ClearOne to Broaden Digital Signage Portfolio with Acquisition of MagicBox

Eyeing market opportunities to capitalize on the recent convergence of digital signage content and enterprise and commercial multimedia needs, ClearOne (News - Alert), a global communications and entertainment solutions provider, has acquired MagicBox, a leader in the digital signage space.

According to a press release, this buyout will significantly broaden ClearOne’s existing products and services, as well as expand its developing digital signage product suite for enhanced content and playlist creation and management.

"The combined expertise of the two companies brings to the market, the only complete, end-to-end digital signage content management and IP streaming solution," said Zee Hakimoglu, chairman and CEO of ClearOne. "The MagicBox content management and control technology and their industry leading database integration software are the perfect compliments to ClearOne's StreamNet systems."

ClearOne’s investment in Corvallis, Oregon-based MagicBox, which has been designing, developing and marketing a variety of hardware and software solutions for delivering digital content to digital displays since 1995, will certainly be lucrative in terms of global market opportunities and product development.

"MagicBox and ClearOne have complementary products for a broad spectrum of applications," said Tom Searcy, founder of MagicBox. "One of the single-most challenging requirements for any digital signage provider is the ability to distribute content over a wide-area network while maintaining control and scheduling alignment. StreamNet technology delivers low-latency HD distribution over IP which is a perfect fit with MagicBox's content creation, scheduling, database integration and digital signage domain expertise."

Meanwhile, ClearOne is also gearing up to exhibit at next week’s ITEXPO (News - Alert) West communications technology conference and expo, scheduled for Sept. 13 to 15, in Austin, Texas. To learn more about ClearOne’s offerings, visit the company website or visit the company’s ITEXPO booth, No. 825.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin