Comcast Video Wall Gets Widgets?

If you can’t make it up to Ralph’s Cafe on the 43rd floor, the biggest attraction at the Comcast HQ building in Philly is the gargantuan video wall in the lobby. The content changes regularly, so while I was on site for a meeting yesterday, I snapped some pics of the moving scenery. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera out when I noticed what looked like a weather widget pop up on the wall. I only caught a glimpse, and not enough of a look to know if the information was live or canned. (It’s been cold, wet, and windy in Philadelphia, so graphical gray clouds wouldn’t have been amiss.) Luckily, I was ready a short while later when a similar-looking snapshot showing stock exchange data appeared on high. The Nikkei, the Hang Seng… all up-to-date financials? I ran a check of the numbers later on, and… it looks like old information.

The moral of the story here: just because it looks like a widget, doesn’t mean it is one. However, it occurs to me that piping live data to the Comcast video wall isn’t a bad next step. Weather, stocks, local parking availability, traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway. It wouldn’t be a bad way to show off cable’s convergence dream. And it might be easier than going 3D in the lobby. No glasses required.