screen media news 6.18.2010

The new Mac Mini is setting the bar for digital signage players. David Haynes of Sixteen-Nine tells us Apple has quietly released a new version of its Mac Mini, stripping down the size, amping up its capabilities and reducing power consumption. What was already considered arguably the best digital signage player around seems to be better (though also costlier). The refreshed Mini is now 0.6 inches thinner, and even sleeker than the original. The unibody aluminum housing now measures 7.7 inches square and is 1.4 inches tall, and the power supply is built in (meaning no power brick to worry about). It has twice the graphics performance of the earlier Mac Mini, using an NVIDIA GeForce 320M GPU. It also has an HDMI port and an SD card slot. The price for this sleek player? US $699. Read Dave's full article here.

NexComm launches new dedicated digitial signage central management server, CMS 200, with a 250 media player capacity.
DigitalSignageToday reports on the release from Nexcomm on their new server. The CMS is designed for rack mount installation and has numerous I/O interfaces, including two for USB, four for LAN and one RJ45 and one VGA port. The CMS series is designed for use with all platforms in Nexcom’s PowerDigis range of digital signage appliances, a series which includes low-cost products aimed at single/dual screen deployments, right through to high-end platforms capable of supporting four independent displays and HD video wall. Read the full article here.

Samsung to start volume shipments of iPad 9.7" panels in July.
Reported by DIGITIMES, Samsung Electronics will start volume shipments of 9.7-inch panels for the Apple iPad in July with monthly shipments reaching 300,000-500,000 units, according to market sources. Digitimes Research analyst Kuo Ming-Chi noted that the current cost of a 9-7-inch iPad panel with a touch module is about US$80-90. Full article here.

How to chose a touch screen monitor.
Sha Matrix of EZine Articles offers some insight on touch screen monitor selection. Here are three important question to ask when choosing your touch screen monitor. First, what will the general use requirements of the device be? Secondly, is this a display model that will see a lot of heavy traffic or an office touch screen that will be used by only a few isolated people? Lastly, what is your available budget for technology in the purchased end result? Read the full article here, to ensure your making the right choice in your purchase.

LED panels are in demand. LG making aggressive investments to secure sufficient and cost-effective supplies.
Willie Teng of DIGITIMES reports LED players of all levels of the supply chain are actively using strategic alliances and investments to strengthen their positions in the sector. LED TV's share of the overall LCD TV market will spike to 34% by year's end from 6% currently, according to Digitimes Research. Read the full article here.