In America, rAVe reports Panasonic plans to eliminate the Sanyo brand by April 1st, 2012. rAVe learned Panasonic will absorb the Sanyo products that aren't redundant, so you'll see Sanyo's meeting room line of projectors take on the Panasonic badge in 2012. As most of Sanyo's sales and marketing channels become redundant, they will be eliminated. For the most part, Sanyo folks will need to find new jobs.

Recent record-losses at Panasonic suggest drastic measures are the order of the day. Panasonic had already been absorbing some of the Sanyo technology into their own products throughout 2012, and divesting unwanted Sanyo operations (like washing machines.).

But is this news only for the American market? We have contacted Panasonic and were told, “Panasonic will unify its brand names to Panasonic in April 2012.There may be, however, regions and products where Sanyo brand will remain for the time being from the customer relation and cost perspective.”

A drum roll, please…as we open the envelope with the nominations…and the winner of the Microsoft Windows Embedded Partner of the Year award goes to…

During the Windows Embedded Partner Executive Summit in Taipei, AOpen won the award for Partner of the Year for fastest growing company in the Digital Signage industry.

The AOpen Digital Engine is the company’s flagship product and referred to as “the world’s smallest semi-industrial media player with such strong capabilities”. The compact size is a set standard and makes it easy to install, without increasing the space between the wall and the display, or to integrate in a kiosk or other specifically designed presentation system. Each Digital Engine unit has to pass vibration tests to guarantee its reliability.

AOpen has more than 15 years of IT hardware manufacturing experience that it believes will help drive the continuous development of high-end products specifically designed for the digital signage industry.

[Photo caption: Kevin Dallas, General Manager of Windows Embedded Business and Pascal Martin, General Manager of Worldwide Windows Embedded Sales, handed over the award to James Hua, General Manager AOpen Europe.]

Go AOpen Wins Microsoft Award

Do you associate Dell with digital signage? Dell OEM Solutions was selected by Tripleplay Services, a provider of IPTV, Video Streaming and Digital Signage solutions, to provide a back-end hardware platform, including the OEM-ready Dell PowerEdge R710 and T110 servers.

Founded in 2001, Tripleplay Services has an impressive customer base across 33 countries. Tripleplay claims the largest IPTV deployment within the UK with over 200,000 client devices supported within closed communities and the largest deployment of HD streaming and IPTV servers for any single customer in Europe.

Tripleplay’s relationship with Dell OEM Solutions has already proved instrumental in a number of significant customer wins, with particular traction within stadia, education and retail sectors. (Tripleplay’s customers in these markets include: Chelsea FC and the Green Point and Port Elizabeth 2010 World Cup stadia in South Africa, Sheffield Hallam, Portsmouth and Southampton Solent Universities and London School of Economics, Dixons/Currys and several hospitality solutions in major 4 and 5 stars hotels around the world.)

“Tripleplay’s solutions are a great example of a widely-deployed technology, which people might be surprised to find out is powered by Dell OEM Solutions,” says Sam Forsbom, general manager, OEM Solutions EMEA at Dell. “However, the fact that we are powering digital signage technology in a number of very high-profile customer deployments shows how invaluable our combination of technology and services can be to organizations like Tripleplay looking for ways to facilitate business transformation.”

Go Tripleplay Services

Go Dell OEM Solutions blog

Go Dell Digital Signage

YCD Multimedia buys C-nario and pockets a new $6 million fundraising round from the venture capital companies involved.

This is another consolidation that delineates the digital signage industry’s need to grow bigger players, players that can offer end-to-end solutions that encompass everything from content management to measurement and analytics.

This acquisition and the funding will expand its reach to serve more than 2000 brands, including leading Fortune 500 global brands, in over 40 countries worldwide. The company also hopes to deliver a complete brand experience in the retail industry as well as in other market segments.

YCD will continue to provide support to both YCD and C-nario customers. Noam Levavi, co-founder and CEO of YCD will continue to lead the combined entity from its NYC headquarters.

Go YCD Buys C-Nario