New nutrition labeling requirements could drive growth in digital menu boards March 30, 2010 by Dave HaynesWith local authorities raising various stinks about digital billboards and stopping some of those plans in their tracks, it’s nice to see some government rules and regs that have the potential to drive growth in this sector. Myles Mjolsnes of WAND Corporation, a Minnesota POS vendor that has expanded in to digital signage, sent out …
Muzak & YCD: Evidence of the sales cycle March 29, 2010 by Dave HaynesI was chained to a booth two years ago at DSE, when three guys wandered up and told me they were from Muzak and looking to expand their operations into video. Music they really knew, video … not so much. It was Jon Luther and a couple of consultants. A year ago they had a small …
DSF says it is up past 200 members now; announces board leadership March 29, 2010 by Dave HaynesI have my doubts that membership counts are all that telling until real money is being dropped, but nonetheless some 200 companies and individuals have signed on as members of the new Digital Signage Federation. The DSF says memberships are from the US and Canada, as would be expected, but there are also sign-ups from Argentina, Australia, …
OVAB becomes DPAA: What to make of it March 24, 2010 by Dave HaynesSo, what to make of news that the Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau is now the Digital Place-Based Advertising Association? OVAB, which was easy to say, is now the D P Double A, which I guess is OK. I always thought the Video part of the handle was a little out of step with where things …
CoolSign, NCR part of expanded working group on 4G mobile broadband March 24, 2010 by Dave HaynesIf the tariffs are not crippling and the network infrastructure can actually support everyone using mobile broadband, then the emerging 4G/LTE standard might be a very useful in this sector. Using mobile broadband is one less cable to drop and one less technician to not show up on time for install jobs. And it goes where …
Wireless Ronin cuts operating expenses in half, but still loses $10M in 2009 March 19, 2010 by Dave HaynesAs required by regulators, Minneapolis-based Wireless Ronin lifted the veil on its activities yesterday, releasing its Q4 and year-end numbers, as well as having an earnings conference call. You can read the transcript here. Briefly, ouch. Actually, OUCH! Very few companies shot the lights out in 2009, but I doubt very few companies specifically in this sector …
Kioskcom and DS Show being re-branded as Customer Engagement Technology World March 18, 2010 by Dave HaynesJD Events, the guys who have been doing Kioskcom for the past decade, are renaming and re-branding the the kiosk show and its sister digital signage event as Customer Engagement Technology World, starting this fall in New York. The show that is in Vegas next month will be, yay!!!, in San Francisco in spring 2011. …
Live streaming from SXSW in Austin, to DOOH network in Chicago March 16, 2010 by Dave HaynesOne of the things that gets repeated over and over again, but usually ignored, is the need to get content on screens that is unique and actually interesting to the targeted viewing audience. This definitely qualifies as unique. The LA-based consulting group Future Content LLC is running something called Viewtopia this week, live from the …
New York's MTA issues RFP on wi-fi services; observer asks, "Where's the digital screen component?" March 15, 2010 by Dave HaynesIt’s interesting to see how far the industry has progressed when an RFP from a very large gov’t authority comes out and an observer asks why there’s no digital signage component. It’s interesting to see how far the industry has progressed when an RFP from a very large gov’t authority comes out and an observer …
DS Show enlists some smartypants to help show industry newcomers around March 12, 2010 by Dave HaynesDSE is more than a bit of a blur, but I do remember standing around at one point and seeing a Minicom guy walk by with a bunch of people following him, which my remaining neurons slowly stitched together to make me realize that was a trade show tour thing. I thought it was kind …