Just how many NY taxi network projects are there?

Clear Channel's NY10 network is looking even more uncertain now. First, as we noted yesterday, they released a public retraction about the advanced state of the network project, which has been described as an in-cab TV and advertising network featuring multimedia content on embedded displays. Now, ABC and VeriFone are describing what would appear to be a nearly identical network, which leaves me wondering who's really calling the shots. As the press release notes:

WABC-TV/Channel 7, the most-watched station in New York, announced today it will provide news content to the city’s famed yellow cabs. The news will be “broadcast” over integrated payment and content delivery systems developed and installed by VeriFone Transportation Systems, an alliance of VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) and Taxitronic, the leading supplier of taxicab meters in New York.

The new systems deliver the latest technology enhancements mandated by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) and will be installed in taxis over the course of the next year.

As part of the partnership, WABC will provide a customized version of its market-leading “Eyewitness News,” updated several times a day with the latest news and weather information. The video will be fed via wireless broadband technology from WABC’s website hub, www.7online.com, to thousands of moving taxicabs equipped by VeriFone Transportation Systems.

This would suggest that the meter system will be displaying the content, and not a separate multimedia display in the back, as we've seen in some past networks (and guessed would be what the NY10 network used).

So which story is accurate? Hopefully the situation will become more clear over the next few weeks, as one (or both, if they're not the same) of these networks goes to pilot.

Tags: ABC, VeriFone, Clear Channel, NY10, out-of-home advertising