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DALLAS — Two Texas companies have built a device for store shelves that plays commercials as shoppers decide to buy or not to buy.

Major consumer products brands including Coke, Colgate, Maxwell House and Tyson are participating for free in a test of P.O.P. ShelfAds, which is under way in Dallas.

The wireless device kicks on as shoppers pause during the critical eight-second window that researchers say it takes to decide which toothpaste or soda is going in the basket.

For more than three years, Houston-based Point of Product Broadcasting Co. and Irving, Texas-based Avidwireless have been working on the device, which has a 3.5-inch screen, a digital readout and a sensor that knows a shopper is there. The unit is also capable of sending out scents of fresh bread or coffee.

P.O.P. ShelfAds is the brainchild of Earl Littman, a 79-year-old previously retired Houston advertising executive.

"For years, I spent the clients' money on TV advertising and we weren't sure if it worked. I think this prevents waste," Littman said.

Later this year, the test will be expanded. Additional brands that have commercials running this weekend and all next week are Energizer, Bush's Beans, Mrs. Baird's, Bimbo Bakeries, Reynolds, Kikkoman and Rotel.

When the test is done, Littman estimates that it will cost about 16 cents an hour — or $1,460 annually — to hire one device for a year.

"Technology had to catch up to Earl's idea," said John McGinnis, senior vice president of sales and business development at Avidwireless. "Sharp Electronics developed the HDTV screen that was small enough but still had a quality picture that could run on batteries."

The timing of the new medium may be right as product manufacturers and retailers try to reach shoppers at several levels due to media fragmentation.

"This sounds very promising. The fact that it's small and wireless and truly at the point-of-purchase level makes it very intriguing," said Bill Schober, editorial director of the In-Store Marketing Institute, an industry research and trade group.