Wow! Has it really been six months? An update is called for. Since the DS Expo in Vegas in Feb, we've been quiet (More like Silent -Ed.) on the blog front, but busy as hell.

The expo was a great opportunity to meet with customers, gather feedback and understand better what their real needs are. Since then, we've been working hard on the next version of our software. This time round we've taken the time to get together and do some serious planning and design reviews, away from the usual rush-to-release pressure of normal life in a software company. What's emerging is a hugely improved new platform which is now slowly taking shape over the partition from where I write this. The team is thoroughly enthused with the task that's been set, and our offices are happily ringing to lively debates between engineering and the rest of the company about just how stuff will work.

Our new site went live today. It's taken longer (doesn't it always?) than we'd hoped, but the new structure, information and branding is all live now. You'll notice a distinct lack of 'flash' on the website and that's intentional. Do you really need to see animated lightning bolts coming out of a screen in order to get that we sell Digital Signage Software? We didn't think so either. We asked the design team (http://www.reactive.com) to come up with something friendly and different. We liked the results and we hope you do too.

You'll notice perhaps that we've changed the way we represent our product line up, with our Audio and Corp comms applications now being given a fully seperate identity. Be sure to check out Dappler and Zusa!

That's it for the short update now. I've promised the marketing department I'll do this at least every two weeks from now on. It's not that we've had nothign to say, but we've been guilty of regarding ourselves as too busy to keep blogging. Mistake! Watch this space. - Fergal.

As part of our Zusa! showcase, we're delighted to announce Equiline Zusa! channel for those interested in the Equine scene down under.  Equiline is an online publication of Equestrian news and information that provides effective, dynamic and constant communications between volunteers, spectators and riders using the world premiering software – ZUSA! Zusa allows Equiline to present information in the widest variety of multi-media available today. As you can see Equiline plays Club content – as HTML pages News from around the world – as a scrolling ticker bar fed with Live RSS Promotional material – as flash animation HD video that is presented in full screen! Step 1: Install Zusa! (requires Windows XP SP2 and .net Framework 1.1) Step 2: Tune to the Equiline Channel by a) right clicking here and choosing save target as... b) choose your desktop c) once downloaded, simply double click to tune in...

I thought I'd better get at least one entry in for July!  We've been busy the last couple of weeks finishing Zusa!  You can have a look here: http://www.ryarc.com/download/zusa.exe .  When it sets up, you'll be 'tuned' to our demo channel.  Let us know what you think.

This week, we're launching the free trial version of our ScreenSaver product which we've christened "Zusa!".  The new application allows the delivery of timed, targeted mixed content direct to the screensaver.  So other than delivering pretty pictures etc to a screensaver, what could it be used for?

Well, firstly, this is very (fundamentally) different to any screen saver that's been available before.  With Ryarc you can now turn every subscribed desktop into an information / education / entertainment channel.  You can divide subscribers into different groups and then tailor content for each division.  Instead of relying on cork and pin bulletin boards, under visited intranet sites and email, Ryarc users can leverage every corporate desktop to deliver company announcements, social club info, safety info, CEO addresses etc.  You can even include local news and weather tickers, or create your own corporate RSS feed with nooked.com to create up to the minute news and views from across the company.

Our improved RSS engine can now combine multiple feeds into a single ticker.  These RSS feeds will automatically refresh at an interval of your choice.  This is a great way to disseminate not just your own corporate news, but news from industry sources and your competition.

CampaignManager enables control of every aspect of these feeds.  Changing content is as easy as sending an email.  You can pull content, have stuff only appear at the top of the hour, temporarily replace content by publishing new information with a higher priority etc. etc.   You can create unlimited 'channels' so, if you wish, you can offer your users a choice of feeds each with different focus and content.

Because it works across the internet, you can also make these feeds available to remote staff or staff on the road.

A feature that is generating particular interest is Ryarc's ability to remotely deliver live WebPages to the screen.  This means that current 'portal pages' which are currently being used to collate and deliver team critical information on projects, metrics, sales etc. can be included with the content sent to the screensaver.

Delivering and updating content is so easy, that it can also be used for more trivial short term announcements.  Oh, and did we mention the setup is only 1.5mb?

More later!

Ryarc's "Zusa" Screen Saver in Action:

(Widescreen LCD monitor showing RSS News ticker & WMV HD video clip)