The Rug Doctor is, I think, a relatively new (innovative) business run in high footfall areas. They rent out powerful vacuum and carpet cleaners.
This one was seen in a large Morrisons (Grocers) in Reading in the UK. The TV screen was off line and was simply a looped commercial.
Branded Fixtures (or free standing units as they are sometimes known as) are, I believe, going to be a big growth area for digital signage.
Some of the National Lottery Camelot systems from remote media are free standing for example – the connectivity of these is awful as previously described (dial up over ISDN) but the concept of having a digital screen in a stand, simply giving it electrical power and then bringing it online is compelling – for both vendors and retailers.
You may have seen similar branded fixture type opportunities across Europe but just not noticed.
I have seen untethered (un-connected) TV / LCD / PDPs used by the following brands in Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Copenhagen and all over the UK…
Clarins, Tom Tom, Krispy Kreme, Nespresso, GHD, Lego, MBT
If you are a digital signage vendor or wannabe network operator, then get friendly with your local mobile telecoms operator, get yourself some 3G / GPRS routers (Sarian Systems do the best selection in my mind) and some SIM cards and look around and see how you can help with a niche branded fixture provider.