Digital Signage and Eliminating Projectors

We’ve been hearing from our clients that digital signage is of interest. Some want it for the visitors lobby to display company information. Some want it to do double duty as a presentation screen too. We have some good news on both fronts.

Digital Signage: Having seen the digital signage solutions being offered in the market by audio/visual specialists and the prices they are charging for such a simple technology we thought we might be able to do better while bringing the technology into range for even our smallest clients.  After some investigation I hit upon the kit computer called Raspberry PI.

The Raspberry PI is a very small but powerful device. The cap in the picture is for scale. The PI measures about 4”x2”. It uses a memory card like the one in your digital camera to house its memory, storage and operating system. It has an Ethernet port to receive data and an HDMI port to display data. It is very low power and can be powered by a powered USB port or a USB charger. (again like your phone) We load the operating system and software into the memory chip and then mount the device onto the back of any TV/Display with an HDMI port. Next through a subscription service we upload the data that it will display. We expect it to cost about $20 a month including data hosting. We’ve also partnered with Samsung for display discounts. They promise better than direct pricing but that doesn’t necessarily translate to better than Best Buy. As usual we’ll recommend the best option for you.

p.s. We’ve dog fooded this technology here in our office and it’s been running now 24x7 for last few weeks flawlessly. So were ready to deploy yours.

Eliminate Projectors in Your Conference Room: This topic dovetails nicely with the first one because it is dependent on the display that you purchase. Microsoft has announced that one of Windows 8.1 new technologies is something they are calling Miracast. In short this is wireless display technology. All you need is a Windows 8.1 (if you have Windows 8, then 8.1 is a free upgrade) and a projector or display that supports Miracast. Since Windows 8.1 releases in August I wouldn’t buy a display now that doesn’t support it. Hip, hip, hurray! No more cables and someday no more projectors. It seems likely that you’ll need cables and projectors around for a while yet since you are likely to get visitors that don’t have Windows 8.1. But even so, the future is here and this feature in particular has been a long awaited one.

-Amy

Windows 8 is here

We’re seeing signs that Windows 8 is coming in for a landing. My guess and this is only a guess is that we’ll see it available for purchase in 30-90 days.

Here are the signs:

• From this point forward every new computer is going to come with a coupon for a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8.
• Microsoft announced Surface, a Windows 8 slate
• Microsoft announced Win8 Phone
• Windows 8 has moved to Release Candidate status

Here’s what you need to know:

• The specifications for Windows 8 are the same as Windows 7
• Windows 8 is touch/swipe enabled
• The new OS will be the same on phone/slate and PC
• The Metro interface is like nothing you’ve experienced before. There will be learning curve as severe as moving from DOS to Windows.
• I think that you’ll really like it

Because the user interface difference is dramatic, education is going to be really important. We are going to plan to hold a couple of Windows 8 orientation classes. In the coming months we will put together enough hardware to make these hands-on classes designed to put you as ease using the new interface.

 

p.s. I’m headed to Redmond to help work on developing a certification exam for IT professionals on Windows 8.

Consumerization of IT

For a while now there’s been a new catch phrase, “The consumerization of IT”. It’s what happens when employees bring their own computers, phones and iPads and use them for work purposes. In the not very long ago, employers owned all the technology but increasingly now employees own the technology.

In looking at Windows8, I noticed a very interesting feature. It’s called Windows To Go. Windows To Go is your office computer on a portable hard drive. This hard drive can be plugged into any computer and cause your work computer environment to boot up and your personal hard disk to become inaccessible as long as your have your work drive plugged in.

What does this mean for us? It means that Microsoft has enabled employers to stop buying computers and push that cost off onto the employee. All the employer provides is the hard disk and software, the employee will provide the computer to run it on.

It’s often the case that things have unintended consequences. I don’t think that employees that have asked to use their MAC at work or that wanted their work email on their personal phone thought that this would lead to their employer expecting them to provide all of the computer hardware required for their successful employment with the company but that is exactly where it has lead and Microsoft has enabled it.