The ISE show (Integrated Systems Europe) in Amsterdam, that kicked off yesterday, is both the “InfoComm/CEDIA of Europe” (in fact those two Associations produce the show), and the fastest growing AV-related trade event anywhere. It’s more growth this year, and more interesting developments to kick off the installed AV calendar for 2013.
Last year I wrote that the ISE show- with its combined CEDIA-InfoComm genetic pool– illustrated the topsy-turvy nature of an industry– pro AV– that not that long ago featured new-gen technology introduced first on the “pro” side and then trickling over to the consumer side. Last year’s ISE saw more reversal of that causality, with transparent LCD (Samsung, LG, Viewsonic, Vestel, and others), and “Hybrid” video projectors from Casio and others getting lots of attention at ISE.
This year, it seems Digital Signage is all over the show floor at ISE. There are significant digital signage-related solutions on view, from NEC, ComQi, Planar, Kramer, Prysm, X2O, Christie, Atlona, ZeeVee, Dataton, LG, YCD MultiMedia, Samsung, NanoLumens, Panasonic, and more.
Of particular interest: note the announcement of several “partnerships” at the show. The first between ComQi and Kramer where by the former (a digital signage content management software provider) is partnering with a hardware provider, Kramer. The agreement provides Kramer Electronics with “exclusive manufacturing, sales and marketing rights for ComQi's (formerly Minicom Digital Signage) Media Distribution products and rights for ComQi to market and distribute Kramer's products to its customer base.”
Another announcement from ISE: YCD Multimedia will collaborate with Mobile Bridge, a provider of targeted mobile marketing solutions, to extend digital signage "beyond the boundaries of screens and video walls into mobile devices."
The other partnership is between display provider Prysm and another digital signage content management software provider– X2O. The Prysm/X2O is ostensibly just an ISE show partnership (at the ISE show the X2O platform will drive live tweets to a Prysm videowall in stand 11-H4D), but it too underscores that installers and integrators need to be aware of all these kinds of partnerships if they want to follow the money in digital signage and themselves partner with the right combination of providers.
ISE has been located in Amsterdam for eight of its ten years, and has seen phenomenal growth year after year. Its previous contract with the RAI –the huge convention venue in Amsterdam – ran until 2016. But ISE announced today that his has now been extended for a further three years. ISE is also announcing today changes to its dates from 2015. ISE 2014 will take place as previously announced from 4–6 February 2014, but from 2015 the show will move to the second week of February, making it easier, according to ISE, “to manage for exhibitors who also attend January events in North America such as CES and Winter NAMM.”
This year’s ISE has some 894 exhibitors set up to occupy more than 33,000 net square meters of floor space – both record numbers for the event.
