Anybody know any good realtime websites for store display?

SunnY S

SunnY S

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Want to hook up an old PC at our store and hang a 50" TV for the customers which will display general information like news, weather, etc.

-don't want any tv channels with live feeds, just images and printed text. Sort of like what you see on the CP24 channel with all sorts of information on one screen sans the video feed.
-need something that won't gobble bandwidth. A site that updates every half hour or so is fine.
-sound not necessary, just visual.

Any ideas? Ideally something that can be "set and forget". Don't have time to update, add new info, and such. Just something that is constantly rolling and updating on its own with latest headlines, info.


Tall order? Any other ideas?
 
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It sounds like something that could be accomplished with an RSS feed and some software. This should give you your text quite easily, I'm not sure about associated images.

Never played with them myself though so I can't help you.
 
What you are asking for is achieved with Digital Signage Software. The offerings in the market range from free (largely freemium) to ultra-expensive.

For the lowest cost option I would suggest checking out Rise Vision - one of the few truly free offerings in this space. They are Canadian, run on HTML5 and for a free platform, surprisingly simple/capable. You will need some html skills and a place to host your images.

http://www.risevision.com/

Another cheap (not free this time)software would be Screenscape, worth a look as well: www.screenscape.com


PM me if you want to discuss further.


Sent from Windows Phone, using Tapatalk.
 
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Android tablet with hdmi output
setup the tablet screen with a 5 day weather widget
put whatever else you want on the screen (widgets are great for this)

problem solved
 
gqelements said:
What you are asking for is achieved with Digital Signage Software. The offerings in the market range from free (largely freemium) to ultra-expensive.

For the lowest cost option I would suggest checking out Rise Vision - one of the few truly free offerings in this space. They are Canadian, run on HTML5 and for a free platform, surprisingly simple/capable. You will need some html skills and a place to host your images.

http://www.risevision.com/

Another cheap (not free this time)software would be Screenscape, worth a look as well: www.screenscape.com


PM me if you want to discuss further.


Sent from Windows Phone, using Tapatalk.
Click to expand...

On the right track. Risevision looks good, and has the option to customize to our needs which could be a good thing.

For now to get the ball rolling, was thinking more of a "real time" based website, where it would update news, weather, and other general info automatically, without my input.
 
you could just have a twitter list of news/weather/etc that refresh every 10/15 minutes and post the tweets to the screen. that's the red green solution.
 
Im not really sure if it is what your a talking about, or if you have issues with certain news feed, but www.NBCNEWS.com refreshes itself every 10 or 15 minutes. You can customize it to show local weather and whatever categories you want to display. Its free, its regular browser stuff.
 
Confirmed with Cogeco today that we have unlimited internet, so now I am open for streaming channel options, video etc.

Still watching for ideas.
 
-D- said:
Android tablet with hdmi output
setup the tablet screen with a 5 day weather widget
put whatever else you want on the screen (widgets are great for this)

problem solved
Click to expand...

This, except I'd buy a cheap Android tv-dongle from DX.
 
Sunny,
Having been involved in retail technology for an extensive period of time, I would encourage you to a) look at the purpose of the screen/project and b) consider a real software/tool to achieve your goal.

a) unless the screen is 'just for fun' or in a sports bar - news, widgets and RSS feeds do NOTHING to increase retail sales. MultipWhile almost every one of my client discussions starts on "CP24" look, those with 1/2 a brain soon realize that this type of content does not move the needle (which is mostly their ultimate goal). Full-screen media targeted at whatever you are peddling in store, is what works. Period.

b) I've seen MANY 'DIY with a browser' projects. Most (not all granted) wind up looking unprofessional or fail entirely. Limited media support, rss control, browser reliability are some of the reasons. Streams tend to crash or get plagued with pop-ups. The best analogy I would offer a fellow rider is that you would never consider cobbling some old roller-skating knee/elbow pads and hockey shorts instead of riding gear would you? Well, here you are headed down a similar path.

If it were my store, my image and my investment on the line, I'd do it right.
 
gqelements said:
Sunny,
Having been involved in retail technology for an extensive period of time, I would encourage you to a) look at the purpose of the screen/project and b) consider a real software/tool to achieve your goal.

a) unless the screen is 'just for fun' or in a sports bar - news, widgets and RSS feeds do NOTHING to increase retail sales. MultipWhile almost every one of my client discussions starts on "CP24" look, those with 1/2 a brain soon realize that this type of content does not move the needle (which is mostly their ultimate goal). Full-screen media targeted at whatever you are peddling in store, is what works. Period.

b) I've seen MANY 'DIY with a browser' projects. Most (not all granted) wind up looking unprofessional or fail entirely. Limited media support, rss control, browser reliability are some of the reasons. Streams tend to crash or get plagued with pop-ups. The best analogy I would offer a fellow rider is that you would never consider cobbling some old roller-skating knee/elbow pads and hockey shorts instead of riding gear would you? Well, here you are headed down a similar path.

If it were my store, my image and my investment on the line, I'd do it right.
Click to expand...

Appreciate your thoughts, still in early stages. Considering all our options. Cheers.
 
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