"Indigo has been a great success and I'm delighted that we were able to go beyond the research stage, prove the concept to retailers and realise revenues in excess of 1 million euro, with a healthy sales pipeline developing", says Mark Cronin, Technology and Development Director of Kingston inmedia Ltd. "We've made great progress in all the areas that we examined. The trial area I'm particularly pleased with is the investigation of low cost display playout devices, which has enabled us to cut up to 50% of the in-store infrastructure costs. These cost savings will really help drive Instore Digital Media forward, making it much easier to win over CFO's concerned about 'Return of Investment' and controlling the retailer's capex budget."
| The purpose of Indigo (Integrated Digital Overlay) was to develop the next generation of technology for satellite-delivered video programming and data for Enterprise and Broadcast customers. In the Enterprise market, Indigo wanted to develop a digital signage (DS) product suite to enable customers to use the Captive Audience Networking (CAN) medium. This required innovation in the central distribution hub, remote-end equipment and distribution. In the Broadcast market, including direct-to-home (DTH). |
Roberto Donadio, the ESA Technical Officer for the project said, "I like Indigo because it is a step in the integration of IP Multimedia Services with digital television technology. The unique feature is that Indigo's Digital Signage allows the creation, storage and playing of content multiple points but leaving the task of tailoring the message to the individual receiving stations at locations such as shopping malls."
| Nick Thompson, CEO, Kingston inmedia Ltd, was in turn enthusiastic of ESA's role, "ESA's funding was a great help in both getting Project Indigo off the ground and enabling us to extend the programme all the way to the live trial stage. We found ESA great to work with and were impressed with how alive they were to real business issues." |
"The successful completion of Indigo phase 1 moves forward the case for Instore Digital Media and Digital Signage, something that will benefit both the brand owners and satellite industry as a whole", he continued.
| The UK based Kingston inmedia Ltd provides global satellite-centric broadband applications, offering products and services that enable organisations in the broadcast, enterprise, and international carrier sectors to create, manipulate, store and distribute multi-media solutions. It serves a number of international customers such as BBC, BMW, Lloyds TSB, BSkyB, ITV, Reuters and Xerox. |
Kingston inmedia have been working with technology consultants ESYS whose role it was to build trial equipment in order to help market-test the system. ESYS is a UK based independent strategic consultancy with a strong presence in the areas of media, telecommunications, education and research, serving government and commercial customers in Europe. This achievement gives Kingston inmedia the opportunity to begin discussions with blue chip retail brands.
