Blue Chip Technology has announced that its RE2 single board computer has been chosen by digital signage developer Davali to provide a software and hardware bundle that will lower the cost of public display technology for use in places such as airports, hotels, shopping malls and public event locations.
U.K.-based Blue Chip Technology has recently announced the launch of the RE2, a high performance, ultra-low power single board computer. Available with a wide range of peripherals such as GPS, GPRS, networking, camera, audio, USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a powerful graphics capability, the RE2 has already secured contracts for use in telematics systems, access control and public media systems, according to Blue Chip.
“Over the years we have done a lot of work with the ‘digital signage‘ industry,” said Barry Husbands, managing director of Blue Chip Technology, in the announcement. “The new RE2 is ideal for this market, as it has a fantastic graphics capability and a lot of connectivity features. The combination of the Davali software and the RE2 offers quite a formidable package; we are very excited to be a part of this offering.”
The Davali digital signage software is developed in the U.K. and comes pre-installed on the hardware, removing the cost of integration. The combined hardware and software package includes player hardware, player software, content management software, and an optional display in a single product, further reducing the cost of setting up a digital signage network.
“This advanced technology package will bring down the cost of installation and the cost of ownership of public media systems,” Husbands said. “The hardware uses powerful smartphone technology that uses little energy and comes at a much lower price than server technology. Also, the software is royalty free, so there is no recurring cost as with existing systems.”
The RE2 uses the ARM Cortex A8 and a Texas C64x DSP, enabling it to handle high quality graphics such as moving media or 3D, while also managing complex tasks and a broad range of peripherals, the company said. The RE2 is currently available with support for Embedded Windows and Linux, and support for other operating systems is available on request. The board is also available in an “extended temperature” version for rugged industrial and scientific applications.
The Davali/Blue Chip system can operate as a stand-alone device or as part of a network in either small or large businesses. It also provides flexible scheduling options allowing presentations to be scheduled by the minute, hour, day, week or month. The system has been designed to be simple and easy to use, so that no prior knowledge is required, with the default set up providing an out of the box solution. The creation of content for public display is made easy by the dragging and dropping of frames onto the design area, the company said.
For more information, visit our Hardware and Software research centers.
Source link: UK firms Blue Chip, Davali partner for digital signage bundle