Tokyo subway trial for e-paper news display
Japanese industrial conglomerate Bridgestone and newspaper publisher Mainichi are trialling digital-signage devices in the Tokyo subway that use e-paper.
According to local reports, the two companies are installing the devices in the concourse of Shinbashi station and a passageway at Shinjuku-sanchome station. They will remain in place until March 2009.
Each comprises an A3-size colour e-paper display, based on technology that Bridgestone announced last October, and another monochrome 
Avanti joins the Neo family
Switzerland's fast-growing Neo Advertising has in the last week effectively taken control of Britain's Avanti Screenmedia by buying about 30 percent of the company.
Added to the Avanti convertible loan which Neo subscribed for in July, this could lead to Neo gaining an outright majority stake in the British firm.
The latest deal will provide publicly-traded Avanti with £240,000 ($442,000) after expenses for use as working capital.
Broadcasters could alter images of arena billboards
Firms that sell advertising inventory or promotional opportunities at major sporting events could find their business models undercut by new technology which allows TV broadcasters to digitally replace arena advertisements with their own.
Finnish firm Supponor’s DBRLive system calculates the position of the billboards and digital panels at sports venues in real time, and masks them in the broadcast picture with digital alternatives.
“There are already several players
Satellite “not cost-effective for small networks”
Digital-signage networks typically need to deploy nearly 4500 screens before satellite transmission becomes cost-effective, according to telecom specialist Northern Sky Research (NSR).
In a new industry briefing, it acknowledges that “the choice for satellite over terrestrial in most cases is governed by qualitative factors such as deployment in remote regions and geographical reach” of networks.
But it says one-way DVB-S/S2 satellite with a terrestrial return path will nevertheless
Research: expect more activity from Europe’s laggards
The digital-signage market in western Europe will quadruple in size over the next four years, according to new research from Screen Digest and Goldmedia, with the medium increasingly gaining traction in territories where its progress has until now been slow.
Digital out-of-home net advertising revenue, which was worth €158m ($231m) in the region last year, will be worth €626m ($916m) by 2012, they predict – equivalent to a compound
Coming soon: full-body motion capture of consumers
U.S. firm Organic Motion is readying itself for a fourth-quarter launch of a markerless full-body motion-capture system that will allow the public to interact with on-screen content in a style similar to that seen in the Matrix movies.
Up until now, full-body motion-capture systems – including those used in the Matrix series – have required actors to wear body suits or, at the very least, clothing with special markings
PRN wrests Wal-Mart Mexico from Televisa
Premier Retail Networks (PRN) today said it is taking over operation of Wal-Mart’s in-store TV network in Mexico, run since its launch in 2006 by the country’s largest broadcaster Televisa.
PRN, a Thomson subsidiary based in San Francisco, will manage content, advertising sales and operations for the Canal Wal-Mart network in 287 Mexican stores, comprising most of the country’s Wal-Mart Supercenter supermarkets as well as some Bodega Aurrera discount
VMG acquires 33 more UK malls; audience to reach 1bn
The UK’s Vision Media Group (VMG) will more than double the size of its mall network and increase annual sales by £7m ($13.1m) after signing up 33 more shopping centres.
They bring the total number of malls in VMG’s network to 57, its projected annual sales to £25m ($46.9m), and its annual audience to more than 1bn. Their effect is likely to be long-term, with the average length of
Moscow OOH campaign promotes Russian language
News Outdoor, one of the biggest Russian digital-signage firms, has launched an unusual campaign in Moscow based on quotations from great Russian poets.
The aim of the campaign, the digital out-of-home specialist says, is to highlight the role played by poets in the evolution of the Russian language.
Funding for the campaign is being supplied by Russkiymir (Russian Peace), a not-for-profit organisation with government ties that seeks to
Concierge channel reaches India’s executives at work
Indian digital-signage specialist SureWaves has partnered with Les Concierges to produce a “workspace channel” aimed at employees in the major corporates that the concierge and personal-assistance firm serves.
SureWaves’ chief marketing officer Tushar Vyas told SCREENS.tv: “This alliance has given us an entry into work sites where Les Concierges is already present. For Les Concierges, it's an extension of their concierge and personal-assistance services.”
The audience will consist
Amscreen prepares to launch; Simon Sugar at the helm
Sir Alan Sugar’s son Simon will head the new out-of-home digital-signage division of Amshold set to be launched in the UK next month, despite rumours that Lee McQueen, the winner of this year’s The Apprentice BBC programme, was to take the role.
To be known as Amscreen, the division will launch with the promotional tag of “Your Media in Real Time”, pitching its services at the British market.
Focus says Chinese advertisers waiting for Games to end
China's Focus Media Holding is bullish on post-Olympics advertising prospects, saying that many brands which are not sponsoring events at the Games are holding off on campaigns until the Beijing event is over.
“Our outlook for the remainder of 2008 and 2009 is getting stronger,” said CEO Tan Zhi, discussing another strong set of quarterly financials for Focus. “Non-Olympic-sponsor advertisers are increasing their advertising spending in the later half
London cinema goes 3D...in the foyer
Patrons at the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in the heart of London's nightlife district will be able to sample glasses-free 3D for the next month.
Film-marketing agency the Picture Production Company Group (PPC) has installed a 42-inch Philips WOWvx glasses-free 3D display in the foyer of the Odeon, which is the largest single-screen cinema in the UK and arguably the best-known. It will show Odeon-branded content created by PPC.
Growth potential seen for digital OOH in Romania
Out-of-home TV is the most popular “non-conventional” advertising medium in Romania after the Internet, according to local research.
A report in the publication Financiarul says, however, that the level of alternative advertising is “still well below Western markets”.
OOH TV and digital signage in Romania continues to be dominated by Monopoly Media, which operates in retail outlets, clinics, pharmacies, and fast-food restaurants as well as at Bucharest's Otopeni
AT&T Digital Signage to focus on U.S., Europe
AT&T's new digital-signage managed service is to focus on select verticals in the U.S. and Europe.
Using software from Stratacache to handle fundamental digital-signage functions such as playlists, distribution, monitoring and reporting, with AT&T's infrastructure and worldwide IP network providing services such as hosting, carriage and security, AT&T Digital Signage is part of the telecommunications giant's new Digital Media Solutions programme.
“AT&T Digital Signage will be offered throughout
