Dave Haynes

A Cisco online video is drifting around sites like Wired and Digital Signage Today that shows how augmented reality, blended with digital signage, could change shopping experiences. It shows a young woman going all Tom Cruise-y, like in that Spielberg movie I refuse to mention, flapping her arms and waving her hand to move things around a a screen/change-room mirror as she tries on clothes and even changes their colors virtually. It is pretty cool, but some of the sites that are posting this video are referencing this as being in the here and now. It's not, unless Cisco is months or years ahead of anybody else applying AR technology right now. That very slick, high production value Cisco video with the sound effects and acting talent is where it all might go, but the will be nowhere near as seamless as is shown. At least not yet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxQZ... (more)

iPad on Ulitzer - How To Jump On the iPad Buzz

iPad on Ulitzer There were two kinds of technology companies issuing press releases today. Goofball ones that were somehow oblivious to Apple's planned announcement, and thought it was just another day and their stuff would get the usual attention. And those who watched the announcement of the iPad and realized there was excitement to leverage, and put together their own announcement. Now just about anyone in digital signage making an announcement that somehow tied in to the iPad would be regarded with giggles, but Nanonation is one of only a few companies in the space that actually ... (more)

"Guru" for hire

Well it has only been a couple of hours, and I wasn't planning on posting anything, but Adrian at Daily DOOH clearly has a mole embedded deep inside BroadSign. I looked at my Google Reader and saw, almost before I knew, that I am on the street. I'm gonna stay on the high road here and state simply that Broadsign is angling towards a channel partner strategy and direct sales is not part of it. It's a little disconcerting and frustrating, to say the least, but if I know anything I know it's not personal or performance-related. I was going to take a couple of days and reflect, and ... (more)

Walt forms new DS consultancy focused on retail

Tons of people will know Rebecca Walt as one of the more broadly experienced and sharper people in this space, having come out of retail and packaged goods, and spent time with both Convergent and Reflect Systems. She left Reflect about a month ago and has since started up her own consulting business, aimed particularly at connecting the dots between retailers, brands,  technology suppliers and consumers.  "I think what I have is the ability to put all the pieces together," says Walt, who is calling the company In-Venue Digital. Walt is running the business out of her Atlanta home... (more)

Is Atom Ready For the Bigs?

I keep seeing press releases like this popping up in Google Alerts, announcing new Intel Atom-based micro PCs and boards that are perfect for, among many things, digital signage. Safely hidden away in the turret of my mountaintop compound near the windswept shores of Lake Ontario (OK, a spare bedroom in suburban Toronto), I don't have a bench to test gear, nor would I know what the hell I was doing in assessing whether any or all of these new, low-cost x86 platforms are actually capable of doing as billed. But I suspect a lot of companies are, for three simple reasons: 1 - Form... (more)