Stratacache starts new award for clever apps that bridge digital signage and mobile

March 3, 2010 by Dave Haynes

The mobile industry will have a huge impact on what the digital signage industry does over the next few years. It is not technology that operates in parallel to DS screens. It’s going to be integrated, and supplanting many of the notions we all had how screens would be used.

Who, for example, is really captive in an environment if they have a smartphone and 3G?

Chris Riegel of Stratacache is one of the sharper guys in this space and one of those that think in terms of “skating to where the puck is going.” He see mobile is a big part of the future. So his company is starting and sponsoring a new industry award “to promote applet development around technologies and applications that enable interactivity between digital signs and mobile, handheld devices.”

This new media interaction begs for new technology and services. Hence, the BlueMaxx Award will identify the most compelling applet(s) with proven use cases demonstrating innovation and interactivity in DOOH to mobile interactivity.

“We conceived the BlueMaxx Award with the notion that development and entrepreneurship in this cutting-edge field needed an identifying platform for interactive, digital signage excellence,” says Chris Riegel, STRATACACHE CEO. “The BlueMaxx will provide a unique channel for annual recognition of the development leaders.”

For more information, please visit: www.bluemaxxaward.com.

Technologies such as Bluetooth, NFC, SMS, MMS, QR Code, or any others may be leveraged to facilitate communication between the “4^th screen” (mobile, handheld devices) and the “5^th screen” (digital out-of-home).

It is widely accepted that consumer and end-user interactivity is one of, if not the top driver of future success in the digital out-of-home industry (DOOH). Not only is it measurable, but it is engaging and stimulating.

Consumers are becoming prolific in their use of handheld, often touch screen-enabled smart devices. As consumers become accustomed to receiving applications, coupons, and marketing information via their phones and gadgets with short-range communication technologies, in-store marketers will seek new ways to leverage mobile devices in concert with digital signage.

The winners will be announced at InfoComm in June in Las Vegas. I am one of the judges, along with David Keene (Digital Signage Weekly) and Adrian Cotterill (DailyDOOH).