Google – InfoComm 2024 Digital Signage Industry Mixer Sponsor Profiles

June 5, 2024 by Dave Haynes

InfoComm is next week in Las Vegas, and Sixteen:Nine has partnered with Experience United Social Club to run what is a very sold-out networking event.

This one is at a darts-themed bar called Flight Club, in the Palazzo complex. There will will be a little discussion about what was seen on the show floor, then networking and fun games of darts that don’t require much in the way of skill. Oh, and perhaps drinks. The event was sold out in TWO HOURS – yup – and we don’t have the capability to handle unregistered walk-ups that night. So don’t. We wish we could host everyone, but there are pesky things like fire safety codes and budgets.

Big hat tip to Bryan Meszaros, who created XUSC and has done most of the heavy lifting so far on organizing this event, while also running OpenEye Global and sitting on the DSF board. Now it’s my turn to do some work.

The Buzz & Bullseyes event happens because of great sponsors, who help cover the considerable costs of the evening, including an open bar. As hosts, we like to thank and recognize sponsors by running company profiles.

Profiles already up:

Here’s the next one, global tech giant Google, which has grown very, very active in digial signage and kiosks.

What will the Google presence be at InfoComm?

We have a ton going on at InfoComm 2024! We have a booth in the West Hall (#3808) and a panel session with AVI-SPL and Appspace on Wednesday, June 12 from 10-10:30 AM PT in room W231. We’ll also be showcasing some ChromeOS devices in the LG booth (#W2125) and TD Synnex booth (#W1745), along with sponsoring a happy hour with Lenovo and of course, the Digital Signage Mixer with Sixteen:Nine and XUSC!

What solutions will you be showing and, assuming you will have partners with you, what should attendees check out?

At the Google booth, we will be showcasing an Elo Wallaby Self-Service Floor Stand kiosk and Instorescreen inFLEX display kiosk with demos from our Chrome Enterprise Recommended partners Bite and Fingermark, alongside an LG ChromeOS Flex Certified OPS Slot-in Device for CreateBoard and Lenovo, Acer and AOpen Chromeboxes. Make sure to stop by the LG and TD Synnex booths for a look at some of our other Chrome devices.

How has the proposition of extending the life of Windows PCs by putting them on ChromeOS been received by the pro AV sector? It’s a compelling solution but I suspect you’ve had to invest time to educate the market.

Yes, we are seeing a lot of positive momentum for ChromeOS Flex, especially in the pro AV sector. For your readers who are not totally familiar with ChromeOS Flex, it’s Google’s solution for bringing ChromeOS to compatible non-native Chrome devices such as PCs, Macs and Linux devices. All you need is a thumb drive with ChromeOS Flex on it, and you can easily refresh devices, including your devices that are past end of life, with an operating system that is easy to manage at scale. Our customers are using ChromeOS Flex throughout their organizations to improve security and extend the life of their devices. You can learn more about ChromeOS Flex here.

How important are security and remote management capabilities now for your solutions partners and end-user customers?

Whether you’re an IT professional that works for a large enterprise with significant infrastructure and complexity, or a small business with simpler IT needs, security & remote management remain critically important, and ChromeOS can be a catalyst for businesses to modernize their IT.

From the security perspective, as of today, ChromeOS has never had a successful reported ransomware or virus attack, and a recent study from Atredis found that ChromeOS is the most secure OS out of the box, when compared to Windows and MacOS.

IT administrators have access to robust controls through the cloud-based Google Admin console. With ChromeOS and our CMS partners, you have both the robust fleet and content management capabilities required for a growing business. Learn more about ChromeOS’s device management capabilities here.

AI is a huge topic for tech companies of all sizes. Google was active in AI long before chatGPT came along, and I am curious how you see AI being applied to digital signage.

As you allude to, Google has long been at the forefront of AI, integrating it with many of our products and solutions for the better part of a decade. From the ChromeOS perspective, we recently announced a wide variety of Google AI features that enhance user productivity, creativity, and collaboration, such as new video conferencing and content creation tools. Later this year, we will be delivering features directly in the Google Admin console, assisting IT administrators deploying all kinds of devices, including kiosks and digital signage. Check out our recent announcements on our blog.

Working with Google is likely very exciting for a lot of companies, but I wonder if it is also intimidating because of your sheer scale. Do you run into that and how do you address it?

At Google, our customers drive everything we do – from product design to the partners we choose. This customer-first approach shapes our strategy. We’ve built collaborations with top content management systems and developed products specifically for kiosk and digital signage needs in diverse industries like restaurants, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare. Explore our kiosk and digital signage solutions to see how we can support your business.

The 2024 Buzz & Bullseyes sponsors are …

Check-in kiosks are being provided by URway Holdings, using software from Kioware.

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