Impart to power digital media networks for Microsoft

Hot on the heels of their announcement to change business models, Impart also claims to be working with Microsoft on their interactive retail displays for the Zune media player and Windows Vista OS. From the release: "[t]he merchandising system employs an LCD touch screen and is based on the Microsoft XP Embedded(TM) platform -- delivering a rich media experience to the consumer -- at the point-of-sale. The robust system was designed to be mass scalable and allows for future expansion, including networking."

So it looks like the first incarnation of this system won't be networked, but there's certainly room for that upgrade later on. Considering how much flexibility and improved availability remote monitoring and content management provides, I'd expect to see this come in sooner rather than later, provided of course that the systems actually provide some benefit in-store.

Tags: Microsoft, Impart, Zune, merchandising, retail media, kiosks