owner of the digital signage-focused PR and copywriting firm pressDOOH. Reach him at dave@pressdooh.com Back to Top |
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Bad Digital Signage Projects Hurt Us All
By Dave Haynes
Editor, Sixteen:Nine I have watched the rapid ascension of Amscreen in the UK with a weird blend of admiration and frustration.
With deep pockets, a high profile thanks to the UK version of The Apprentice, and lots of friends in high places, the company started by UK business titan Lord Alan Sugar has managed to proliferate a thoroughly utilitarian DOOH product around the British Isles.
Sugar has decades of electronics manufacturing behind him, and knew how to crank out low-cost combo screens and players that could quickly get popped in place anywhere, further controlling costs. In small retail, parked at cash, the units look sorta kinda OK. They won’t win any industrial design contests, but the overall cost of getting them in and running them probably makes each location financially viable more quickly.
But Amscreen’s product, as it now sits, belongs in small retail.
The other day Amscreen CEO Simon Sugar, son of Lord Sugar, posted a photo on Twitter of the installation his firm has sparked up at Gatwick Airport.
My immediate thought was, “Who the <bad word> thought THAT was a good idea???”
It is a BIG footprint, high profile bookstore in a very busy airport, with little screens stuck up nice and high where precious few people will ever see them. In a big cavernous retail space like that, those screens are utterly lost and pointless.
And you’re thinking, “Yup. Agreed. But so what? If they want to blow their money and the retailer is oblivious, why get worked up?”
Well… because it IS high profile. This is the sort of ill-considered, poorly-executed stuff countless people have been advocating against for years and years. It’s exactly the kind of showcase installation the DOOH and retail DOOH sectors don’t need. Particularly when Amscreen is positioned as the market leaders and therefore is supposed to know what it is doing.
Retail execs passing through Gatwick would probably not even notice these screens because of the “strategy” used, but if they somehow did, they’d either get the unfortunate impression that this is how digital is done in retail (and shrug) or conclude the WH Smith people had lost their collective minds.
Agency and brand people who are barraged by DOOH network sales people, telling great tales of this powerful new medium, would stray on this and conclude, quite fairly, the sector still badly needs to get its act together.
“Why,” they’d quite reasonably wonder, “would they invest media dollars in THAT???”
There are five or so lightboxes on the wall just beyond the Amcreen panels. Replaced with panels for more money, but not a whole lot more, the venue would have the beginnings of a digital network with some impact. A network that might actually catch shopper eyes and move some Smirnoff and Chanel No. 5.
When a digital display network goes into a venue, it should never be about where to put the standard kit of parts. It’s about developing objectives and a strategy, and THEN finding the appropriate technology that will actually deliver on those objectives. A self-described “low cost, high volume” product designed to be seen at near eye-level from a few feet away is NOT what belongs in a large retail environment with long sightline and endless visual distractions. Somebody should have made the logical decision that the little Amscreens were not going to work, in any way, in that big shop.
This sort of thing — because of its profile — hampers a lot of good work done in retail and public spaces by smart people in the UK. It would have to make a lot of people who know how to do it right positively crazy.
DailyDOOH’s take: http://www.dailydooh.com/archives/33142
The store is part of a broader network, and as this video shows, the little screens in smaller shops look more in context and therefore noticeable.
On the positive side, Amscreen is doing other work that does help advance the industry. Along with its sales arm Digicom, it has published (and therefore shared, something not enough companies do) some results of shopper behavior research focused on screens in c-stores. Dave Haynes is a rAVe contributor, and editor of the digital signage blog Sixteen:Nine – a partner publication with rAVe [Publications] – and he's owner of the digital signage-focused PR and copywriting firm pressDOOH. Reach him at dave@pressdooh.com Back to Top Minicom Launches New Platform: DS Vision Digital Minicom Digital Signage just launched its new solution for media distribution and network-based control and monitoring capabilities of multiple remote displays. Called DS Vision Digital, they are real-time, digital, uncompressed (claiming to be FullHD 1080p) content players and managers that are all network controllable and manageable.
The DS Vision Digital enables remote display management and control via the Screengate management gateway and features what Minicom is calling its Media Feedback Mechanism (MFM) — including a claim of patented Proof of Performance proprietary technology (POP) — so advertisers can evaluate the value of their network and operators can improve visibility and reduce system downtime while lowering operational costs and increasing return on investment. Interested in the DS remote control and management market? Go to: http://www.minicomdigitalsignage.com/av_dsvd.htm Back to Top NuVision Announces LED-lit 40", 46" and 55" LCDs Available next month, NuVision is launching two LED edge-lit (46” and 55”) 1080p LCDs designed for the DS market. Featuring 240Hz refresh, 24fps, RS232 and IP control, HDMI and VGA inputs and also offer IR pass-through to control other devices and an IR input to control the set, eliminating the need for separate IR emitters. A 40” model (with identical specs) will be available in Q1 2011. All three monitors are available with custom colored bezels as well.
The 46” 40FX10LS will have an MSRP of $4,499, the 46FX10LS will have an MSRP of $5,499, and the 55FX10LS will have an MSRP of $6,999. The 55FX10LS Mirror will have an MSRP of $8499, and the custom colored bezel adds $1500 to any of the FX10LS series. You can see all the specs here: http://www.nuvision.com/superslim.html Back to Top Primeview Releases 55" LCD Wall Although not shipping until Q1 2011, Primeview wants you to know they’re making a 55” video wall product that they claim will have a bezel width of less than 5.7 mm. The 1080p native, 120Hz LCD is also specified to have 700 nits brightness and an 89-degree viewing angle.
Not much more information is available as it’s pretty much vaporware for now, but you can see their listing of it here: http://primeview.biz/Product.aspx?id=160 Back to Top Panasonic Shows New 42" and 47" DS Displays Panasonic's new native 1080p 42” and 47” LCDs claim a spec of 700 cd/m2 and feature a fairly slim profile/narrow bezel and weigh in at 40 and 49 pounds, respectively. Inputs include HDMI, DVI, Component video ports, RS-232 control. The displays include back-mounted speakers and are only 4” deep.
Interested in more info? Go to: http://www.panasonic.com
Back to Top BrightSign Integrates Wi-Fi into Media Players BrightSign has added two Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) integrated media players to their line in the form of the HD210w and the HD1010w. Both are solid-state based players with native 1080p resolution, a back-up wired Ethernet port, as well as audio and all the other basic features that media players have. But, the HD1010w adds some cool advanced interactivity with support for buttons, touch screens, LEDs, motion sensors and any GPIO or USB device. A complete set of optional accessories is also available for adding extra A/V and control ports to the HD1010w, as well as live video playback.
BrightSign's new HD210w and HD1010w digital sign controllers with built-in Wi-Fi are available for pre-orders today and will begin shipping in October. The prices will be US$449.00 for the HD210w, compared to US$399.00 for the standard HD210 model, and US$699.00 for the HD1010w, compared to US$649.00 for the standard HD1010 model.
Want more details? Go to: http://www.brightsign.biz/products/wifi_signs.php Back to Top MultiTouch Debuts 46" LCD for DS Market Dubbed the MultiTouch Cell 46” Advanced, it’s a 46-inch touch screen LCD (12 inches deep and weighing 82 pounds) that’s specifically designed for augmented reality applications, including 2D barcode, tag, and marker readers.
Part of the second generation of MultiTouch’s Cell products, the MultiTouch Cell 46” Advanced is housed in an aluminum chassis, is stackable — up to 14 Cell units, either in table or wall displays — is native 1920×1080 resolution, is LED-backlit and will be available later this quarter.
You can read all the specs here: http://multitouch.fi/products/celladvanced/ Back to Top DSE's Q2 Digital Signage Barometer Report Shows Positive Results After a difficult second quarter, during which the economic recovery slowed in the United States and other countries, 97 percent of all survey participants in North America still remained positive about the future of the Digital Out-of-Home Industry — representing no significant overall change from Q1 2010.
For Q2, 59 percent of respondents indicated they felt “very positive” and 38 percent “somewhat positive” about the industry’s future.
As in past quarters, those most positive about the DOOH Industry varied across each of the three main groups of respondents, which included Technology/Content Providers (53 percent “very positive”), Advertising/Marketing Professionals (65 percent “very positive”), and End Users/OOH Network Operators (70 percent “very positive”).
Key Indicators - 97 percent of all survey participants continue to be positive about the future of the DS industry.
- 51 percent end users/network operators reported actual DOOH Advertising Revenues were 6 percent Higher than Q1
- DOOH business projections for revenues in Q3 are anticipated to be the same or higher.
- End user companies report that their financial commitment to new or upgraded installations remains unchanged.
- Hottest industry growth categories for the next twelve months include: retail, restaurant, education, transportation, and healthcare.
- Over one-third of Ad Agency participants indicated that Q2 advertising spending was up over Q1.
- While over two-thirds of that same group forecast an even higher spend in Q3.
- Top DOOH Network categories that Ad Agencies are investing in include: retail, restaurant, arts/entertainment/recreation, education, bars/taverns/nightclubs, and healthcare.
If you’re interested in reading the entire report, you can do so here: http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=CeUz6T3RELo%3d&tabid=373
Back to Top NEC To Debut Pro-Quality LED Backlit LCD Monitors In late Q1 2010, NEC Display Solutions will launch two new LCD public displays (46" and 55") in the NEC MultiSync X-series with LED backlights.
The NEC MultiSync X461S and X551S will be equipped with professional public display panels with the brightness and reliability standards suitable for public display applications.
The LED backlighting allows for lower energy consumption and an extra slim monitor. The products will be lighter and use absolutely no environmentally hazardous substances, such as mercury, which is in line with NEC’s "Green Vision" campaign.
In their press release, NEC Display Solutions says it has “…therefore decided to wait for these panels to become available instead of launching a commercial-looking product with consumer quality.” That’s clearly a dig at other manufacturers who hope their high-end consumer products with LED backlights can climb into the pro public display arena (and probably explains why NEC is telling us now about 2011 plans). Click here to see the entire press release.
Back to Top Location-Based Bus Ads Omnivex recently deployed their Moxie software on Destination Shuttle Service’s airport shuttle buses at LAX, called Shuttle Smart. The deployment also includes interactive kiosks placed in the lobbies of Destination Shuttle Service’s partner hotels. The system aims to enhance the hospitality experience by providing passengers with relevant travel, hotel and city information while on the buses and within the hotels.
The Goal
"The hotel industry as a whole is known for its hospitality. Our goal is to extend that hospitality to the curb at the airport. Omnivex allows us to know exactly where each bus is in real time, so our dispatchers know where each bus is and our clients know when the next bus will arrive," said Brian Clark, Managing Partner at Shuttle Smart. "We wanted to give our customers an effective tool to set up routes, identify points of interest and manage their fleet with ease. Leveraging the power of Windows 7, Bing Maps and Omnivex Moxie, we are able to extend digital signage to new markets and improve customer experiences," said Jeff Collard, President of Omnivex.
How'd They Do It?
DSS provides hotel shuttle services for more than 2.5 million people annually both to and from LAX and the surrounding hotels. The company wanted a way to effectively communicate with their passengers, welcoming them to town when they arrived and thanking them for their visit when they departed. Using Omnivex Moxie software and Microsoft Windows 7 location based services, GPS coordinates are sent via cellular network to the Omnivex server in real time indicating the current location of the bus. Omnivex GPSLink is used to combine this information with intelligent rules to determine the most appropriate content to display based on the current location. The screens inside the shuttles show information appropriate to travelers; information changes based on whether the shuttle is carrying arriving or departing passengers.
Inside the hotels, a large touch screen running Omnivex software delivers interactive content and information for hotel guests. Omnivex GPSLink delivers the information to Omnivex Moxie to display the locations of the shuttles in the area on a map, along with the estimated wait times before the next shuttle arrives at the hotel. The content also includes information such as flight departure status and advertising about local sites and attractions. Back at Destination Shuttle Service’s operations center, Omnivex software displays the position and status of all Shuttle Smart buses for the network operator. To see a video about this case study, go here: http://www.omnivex.com/press/videos.asp?Title=Omnivex%20Moxie%20and%20Windows%207 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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To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter — instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas: Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
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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