Microsoft Partners with Intel on Digital Signage

Microsoft is partnering with Intel to deliver a platform optimized for the digital signage industry. Combining the Windows 7-based Windows Embedded Standard 2011 operating system with the 2010 Intel Core microarchitecture, the platform enables digital signage device makers to offer what Microsoft terms “rich, connected user experiences that can be managed remotely and deployed anywhere.”

Microsoft and Intel officials said they are releasing the new digital signage platform in response to a lack of standards in the digital standards marketplace. By providing a standards-based, unified platform that supports advanced digital signage capabilities, the companies seek to break down silos of proprietary solutions and enable faster time to market and greater return on investment for digital signage technology providers while extending the reach of their offerings further into a rapidly developing sector of the IT industry.

Microsoft and Intel say the new platform will support digital signage features such as user touchscreen and gesture input Web browsing, video analytics that enable signs to display tailored ads based on customer attributes, remote deployment and management, and conditional power management that reacts to the surrounding environment for energy savings.

Last  week at the Consumer Electronics Show, Intel showed off display technology powered by Intel Core i7 processors that renders a three-dimensional holographic view of the store. When a customer approaches the display, it automatically determines the customer’s height and gender. A customer can then query the touch-enabled display to either browse the store or find specific items they are looking for.

Intel, which is displaying the new digital signage platform at this week’s National Retail Federation (NRF) show in New York, is clearly betting that retailers and customers have a strong interest in store signs that do more than display a static price. Retailers are not known as technology innovators, but when critical mass demanding a new technology is reached, they tend to fall in line fairly quickly. 2010 may prove to be the year signs come to life.