DT Research teams with Wowcard to deploy digital signage at Philippine restaurants
• 19 Nov 2008

HONG KONG — DT Research Inc., a developer of information appliances for vertical markets, and WOWCARD Inc., a service provider to restaurants, tourist attractions, casinos, hotels and medical institutions in the Philippines, announced that Jollibee and Chowking, two of the most popular fast-food chains in the Philippines, have deployed the WebDT Signage System at their Subic Bay Freeport locations.

Commissioned by the Subic Bay Tourism Department, the digital signs primarily serve as key information terminals for local and international tourists and business travelers, according to a news release. Using the WebDT Signage System, the restaurants are now able to remotely manage content on multiple signs offering up-to-the minute local tourism information and advertising.

Subic Bay Freeport is a tourist and business destination located about 70 miles north of Manila, the Philippines' capital. Subic Bay boasts numerous vacation spots that include casinos, resorts, scuba diving centers and museums as well as a number of hotels and restaurants. Both Jollibee and Chowking use the WebDT Signage System to broadcast local travel information to visitors, including highlights and details on scenic spots, weather and news, forthcoming international and local affairs, conventions and concerts. When not used as tourist and business information terminals, the signs showcase Jollibee and Chowking's own food and product promotions or serve as an advertising medium for national and international businesses.

The digital signage network installations at Jollibee and Chowking provide the restaurants and Subic Bay's local tourism industry with an interactive and up-to-the minute system to communicate to visitors. The WebDT Signage System's content management software provides the ability to dynamically update content on multiple signs from any remote location, ensuring that guests receive offers and travel information in real-time.

"Subic Bay Freeport is a premier travel destination in the Philippines, attracting over 1.8 million local and foreign tourists and business visitors every year," said Armand C. Arreza, administrator and chief executive of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. "The WebDT Signage System enables us to quickly communicate to local and international tourists and showcase some of the finest destinations around the area. Also, with local establishments having different events and specials on a daily basis, the signage system provides them with a way to promote their products and services to increase sales."

"The WebDT Signage System allows the SBMA Tourism Department and WOWCARD Inc. to efficiently manage the content that is published on each digital sign," said Dr. Daw Tsai, president of DT Research. "This offers local tourism officials and advertisers the flexibility to promote different destinations or products and services on a daily, or even hourly, basis. The WebDT Content Manager and Remote Device Manager provide businesses and advertisers with a powerful tool to effectively reach targeted audiences."

News Flash! Oklahoma St. University, Columbus Tech replace bulletin boards with digital signage

Oklahoma St. University, Columbus Tech replace bulletin boards with digital signage.

• 27 Oct 2008
SAN JOSE, Calif. — DT Research Inc. and XRiver Technologies, a major distributor of WebDT products, announced that Columbus Technical College and Oklahoma State University have deployed the WebDT Signage System.

The two institutions now use digital signs in place of most static bulletin boards, which serve as information terminals for students, faculty and staff. By using the WebDT Signage System, both schools can update content on multiple signs from one location — providing up-to-the-minute information about campus events, special classes, faculty appointments, research, weather and news.

The WebDT digital signs are placed at major junctions throughout the Columbus Technical College campus in Columbus, Ga. The signs are used to broadcast live news feeds along with weather and other general college announcements to students and faculty throughout the day. In addition, an UrgentCast feature allows the college to immediately broadcast emergency information across the campus. The college previously used low-end personal computers hooked up to television screens to disseminate information to students. But the PCs did not provide the ability to dynamically update content and could not support streaming video and news feeds.

“We were impressed with the different types of media that the WebDT Signage System supports,” said Chris Graves, audio visual specialist at Columbus Technical College. “With the WebDT system’s zoning capability, we’re able to push different types of content into each zone — from streaming media to flash to weather/news tickers. We also found the UrgentCast feature to be particularly valuable. We can quickly override content on all screens to broadcast alerts across campus in cases of emergencies.”

Oklahoma State University, with a main campus in Stillwater, uses the WebDT Signage System as an interactive directory for students and faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. The installed screens include the infrared touch option, which allows students to interact with the sign, quickly locate faculty and administration offices and connect to the college’s Web site. The Oklahoma State University Department of Zoology is one of 24 departments in the College of Arts and Sciences and is also currently utilizing a screen to showcase faculty research efforts. The college hopes to expand to other departments in the future.

“The College of Arts and Sciences’ dean has always been tech-oriented so we wanted to utilize technology to change what used to be such static boards for directories,” said Norma Earp, technology manager at Oklahoma State University, College of Arts and Sciences. “We needed a system that is low maintenance, does not require heavy staff resource and can be expanded easily. The WebDT Signage System offered just that with its ease of use and fast installation.”
“Columbus Technical College and Oklahoma State University are great examples of how digital signage technology can quickly and cost-effectively communicate to a wide audience,” said Ed Maddox, president of XRiver Technologies.

See us at upcoming KioskCom Self Service Expo NY Oct 15-16 2008

Mark this date: October 15-16, 2008 Jacob K. Javits Convention Center New York, NY

DT Research will be at booth #201

WebDT SA2000 Starts Shipping end of this month

The WebDT Signage Appliance (SA2000) features a powerful and energy–efficient AMD Sempron™ 1.6GHz/ 2GHz or Turion™ 2.1GHz Dual-Core processor in a compact and robust package. This is perfect for customers who require processing of high end multimedia graphics. Click here to learn more about it.

SA2000 3 base part numbers:
1. SA2000-016 (AMD Sempron™ 1.6GHz with ATI Graphics, 1GB RAM/4GB Flash, 19.5V Adapter and Fanless Design)
2. SA2000-020 (AMD Sempron™ 2.0GHz with ATI Graphics, 1GB RAM/4GB Flash, 19.5V Adapter)
3. SA2000-021 (AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology with ATI Graphics, 1GB RAM/4GB Flash, 19.5V Adapter)

The SA2000 is available for shipment end of Sept 2008.

WebDT Content Manager 2.3 Released!

For upgrade path and processes, please check with DT Research at signagesupport@dtri.com for download information if your software maintenance plan is still valid.

New features provided under Version 2.3 (as indicated within the image capture below):

1. Support for real time video via Composite video or S-Video Input (Check the release note for limitation)
2. Support for executing an application installed on the SA1000/SA2000 player
3. Ability to run an executable file within a definable zone
4. User can download the content by offline deployment tool to a USB Thumb drive
5. Ability to process Microsoft® Powerpoint® 2007 (Landscape mode only)
6. Support for RSS scrolling from left to right (in support for Middle Eastern / Hebrew language)
7. Change in operational authority of regular “User” level account

Video playback on the SA1000

If you are experiencing sluggish video playback on the SA1000. Please following the following general guideline to improve the playback:

1. Try encoding your video into MPEG2 (about 5mbps or less at max of 720x480)
2. If you must play MPEG2 video larger than 720x480 please contact the WebDT Support team at signagesupport@dtri.com for alternative codecs which you could use.
3. If you must play MOV (Quicktime) at sizes larger than 720x480 please contact the WebDT Support team at signagesupport@dtri.com for alternative codecs which you could use.
4. If you must play MPEG4, WMV files larger than 1280x1024, please consider our upcoming product the WebDT SA2000 (with 3 different flavors of processors up to 2.1GHz AMD Turion TL-62 Dual Core CPU)

AVING Global News Network USA recently did an on the spot interview with John Ochoa (DT Research Business Developement Director). The video has been posted through YouTube service through the AVING Global News Website. To watch the complete interview, please click on the link here: http://aving.net/usa/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=83377&C_Code=02&SP_Num

See Us At the Upcoming InfoComm 2008 Las Vegas

infoComm08, Las Vegas, NV June 18-20, 2008 / Booth N7425
InfoComm is the leading business-to-business marketplace for display, projection, audio, conferencing, lighting and staging, digital signage, Internet streaming and networked presentation and communications systems.

The WebDT Team will be there to introduce a new product line as well as hardware/software features. If you need an invitation/pass, please contact us at signage@dtri.com. Please join us!

WebDT is going to Germany for the Digital Signage Expo 2008!

If you need a free pass please contact us at signage@dtri.com

Digital Signage Expo 2008 is the truly pan-European event for digital signage solutions.

DT Research will be at booth 12E.02 See you there!

CRN Review: DT Research's WebDT Digital Signage

CRN Magazine recently reviewed the WebDT DS3700 and gave it an impressive review. Here's a quote from the review section:

"The WebDT Digital Signage Solution is an intuitive, well-designed system that fills a hole in the growing digital signage arena. Anyone would be hard pressed to find fault with the quality of its hardware, or the simplicity of its interface." Quote from Brian Sheinberg CRN ChannelWeb March 17th 2008

Check out the review here!

DT Research will be exhibiting at Kioskcom's Self Service Expo Las Vegas Apr 16-17, 2008 Booth 629

DT Research will be exhibiting at the upcoming Kioskcom's Self Service Expo Las Vegas. If you need an exhibition pass please contact us via email at signage@dtri.com

http://www.kioskcom.com/

(Kioskcom's Self Service Expo, Las Vegas, NV April 16-17, 2008 / Booth 311)

Digital Signage Forum Reviewed the WebDT DS4700 All-in-one system!

The WebDT DS4700 scored 93 out of 100 in a recently concluded review with high scores in "Ease of use, Support and Documentation".

Read all about it here: http://www.digitalsignageforum.com/dt-research-webdt-all-in-one-signage-system-review.html

WebDT Content Manager Version 2.3 in final stages of being released!

Stay tuned as we are all geared up to release version 2.3 of the WebDT Content Manager. This version will have 3 major new features:

1. Remotely launch Embedded Executable Programs (.exe) and/or Java program preinstalled onto the SA1000. Here's a screen shot:



2. Incorporate Video Input (Analog S-Video or Analog RCA Video) into a zone



3. A WebDT offline USB update tool will be released to assist Signage administrators in deploying content to sites with no Internet connection.

Tentative release date has been set towards the end of March 2008. Stay tuned!

The Signage Team from DT Research concluded a very successful Digital Signage Expo 2008 in Las Vegas

The recently concluded 2 day show Digital Signage Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center was a huge success. Turn out was better than expected. The team at DT Research will be back next year with a bigger booth and show!