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HP, Scala tossing rocks in the digital signage pond

HP has now joined the list of tech giants moving seriously into the digital signage space, and Scala is joining the parade.

November 7, 2010 by Christopher Hall — w, t

Tech giant HP announced today that it's expanding beyond digital signage displays and getting into digital signage solutions — an announcement that should certainly send at least a ripple or two across the DS pond.

HP today introduced two new media players that will come pre-loaded and pre-configured with Scala content management software, marking the company's first foray into the behind-the-scenes inner workings of digital signage. And Scala also used the opportunity to springboard the announcement of its new QuickStart service.

When Gulliverian companies with international brand recognition like HP, Intel, Microsoft and Cisco start throwing their hats in the ring — as all have done recently — it's bound to be good news for the sector overall.

For companies like those aforementioned to now have divisions or groups focused on digital signage with an executive tasked with leading the charge into the space certainly means something, Scala executive vice president Jeff Porter says.

"It's a pretty big deal for somebody like HP to actually have somebody who's like their 'King of Digital Signage;' it really wasn't on their radar screen before," he said. "They've not had a division or a group that's been focusing on digital signage before, but now they do. It's kind of like digital signage is now coming of age."

That's not the first time someone has opined that digital signage is finally starting to come of age, but with big fish swimming in a relatively little pond, maybe this time it's true?

"(It means) nothing but good, I would say," Porter said. "It's validation of the things that we've been doing for the last 20-some-odd years ... It's really something that I think is pretty amazing."

HP and Scala announced today that the computer company is introducing two new digital signage players — the HP SignagePlayer mp8000s and HP SignagePlayer mp8000r — that will come pre-loaded and pre-configured with Scala content management software. HP describes the players as "low-cost, easy-to-use ... designed for independent retailers and other small to midsize businesses that want to deploy full-featured digital signage at a single location or across a small network."

Bob Rosenberry, HP's manager, Visual Solutions, runs the company's marketing strategies for digital signage and kiosks, and he says that while his company has been supplying displays for about a year, the new players "would be our first entry into solutions."

There are also already numerous digital signage installations around the world where HP was involved as the incumbent IT supplier, he says, but this does mark a new direction for HP in the space.

"This would be our first kind of for-purpose solution," he said. "In a way we've been in the business for a while ... but this is our first for-purpose, developed solution specifically for digital signage, aside from displays."

HP has had an eye on the digital signage space "for a while," and has been ramping up in that solution space, Rosenberry says.

"It's a growing area that really fits into a bunch of our key competencies already," he said. "When you look at the overall scope of HP, with displays, PCs, services, all backed by the global support of the organization, we think digital signage fits well into that."

The new HP players come in two form factors, with the smaller one measuring about 10 by 10 by 2 inches, and the larger about 15 by 13 by 3.5. HP has a special mount that fits the smaller player in comfortably behind the display — Porter showed an example during his interview — and the larger has full plug-in card capability and a graphics card in its more powerful system.

Scala also announced that it was introducing its new Scala QuickStart, supporting the new HP players, beginning in early December. The new QuickStart service offers what Scala is calling "a new and innovative 'zero-configuration' scheme, allowing even entry-level users a way to set up and manage a Scala digital signage network with ease."

Porter gave a brief phone/Web demo of the new service today, showing how even a brand new user could be logged onto the QuickStart system in seconds. Scala intends the new software-as-a-service to be a simple, easy-to-use service that helps make the new HP players workable solutions out of the box for even the least experienced deployer.

"It's a red-letter day in terms of being able to bring digital signage to the masses," Porter said, "and make it super-simple and easy but yet have the full-featured Scala player to back it up."

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