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News Archive |
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Thursday, 28 September 2006
GameSpot: Sony Computer Entertainment America chief operating officer Jack Tretton said 15,000 PlayStation 3 demonstration kiosks will be deployed to American and Canadian retailers over the holiday season. By contrast, only 3,000 demo kiosks were used for the PlayStation 2 launch.
Thursday, 28 September 2006
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Immersion Corp., a developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, announced in a news release that kiosk supplier, KIOSK Information Systems, is offering Immersion's TouchSense tactile feedback solution in its kiosks for the self-service and retail industries.
Serving North American and European markets estimated at $1 billion and 193,000 deployed kiosks annually, KIOSK's new TouchSense tactile feedback option expands exposure for the technology. KIOSK is exhibiting in booth #2000 and Immersion is exhibiting in booth #407 at the Sept. 28-29 Self-Service & Kiosk Show in San Antonio.
TouchSense components integrated into touchscreen designs produce tactile feedback in response to the user's press. For retail and self-service applications, the simple addition of a tactile cue may either help overcome user uncertainty or enhance the user experience. A tactile cue supplies unmistakable confirmation, encouraging more rapid and accurate data entry. By establishing clear communication, it also promotes greater ease-of-use leading to higher customer satisfaction. And a tactile cue increases interactivity and a sense of control, helping to create a more engaging experience to encourage continued use.
"KIOSK has built virtually every type of self-service application in every type of location and environment imaginable," said Michael D. Levin, vice president and general manager of Immersion's touch interface products group. "One of the reasons they are such a strong leader is that KIOSK is not only a manufacturer, but also a consultant in ensuring the long-term success of their customers' projects. KIOSK sees the value of our TouchSense system and will now be able to help its customers capitalize on tactile feedback technology for improving kiosk applications and the user experience."
Thursday, 28 September 2006
Los Angeles Times: In Augusta, Ga., pastor Marty Baker has brought a touch of the future to his 1,100-member congregation, Stevens Creek Community Church. The church recently installed three touchscreen "giving kiosks," which allow parishioners to tithe with the swipe of a card.
"I paid for gas today with a card, and got lunch with one," said churchgoer Josh Marshall. "This is really no different."
Baker came up with the kiosk idea a couple of years ago. He had just kicked off a $3-million building drive, but noticed that few people kept cash in their wallet for the collection bag.
So he began studying the electronic payment business. He designed his machine with the help of a computer programmer who attends Stevens Creek, and found ATM companies willing to assemble it for him. In early 2005, he introduced the first machine at his church.
Since then, kiosk giving has gradually gained acceptance among his upper-middle-class flock. The three kiosks are expected to take in between $200,000 and $240,000 this year · about 15 percent of the church's total donations.
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Wednesday, 27 September 2006
Hotel Interactive: Embassy Suites Hotels announced the launch of its 20/10 brand evolution program with the completion of EmbassyDirect Registration Kiosks in all of the brand's 182 hotels, as well as the added capability of printing airline boarding passes directly from all kiosks.
With this announcement, Embassy Suites Hotels is the first hotel brand to install the kiosk check-in technology in all hotels. Additionally, the hotel brand also becomes the first to announce airline boarding-pass printing capabilities for 18 major airlines from the kiosks in 100 percent of its hotels.
This new complimentary service spearheads the brand's 20/10 brand evolution and enhancement program, a comprehensive series of product and service upgrades and enhancements, as well as brand standards, to keep the Embassy Suites Hotels brand a leader in the upscale, full-service hotel category. By year-end 2007, the Embassy Suites brand will have funded nearly $10 million on several 20/10 initiatives including breakfast, team member uniforms and registration kiosks.
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Wednesday, 27 September 2006
EXTON, Pa. - Scala Inc., provider of end-to-end digital signage software, announced the creation of Scala Broadcast Multimedia France SAS, a wholly owned subsidiary located in the La Defense business district of Paris, France.
Heading up this new business unit is Oscar Elizaga, Scala's vice president, EMEA and president of Scala France. Philippe Lemaire, director of France channel sales, will head up all sales operations and manage the relationship with Scala partners in France.
Tuesday, 26 September 2006
The New York Times: A growing number of state and local officials are getting cold feet about electronic voting technology, and many are making last-minute efforts to limit or reverse the rollout of new machines in the November elections.
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Tuesday, 26 September 2006
MEXICO CITY · Two of Latin America's most dominant companies, Grupo Televisa and Wal-Mart de Mexico ("Wal-Mex"), have launched an in-store media network covering 292 Wal-Mex stores across Mexico.
Comprising more than 5,000 digital-signage displays and touchscreen kiosks, the network is centrally managed using FireCast software and media player hardware from WireSpring Technologies.
 Televisa creates original retail-specific programming for the Wal-Mex network, combining informational segments and advertising spots. For shoppers, the content enhances the store experience and helps them make smart purchasing decisions. For advertisers, the network provides an additional opportunity to highlight key selling points, complementing traditional point-of-purchase advertising. Content is delivered through large-screen LCD displays in key store locations, as well as touchscreen kiosks in the pharmacy and other areas.
For Televisa, the Wal-Mex network provides new out-of-home ad inventory that can be sold to Wal-Mex product suppliers and other advertising clients. By outsourcing the content delivery technology and in-store playback software to WireSpring, Televisa retains focus on its core competencies of content production and advertising sales.
Key facts about the network:
- 292 stores under the Wal-Mart Supercenter and Bodega Aurrera brands.
- 21-28 large-screen LCDs per store, plus touchscreen kiosks.
- Content is customized by store type, with multiple channels per store, including a dedicated channel for the pharmacy in Supercenter locations.
- Products include WireSpring's FireCast OS, FireCast ClientCenter, and FireCast Media Appliance, as well as IBM's Anyplace Kiosk.
The Wal-Mex network rollout began in July 2006 and is expected to be complete by early November.
Tuesday, 26 September 2006
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. · Motorola Inc. announced it is the first mobile-device manufacturer to offer its products to consumers through robotic retail stores in a pilot program providing automated, on-demand retail solutions in key markets.
Leveraging small-format robotic stores operated by Zoom Systems, the new retail option will be placed in high traffic locations.
"Continuing our effort to reinvent mobile retail culture and transform the consumer experience, this on-demand retail solution is an interesting approach to the many extensions of our retail strategy," said Jason Few, corporate vice president of global retail for Motorola. "This pilot program is an opportunity to bring never-seen-before convenience to consumers who are looking for ways to make life easier."
These robotic stores will be branded "INSTANTMOTO" and are expected to be deployed in approximately 20 locations, from airports to malls, nationwide by November 2006.
The stores will house more than 25 Motorola products, including carrier-ready MOTORAZR handsets, Bluetooth-enabled headsets, cordless phones, car chargers and more.
The vending systems are now in the San Francisco International Airport and Macy's on State Street.
Tuesday, 26 September 2006
NaplesNews.com: At First Presbyterian Church in Bonita Springs, Fla., all new hires, volunteers and contractors are screened. The process includes running the person through the FBI database and finger-printing. Using a kiosk, the system checks visitors in while at the same time performing background checks against a national sex offender registry by using their driver's license and biometric identifiers like fingerprints.
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Monday, 25 September 2006
Sheetz stores are a little different. The convenience chain that began in 1952 as Sheetz Dairy Store in Altoona, Penn., now hires baristas to pour gourmet coffee. Their store-branded MasterCards have RFID chips.
For the past 10 years, Sheetz stores have leveraged kiosks to move their made-to-order sandwiches. Each of the 327 Sheetz stores has multiple ordering stations. From those stations, customers input their orders, while being automatically prompted for cross-sells and up-sells. The orders are then moved to the appropriate production area of the kitchen, depending on what sandwich the customer selects.
Sheetz food ordering kiosks enable the conveniece stores to manage full service kitchens, 24 hours per day.
The company, ranked the 12th best place to work in Pennsylvania, uses automated technology to create jobs for human workers. It's innovative management have also won it acclaim from the foodservice industry when it became the first c-store to win Foodservice International's Silver Plate award for management and marketing. Sheetz director of programming Jim Wenner said the system, a novelty among c-stores, would be unmanageable if driven by paper ordering.
"It allows us to produce our food service offer faster," Wenner said. "From customer order to sale, we are more efficient behind the counter. It helps us with queuing of our orders and accurate production of food orders. So it helps us on both sides of the counter. Both our customers and our employees benefit from self-service technology."
The ordering kiosks are made by Radiant Systems with windows software. Radiant spokesman James Hervey explained the value that kiosks hold for Sheetz.
"First and foremost, it has to do with transaction speed," Hervey said. "You're able to process customers much faster. You can put a whole block of them in there and a bunch of customers can be ordering at one time instead of having a bottleneck at an order taker."
Hervey said the automatic upsells are a huge profit driver, allowing Sheetz to consistently and automatically offer upsells in a way that humans can't, since a human's upsell presentation would change from customer to customer. In addition, he said the kiosks save expensive waste.
"When you put a self-service kiosk in, misorders pretty much drop to zero," Hervey said. "They put it on a bright, easy-to-understand interface and it's easy to go back and change things. The number of misorders pretty much drops to zero."
Radiant builds the systems to be extremely durable. Hervey said even a clean c-store presents a harsh environment for equipment, with dirt, debris and foot traffic. Also, they try to make the units low maintenance, including as few moving parts as possible.
"Our flagship customer self-service terminal has one fan," Hervey said. "And it almost never turns on because it uses the case itself and other non-moving components to take the heat off the chips."
The innovations inside the store have led to innovations outside the store. Thirty five of them have ordering kiosks next to the gas pumps. And Hervey said they've been popular enough to be included in all forthcoming Sheetz stores.
Each store, which is open 24 hours per day, has 20 to 25 employees — more than the typical c-store, according to Hervey, because each store has a kitchen. Without the kiosks simplifying the ordering, the kitchens would be far less feasible.
And the effects of the kiosks are not lost on the customers. One of them is Krystle Emph, who visits Sheetz two to three times per week. She said she likes the convenience of the cash-accepting gas pumps, which prevent her from waiting in line to prepay.
"I do order through a machine and it makes things go a lot more smoothly than ordering with a person, takes away the errors that the person may make," Emph said. "They are the only place that I know of that does that and that's one of the main reasons I go there."
Monday, 25 September 2006
SNPX.com: Breaking into an ATM might not involve ramming it with a forklift after all. A security researcher has discovered it can be done using something much less violent — a Google search. According to a report on eWeek, respected security researcher Dave Goldsmith, founder of Matasano Security and formerly of @Stake, used Google to find master passwords for a popular U.S. ATM brand, the Tranax Mini-Bank 1500 series, in only 15 minutes.
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Monday, 25 September 2006
SNPX.com: A new report by Forrester Research entitled "Anyone Who Says RFID Is ‘Completely Secure' Is Selling Something,"� describes the main areas of vulnerability within an RFID deployment and provides recommendations in the form of steps companies should take to protect data. The same types of attacks to which any type of database is vulnerable could be levied against RFID middleware, it warns.
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Friday, 22 September 2006
CERRITOS, Calif. · Enhance Electronics, Spin Networks and CeroView have teamed up to demonstrate their "intelligent" remote access power hub for kiosks and managed-device networks. This new technology will enable those deploying kiosks, ATMs, and any other independent devices to remotely monitor connected peripherals and power-related issues in a real-time environment.
The three companies will demonstrate this new technology at the Self-Service and Kiosk Show being held in San Antonio Sept. 27th and 28th. Demonstrations will take place at Booth # 603.
The integrated solution features Enhance Electronics Remote Access Power Hub, (RAP), which utilizes a network access line (or any available Internet connection) to remotely control the A/C input power to a kiosk, ATM or any other multi-function device that has unique power requirements.
The Enhance RAP is also designed to manage a multiple number of devices without the need for costly power adapters, by delivering 12 VDC and 24 VDC for devices, including but not limited to, ticketing receipt printers, motorized card readers, coin dispensers, currency acceptors, biometric readers and other 12/24 VDC using devices.
Using Spin Networks' nokLINK, operators can securely log in from any Web-based PC or workstation and manage its entire network of devices, including power supplies and any other associated peripheral component. nokLINK, Spin Networks communication protocol, has the ability to enable secure, 2-way communication to any device, on any network, behind any firewall.
Friday, 22 September 2006
CecilWhig.com: Lines at the county treasurer's office could become a thing of the past. A new computerized kiosk in the Cecil County Cecil Court building allows county property owners to pay taxes and search tax records without ever having to set foot in the office. Installed by Kionetics Interactive Solutions, the kiosk went online nearly two weeks ago at its location near the Clerk of the Court's office in the courthouse.
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Friday, 22 September 2006
TRUMBULL, Conn. — JD Events, producers of KioskCom, will acquire The Self-Service and Kiosk Show from NetWorld Alliance, the two companies announced today. The acquisition is being made for an undisclosed amount of cash and other terms included in a strategic agreement between the two companies.
Based in Louisville, Ky., NetWorld Alliance is the leading media provider for the kiosk and self-service industry. Its properties include Self-Service World magazine, SelfServiceWorld.com, KioskMarketplace.com, ATMmarketplace.com websites, the Self-Service and Kiosk Show and the Self-Service & Kiosk Association (SSKA). JD Events is a Trumbull, Conn. based tradeshow organizer that owns and operates KioskCom, the largest and longest-running tradeshow and conference in the self-service kiosk market, publishes an online newsletter, The KioskCom Report, and manages the KioskCom Professional Society, an organization for the deployers of kiosk technology.
The two firms will form a cooperative marketing partnership whereby each of their respective properties will be mutually endorsed and supported by the other.
"We believe this relationship will create a win-win-win scenario among NetWorld Alliance, JD Events and the entire self-service and kiosk community. Exhibitors and the market at large will now get even higher quality tradeshows, and the previous media confusion in the marketplace will no longer exist," said Dick Good, CEO of NetWorld Alliance. "The vendor community will now be able to invest their marketing dollars more efficiently, and we think the industry will grow more quickly as a result."
"The kiosk and self-service industry is poised for tremendous growth over the coming years," said Joel A. Davis, CEO of JD Events. "We are excited about the strategic alliance we have formed with NetWorld. We look forward to working closely with them throughout each year to promote the industry via our respective media properties and to gather the community in person at the KioskCom events."
JD Events will produce two KioskCom events in 2007, including April 25-27 in Las Vegas and October 10-11 in New York City. NetWorld will continue to publish its full line of self-service media and will offer special promotional packages for the exhibitors at KioskCom events. JD Events will also join the Advisory Board of the Self-Service & Kiosk Association and membership in their KioskCom Professional Society will transfer automatically to membership in the new Self-Service Technology User Group, part of the Self-Service & Kiosk Association. The Association will hold its Annual Meetings at the spring KioskCom event each year.
Thursday, 21 September 2006
EXTON, Pa. · Scala Inc., provider of end-to-end digital signage software, announced the creation of Scala KK, a wholly owned subsidiary located in Tokyo.
Scala KK will be the center of operations for Scala's Asian market. Guillaume Proux will assume the role of general manager, and Takahiro Furuichi will serve as technical services manager. Scala's sales office in Greater China, headed by Elaine Chew, will move under Scala KK's umbrella.
"Our InfoChannel product line has been available for some time now in Japanese, Chinese (simplified & traditional) and Korean language versions." said Gerard Bucas, Scala president and chief executive. "Now with Scala KK based in Tokyo we will be able to provide local support and other services to our customers in their own language."
Thursday, 21 September 2006
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The idea of shopping without a purse or wallet might take some time to catch on, but companies using the new Pay by Touch biometric system, say store by store, it is gaining acceptance.
Jewel-Osco, the biggest user in the Milwaukee area of Pay By Touch, rolled out the system last spring. In Jewel-Osco's four-state area, about 56,000 customers have enrolled, said Juanita Kocanda, Jewel-Osco's manager of public affairs.
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Thursday, 21 September 2006
ZDNetAsia.com: Commuters in the near future can not only buy a can of drink from a vending machine at a subway station, they may also be able to borrow a book to read. Singapore-based RFID applications developer Wavex Technologies has developed book-dispensing kiosks and portable book drop-bins that are enabled with radio frequency identification technology.
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Wednesday, 20 September 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. · Precision Dynamics Corp., provider of automatic wristband identification technology, will demonstrate its Smart Band RFID Wristband System during the World Waterpark Association Symposium and Trade Show, October 20-21 in Orlando, Florida.
Smart Band wristband applications provide waterpark venues and patrons with automated, cashless, point-of-sale, keyless entry to hotel rooms and lockers, park admission, and nontransferable patron identification, as well as other customizable applications.
The Smart Band wristband system consists of PDC Smart Kiosks and Smart Readers as well as third-party software and hardware as needed. Smart Kiosk is an ATM-like booth with a touchscreen that allows patrons to load money using cash, credit or debit cards onto the RFID wristbands.
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
IT Week: Woolworths has signed a contract to install interactive kiosks in its shops as part of its multichannel push to enable customers to buy items on their own.
The kiosks allow customers to purchase products in-store and have them delivered to the door, which Woolworths hopes will improve customer experience and revenue. The machines are expected to be installed in time for Christmas.
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Wednesday, 20 September 2006
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. · Redbox, operator of fully automated DVD rental kiosks, announced it is adding an online reservation functionality.
Beginning Sept. 25, consumers can visit the Redbox Web site to confirm their chosen movies will be in stock. Once payment is confirmed, the selected DVDs are guaranteed to be available at chosen locations. Leveraging real-time inventory data, the site will provide an alternative location if the selected kiosk does not have the title in stock.
Customers can keep the DVDs for as long as they'd like for only $1 per night plus tax, and return their DVDs to any Redbox kiosk nationwide.
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
Miami.com: The computer said he lost. But public relations instinct said he won. And so the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino announced Tuesday that Freddy Howard will get his $259,945.75 loyalty kiosk jackpot after all. Howard had threatened to picket the casino after it balked at giving him a jackpot employees told him he had won during an Aug. 29 visit.
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
Mercury News: Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Sept. 18 that San Francisco is one of five cities to be awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund a new food stamp access program.
Using the grant money, San Francisco's Human Services Agency, in collaboration with several community partners, will set up Web cameras and computer kiosks for San Franciscans to enroll in the food-stamp program or renew their applications online.
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Tuesday, 19 September 2006
American Technology Corporation is Shaping the Future of Sound through revolutionary concepts in directional acoustic beam forming. Our award-winning HyperSonic Sound (HSS) brings a new dimension to audio control and placement. HSS provides the ability to restrict sound to a specific area without disturbing employees or creating unwanted noise pollution. Focus sound exactly where your want it and nowhere else.
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
DUBAI - MxN Middle East will work to help Aptec integrate digital signage into its kiosks and provide support services to Aptec in helping it establish a digital signage arm. "We look forward to working with Aptec and building an increased awareness of digital signage and kiosk technology," said Raad Raad, managing director of MxN Middle East.
Read more.
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Zwire.com: Dollywood has implemented the first phase of a line buster system which allows people to reserve a place in line for an attraction without having to actually wait. The system incorporates a kiosk allowing groups of six to pay a fee not to wait in line.
Read more.
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
ThisIsDerbyshire.co.uk: Disabled and elderly people will be able to see what is upstairs at Erewash Museum, thanks to a new multimedia kiosk. The kiosk features images of the displays, along with information about the individual pieces.
Read more.
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
RegisterBee.com: A South Boston man faces more than 1,500 years in prison after pleading no contest to 153 charges involving child pornography. David K. Tetterton, a former real estate sales associate, was arrested March 24 after a Wal-Mart employee reported to South Boston police that he had been using the photo lab's self-serve kiosk to print images of child porn.
Read more.
Monday, 18 September 2006
CHICAGO -- The newly rebuilt and reopened McDonald's at Archer and Rutherford incorporates content-managed digital signs on a much more practical scale. If successful, the installation could take digital signs from novelty to common-place status in McDonald's stores.
Operations manager Wayne Adamczyk has managed McDonald's stores for more than 30 years. In this blue-collar, south-side neighborhood where realtors still advertise in Polish, Adamczyk pays close attention to his customers, many of whom he knows by first name. He has no doubt the signs already have been successful.
"It's very difficult for me to measure return on investment," Adamczyk said. "But it's very easy for me to go to five stores within 10 minutes of here, and customers there talk about this. I want people to say ‘This is my kind of McDonald's.' It's all about personalizing the location."
Images scroll across digital multiple signs in this Chicago McDonald's.
Adamczyk said he wanted to give the signs a Las Vegas feel, with lots of color and motion. He said traditional in-store signs can't compete, because they are too easily lost in the surroundings too easily.
"I can ask a manager what's on the (traditional) signs out here and they can't tell me, because after two days it's wallpaper," Adamczyk said.
TAP TV built the deployment in three different parts running on the same system.
Eight 15-inch LCD flat screens set side-to-side on the face of a ceiling over-hang above the registers greet customers. The screens show synchronized marketing content continuously. For example, a McDonald's logo flashes onto a screen on the far right and zooms to the screen on the far left. Similar cross-screen effects are done with promotions on premium coffee and breakfast dishes.
Then there are 42-inch screens in the dining areas that run action sports videos and McDonald's ads. The screens are divided into sections. The videos play in the largest portion of the screen. Along the left side, scrolling full-motion video previews invite customers to text short codes from their mobile phone to change the video.
"Think of this like a video jukebox," TAP TV Chief Operations Officer Tim Dorgan said.
Dorgan said the phone numbers collected when customers text in short codes were not yet being used for marketing, other than a ‘Thank you' message broadcast back to each user. But collecting the numbers could let them later send more promotional messages to users.
The third part of the deployment, inside the Playland, consists of another big screen with a camera and, across the room, a three-foot-tall, Grimace-purple kiosk. The touchscreen plays cartoons and marketing content. Kids can use the kiosk to choose which cartoons will run. For birthday parties and special occasions, a manager code can stop the video and turn on the camera, allowing the children to see themselves on TV.
The nerve center is the store's tiny office, which looks like a server room, including the several CPUs the digital signs require, and the many other computers required to run a modern McDonald's. TAP TV CEO John Malec said the Linux-based computer systems used 2.2ghz AMD processors, Invidia graphic cards and 250 gigabytes of storage per computer — which gives many of their clients more than 1 terabyte of content storage.
He said TAP TV had almost completed a user-friendly GUI toolkit which would enable clients to develop their own in-store television advertising on-site.
"We already have the toolkit built," Malec said. "We just don't have the ‘user-friendly.' That will be rolled out in two to four weeks."
The very technical behind-the-scenes technology couldn't look simpler from the front end. Throughout the store, logos and commercials in bright, friendly McDonald's colors continually bounce around. Early on a recent Thursday morning, customers stared at the flashing images while they ate breakfast. Robin Basilitis said it was her first visit back to the location since the store was rebuilt.
"The old one didn't have monitors," she said. "They look nice. Nice coloring."
Maria Escoto ate her breakfast sandwich in Playland, with her 2-year-old daughter, and had picked up a birthday party info card. They watched the plasma TV together.
"I'm watching Scooby Doo," Escoto said.
Adamczyk is pleased with his new method of reaching customers, and the only question he still harbors about the system after seeing his customer's reactions was how to expand it. His answer: An $80,000 outdoor digital sign hung under the store's traditional golden arches. The Optec sign, which is actually two 6' x 12' digital signs hung back-to-back on the sign post (where the old clear-plastic-letter signs are usually placed) would play the same TAP TV content visible in-store.
"You're going to see the same thing out here that you can in there," Adamczyk said. "(His digital signs are) a work-in-progress. They're baby steps."
Monday, 18 September 2006
PADERBORN, Germany · China Construction Bank, one of the four largest Chinese banks, has awarded Wincor Nixdorf a follow-up contract for 900 ATMs. CCB plans to use the new units to expand its existing ATM network in China.
The contract agreement includes a software package that will allow the operation of the systems to be monitored online. The software will initially be implemented for a group of 350 systems that includes ATMs from other vendors.
The systems will be made available to CCB clients at branches throughout the country.
Wincor Nixdorf also will assume responsibility for servicing the machines. The present order includes ProCash 2000xe, ProCash 2050xe and ProCash 2150xe systems.
Thursday, 14 September 2006
CHICAGO, Ill. - Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, which operates 216 facilities in 44 countries, announced it is now offering its Gold Passport members the ability to check in to their rooms prior to arrival using Web-based handheld devices. Now available at participating Hyatt properties in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, this new offering also allows guests to select their room types, upgrades and other amenities.
"As the landscape of hotel check-in continues to evolve, we are seeing more and more travelers taking advantage of lobby kiosks and Web-based applications that give complete control over the process and as a result, greater peace of mind during the stresses of travel," said Matt Adams, vice president of operations for Hyatt Hotels Corp. "If a guest's flight is delayed or a traveler wants to upgrade to a Regency Club room, it's now possible to check in via the palm of the hand."
Thursday, 14 September 2006
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - McDonald's locations in the Philippines have added digital signage systems, built on the Scala InfoChannel platform and implemented and managed by Globaltronics Inc.
McDonald's digital signage network runs in most of its outlets, spanning across the Philippines archipelago from metro Manila to Cebu and Davao City. Geographically, Globaltronics also covers outlets from Central Luzon down to the Visayas and Mindanao islands.
Most of the fast-food outlets are equipped with a 42-inch plasma screen (several locations have two screens installed) positioned mainly at or near the counters in the store and driven by one Scala InfoChannel Player. Currently the Scala InfoChannel is deployed in 32 locations, with another 118 locations to be deployed by the first quarter of 2007.
The digital content for all locations is developed and managed by Globaltronics, and remotely controlled from the Globaltronics network operations center. The content is updated an average of twice a week or as frequent as necessary for the entire network, selected outlets or sometimes specific individual outlets.
The rich media content includes McDonald's marketing and product collaterals, product promotions, video commercials and special announcements. Further revenue is generated from the sales of advertising space to McDonald's business partners as well as third-party advertisers.
The management and control of the digital signage network is supported by an infrastructure comprising a proxy server installed at McDonalds' main server that is used to distribute the content on McDonalds' WAN system. A 256Kbps VPN connection links Globaltronics with the proxy server at McDonald's headquarters.
Globaltronics selected the Scala Infochannel suite as the preferred tool-of-choice for the digital signage network mainly because of its network management capabilities and the versatility of the display output in addition to its ease of implementation and operations.
Thursday, 14 September 2006
BURNABY, BC · TIO Networks Corp. announced it will launch a new bill-payment program that allows Alltel Wireless customers to securely and conveniently pay their bills with cash at TIO's self-service paystations in convenience stores across 22 states.
Alltel owns and operates the nation's largest wireless network and has more than 11 million wireless customers.
Beginning this fall, Alltel customers will be able to make time-sensitive bill payments, 24-hours-a-day, by inserting cash through bill acceptors at TIO touchscreen terminals. Alltel customers can navigate through billpay and other TIO applications in either English or Spanish and complete financial transactions by either printing or e-mailing receipts to an e-mail address of their choice. Users pay a $3 convenience fee per transaction.
"We are thrilled to provide Alltel customers with immediate and cost effective bill payment solutions to cash paying customers," said Hamed Shahbazi, chairman and chief executive of TIO. "Alltel joins TIO Networks' growing list of billing and service partners who share a common vision to provide the highest level of service and convenience to their customers to perform high volume, time sensitive bill payment services nationally."
Wednesday, 13 September 2006
LEICESTER, U.K. · Working Solutions, software provider for the self-service and digital signage industries, announced in a news release the launch of version 3.0 of its digital-signage management suite, Acquire.
Acquire is designed to accommodate different software "plug ins" called ACQs. A few examples of ACQs are a ticker-style scrolling message controller, RSS (really simple syndication) data-feed organizer and a background music manager.
"As Acquire has grown over the past few years, our customers have driven the development of many new ACQs," said Neil Farr, managing director for Working Solutions. "We wanted the new version to be more powerful, so one of the things we have done is to bundle many of these ACQs with Acquire 3.0."
Acquire 3.0 also comes with a site manager network administration package and the Sentinel security product, which is based on the Kiosk Monitor Watchdog product. It allows customers to securely deliver digital content to all units in their networks and gives them the tools to proactively manage screens in real-time. Any screens that lose connectivity can be easily identified, with alert messages being sent to network administrators and site engineers via SMS and e-mail.
Wednesday, 13 September 2006
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. - Steinhafels, operator of six furniture superstores in Wisconsin, announced it is adding kiosks from Versatile Systems Inc. to gather demographic information and enable customer credit verification with its consumer finance provider, GE Money. Versatile's Mobiquity kiosk system will be installed in all Steinhafels locations.
"For more than 71 years, Steinhafels has been providing the very best to our customers," said Mark Steinhafel, vice president of operations. "This includes selecting the best technology available, which will not only help our sales associates meet the needs of our customers in an efficient manner, but will also improve the customer experience, increase customer loyalty and advance our business model. Allowing both the sales associate and the customer to use the Mobiquity Kiosk system at the same time, both are assured that the information is accurate and up-to-date."
Wednesday, 13 September 2006
Rocky Mountain News: United Airlines says a new service it is testing at Denver International Airport has reduced congestion at check-in areas and trimmed 20 seconds off the time it takes some customers to check bags. The carrier is testing eight kiosks at DIA reserved for travelers who print boarding passes online and need to check luggage once they arrive at the airport.
In the past, those customers had to stand in the same lines as everyone else, diminishing the benefits of checking in ahead of time. But the new kiosks, installed several months ago at DIA and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, have separate baggage lines specifically for passengers who already have their boarding passes.
Read more
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
MINNEAPOLIS · Ready Credit Corp. and Palm Desert National Bank announced the launch of a self-service kiosk, ReadySTATION, that issues a prepaid MasterCard card. This new technology allows consumers to purchase a ReadyCARD Prepaid MasterCard that is activated and ready to use immediately. The ReadySTATION also allows consumers to reload personalized ReadyCARDs and check their card balances for free.
"Our many years of experience in the prepaid card market have made us aware of the need and demand for a powerful and easy-to-use self service technology solution," said Jim Tingey, senior vice president of administration, PDNB's Electronic Banking division. "As the issuing bank for the ReadyCARD Prepaid MasterCard, we are pleased to be working with Ready Credit Corporation and MasterCard in bringing this innovative product solution to consumers."
Ready Credit has started deploying ReadySTATIONs in Minneapolis, Minn., and El Paso, Texas, and anticipates a nationwide deployment beginning in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
IRVINE, Calif. - CeroView announced a partnership with European kiosk manufacturer ULTIMedia to offer a line of budget-conscious kiosk solutions, including an information-based kiosk, digital-signage system and outdoor kiosk. All systems become a standard product offering for both companies.
"CeroView has collaborated with ULTIMedia for the past six years with clients such as NBC International, BMW and recently with QLinks America," said CeroView president Derek Fretheim. "Both companies share a common philosophy and quality perspective. We leveraged our collective experience to develop these new products."
The CeroView/ULTIMedia kiosk offer includes the following systems:
- Jet kiosk, a freestanding system equipped with a 17-inch LCD touchmonitor with surface acoustic wave touch and a Celeron 3.0 ghz computer system for $1,750.
- NAOS digital signage system equipped with a 32-inch LCD, Celeron 3.0 ghz computer system for $2,700, with an upgrade option of stainless steel for $3,200.
- Agora outdoor kiosk system with a 17-inch daylight-readable LCD with touchscreen, static sign, Celeron 3.0 ghz computer system and climate-control system for $6,500.
"It is our objective to demonstrate to the world that you can have a very reasonably priced system that is of superior quality," said Eric Dumouchel, president of ULTIMedia. Each kiosk comes with a three-year warranty and uses tier-one components.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
TheHinduBusinessLine.com: In an attempt to improve its income, India's Southern Railway is exploring revenue opportunities in addition to its traditional business including building modern hotels with Internet kiosks.
Read more.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
TOKYO - With one vending machine per an estimated 23 people, Japan has one of the world's highest vending machine densities per capita. One can buy almost anything from a kiosk or vending machine, from ice cream, rice and noodles, to watches, cell phones and even underwear. Now DVDs are joining that list.
Astala Vista, based in Tokyo, recently placed 10 automated DVD rental machines provided by ELO Media in Tokyo subway stations. The kiosks, branded in Tokyo under the Astala Vista name, will dispense the latest Japanese and Hollywood flicks for ¥350 (U.S. $3).
After a long search for the right automated DVD rental kiosk to bring to Japan, Astala Vista has contracted with ELO Media to provide its kiosks, network and software.
"We considered developing our own product since most vending machines and networks are produced locally, but we realized it would take too long and require much capital," said Mr. Saito, president of Astala. "It made more sense to contract an existing provider such as ELO Media that had years of experience and a good product."
Astala Vista plans to pilot the 10 machines in Tokyo subway stations for the next several months before installing another 50 by year-end. In the next two to three years, Saito believes it will quickly capture the Japanese market with several thousand machines.
"The average Japanese enduser is familiar with using kiosks for their services and is much further ahead of the American consumer in that respect. We believe this will catch on quite rapidly."
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
MyrtleBeachOnline.com: An interactive exhibit that tells the personal stories of South Carolina's military men and women in their own words and photos will tour the state for the next six months. The traveling exhibit includes several panels featuring military men and women who have contributed to the site, a computer kiosk for visitors to access the program's Web site, and a background display of some of the contributions.
Read more.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Chicoer.com: Teaching classes that touch on Internet and consumer behavior, one professor believes businesses should carefully weigh all the factors before deciding to jump into technology purchases.
Read more.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Ctimes.com: The Eternal Egypt kiosk located at the National Science Centre gallery lets visitors explore Ancient Egypt by extending the three-dimensional environments and rich data into a fully immersive, real-time experience.
Read more.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
24dash.com: Avon and Somerset Constabulary is to link up with one of the region's biggest employers to give people access to the force's Webs ite and multimedia services. A hi-tech Internet kiosk is being installed at the Rolls-Royce plant in Patchway, South Gloucs, England, as part of a partnership between police and the jet engine manufacturer.
Monday, 11 September 2006
An auto dealership's service bay is supposed to be a profit center. But, on a bad day, keeping the cars flowing through in a timely manner can be a logistical nightmare. Guy Duplessis knows this well: As the general manager of Lallier Ste-Foy, one of Canada's largest Honda dealers, he supervises 22 service bays on two shifts, with 34 technicians.
"The problem we had was that everybody, you know when you try to give an appointment to a customer, they all come at the same time in the service department," Duplessis said. "Even if you tell them to come at 8:10, not 8 or 8:20, sometimes there is a big amount of customers waiting in line."
In 2004, he sought the help of CDSoft, a firm that programs software for auto dealers. They collaborated, and the result was Express Check In. The kiosk-based solution allows clients dropping off their automobiles to generate work orders in real-time. It's a big difference compared to the old, form-based system — and it directly benefits the bottom line.
Express Check In, self-check-in kiosk software for auto dealer service stations, automatically suggests manufacturer recommended service and polls users for their reasons if service is declined.
"When the work order is opened, it goes directly into the system so we cannot forget it," Duplessis said. "Before that, a customer could come here and, say they leave a car here over night to be worked on in the morning, and they left an envelope in a certain place describing what they wanted to be done. The supervisor might open the envelope at 9:30 and the customer might want the car done by noon, but we wouldn't have time to do the job."
Customers can find the kiosk inside the service center, along with a greeter and a cup of coffee. CDSoft placed the application on a KIOSK Information Systems Thinman equipped with an IBM Thinkcenter and an overhead digital sign. CDSoft co-founder Richard Deslauriers said the Thinman is rugged enough for the service center environment — which was also important when they didn't know how employees would react. And durability was key, since it would mostly run unsupervised. But finding the right hardware wasn't the real challenge.
"Integration with the existing DMS (Dealer Management System) certainly was, and still is, the biggest challenge in this
Project," Deslauriers said. "Since near 80 percent of all car dealership in North America use either ADP Elite or Reynold's & Reynold's ERA, we had to create two different interfaces. Most of the software we use is open source, so we did not want to depend on third-party licensing for the emulators and we did not want to use APIs (application programming interfaces) from these suppliers at the moment. So we had to create a totally original way of integration, which even included writing Java emulators."
The application's impact — getting customers in and out of the service center — has meaningful implications for dealers according to Steve Finlay, editor of Ward's Dealer Business, an industry trade publication. He said auto dealers attempt what's known in the industry as "100 percent absorption" through their service centers. In other words, dealers try to pay all overheads with service center income (though most fall well short).
Though he's never heard of kiosk-based software for making service centers more efficient, Finlay said online service center check-in has a growing following for similar reasons.
"It's very convenient and effective for the dealership," Finlay said. "It used to be a lot harder. You'd get these mad rushes and have to schedule your day around it. That's why these are great: it streamlines operations and helps dealers operate more efficiently. It's a very competitive business. There's always another dealer you can take it to, so you have to do it right the first time and do it when you promise it will be done."
Duplessis said the kiosks have had a real effect on his dealership's bottom line. For example, under the old system, service advisors were relied upon to inform customers when their Honda-recommended inspections were due. The inspections are important because they allow technicians to identify maintenance issues and sell more services. Lallier Ste-Foy sold 1.2 inspections per hour under the old system. The kiosk, which is programmed to suggest inspections automatically, sells 1.6.
"What I learned is that the machine can sell 1.6 per hour," Duplessis said. "Why can't a service advisor do the same?"
Monday, 11 September 2006
Czech Business Weekly: With passenger traffic continuously growing at Prague Ruzyna Airport, modern technologies are set to ensure smooth and speedy check-in.
Letiata Praha, the company that operates the airport, has installed eight self-service check-in kiosks, including one testing kiosk, at its new terminal. By the end of the year, major airlines including British Airways, Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss), and Czech Airlines (AŒSA) plan to offer the service to their passengers, said Letiata Praha spokeswoman Veronika Sedlaia�?kovai. German air carrier Lufthansa has installed its own kiosk at the airport in Prague. By using the self-service kiosks, passengers can check in by themselves at the airport.
Read more
Friday, 08 September 2006
New Straits Times: A new kiosk allows citizens to send crime-related information to police with a touch of the screen. The unmanned kiosk has a camera and a speakerphone linked to the Kuala Lumpur police command headquarters in Jalan Hang Tuah via a high-speed broadband connection. The system, known as the Police Emergency Reporting System, launched Sept. 7.
Read more
Friday, 08 September 2006
NBC6.com: A South Florida man said he hit the jackpot after swiping a loyalty card at a gaming kiosk in the Hard Rock casino, only to find out hours later that he would not see a penny.
Read more
Thursday, 07 September 2006
Cnet.com: HP forecasts that up to 330 billion digital photos will be snapped annually by 2010, so the company is doing what it can to grab the 24 percent (~ 80 billion) of those shots that it estimates will wind up getting printed. Those same estimates project about an equal split between photos printed at home and those printed in retail outlets.
Read more.
Thursday, 07 September 2006
NORTH CANTON, Ohio · Diebold is releasing a biometric fingerprint scanning system designed to enable banks to authenticate the identity of customers at the branch counter. The company says its identiCenter product, which is powered by technology from US Biometrics, is an integrated system for identity verification and branch-traffic management.
The IdentiCenter system links a customer's identity and account information to his or her unique fingerprint profile. Upon initiating a transaction at the branch counter, customers place their fingers on an optical-scan fingerprint reader to verify their identity. Once verified, their account information automatically appears on the teller's screen.
The system also can help streamline branch traffic, says Diebold. Adding an optional kiosk and monitor enables identiCenter-enrolled customers to "check in" upon entering the branch by verifying their identities and selecting transaction options before reaching the teller.
Thursday, 07 September 2006
Ottawa Citizen: Ottawa's transportation committee endorsed the beginnings of an electronic card system for people to buy a range of city services. The system will be used for bus passes and tickets, but city staff say eventually it could be used for many things like library books, swimming pool fees, parking meters and other city services. Bay Councillor Rick Chiarelli said eventually the concept will see kiosks around the city, where people could take their cards, insert them, purchase credits for several city services, and load the credits on the card. For instance, someone could buy $10 to be used in parking meters, which can already handle the cards, $10 in bus tickets, $10 worth of swimming pool time, and $10 in library books.
Read more
Thursday, 07 September 2006
BURR RIDGE, Ill. · Targeted media company TAP.tv marked its expansion into the quick-serve-restaurant segment through a multimedia installation with leading McDonald's operator JDD Investments Inc.
Using proprietary set-top box technology, TAP.tv went live Aug. 14, with a multiscreen installation at JDD's signature McDonald's store in Chicago.
Designed to build patron loyalty and enhance the McDonald's in-store experience, the TAP.tv installation leverages the company's ability to deliver a variety of content to any type of video display, targeted to conform to McDonald's day-part communication needs.
Components of the installation include:
8 foot, multiscreen "VideoBar." Mounted above the ordering counter, the proprietary configuration delivers multimedia messaging in support of store marketing events, menu suggestions and promotional offers.
On-demand "KidVid" display. Located in the McDonald's Playplace, the 50-inch display presents a variety of kid-oriented content, activated by patrons via a McDonald's themed touchpanel kiosk.
Playplace-mounted "PartyCam." Activated via the kids' kiosk, the feature allows patrons to "see themselves on TV." It will also be used to digitally capture family parties.
Multimedia presentation screens. Multiple 42-inch plasma screens, mounted throughout the McDonald's dining area, present a variety of day-part appropriate promotional material as well as content provided by TAP.tv's Content Division. Content includes news, music videos and action sports features which can be selected by patrons via cell phone text messaging.
Thursday, 07 September 2006
The Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards, PCATS, will continue the development and maintenance of standards work initiated under the NACS Technology Standards Project. The initial project focused its developmental efforts in the areas of network and system integration, business-to-business document exchange and payment systems. PCATS will seek implementation of these standards by the industry's retailers and suppliers.
Wednesday, 06 September 2006
The Chicago Tribune: Grocery chain Jewel-Osco is testing a program that examines a customer's purchases and allows the store to offer significantly larger, targeted discounts on products they have purchased in the past. Jewel-Osco representatives are hoping the program will be a new weapon in its battle with discount giants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Inc. that have been luring away customers for decades with low prices.
Shoppers first encounter a kiosk at the entrance to the store. There, they can swipe their Jewel-Osco Preferred Card and receive a sheet of paper containing discount offers for a dozen items they have purchased or might be interested in. Discounts are automatically processed at the checkout when the Preferred Card is scanned.
The offers change each day. A $4 discount on a bottle of Marq wine might be replaced two days later with a $3.50 discount for another brand of wine.
Read more (Free registration required.)
Wednesday, 06 September 2006
MAITLAND, Fla. · Healthcare self-service solutions provider Galvanon Inc., a subsidiary of NCR Corp., announced in a news release that Harlingen, Texas-based Valley Baptist Health System has signed an enterprise contract to license the Galvanon MediKiosk patient check-in solution at its affiliated facilities.
Under the agreement, Valley Baptist will use Galvanon's self-service kiosks to automate patient-registration processes and enable real-time membership-eligibility checking at its network of hospitals and clinics.
The contract follows a successful pilot program at Valley Baptist's two outpatient-rehabilitation centers where patients used MediKiosk to identify themselves, confirm demographic and insurance information, make co-payments and electronically sign documents at check-in.
The health system also is working with Galvanon to facilitate real-time eligibility checks for members of Valley Baptist Health Plan, an affiliate of the health system serving more than 15,000 members in the Rio Grande Valley. Upon arrival for an appointment, health-plan members can swipe their membership cards directly on the kiosk, triggering an eligibility check in the health plan's information system. The status of the eligibility check flows directly to the facility's registration system through Galvanon's common server platform, enabling the real-time exchange of data between MediKiosk and Valley Baptist's back-end systems. Having access to eligibility information prior to the time of service will allow the health system to reduce claim denials and speed payment for medical services.
"Galvanon's technology fits seamlessly with our vision of developing the most efficient way to manage health information across the enterprise," said Jim Barbaglia, chief information officer of Valley Baptist Health System. "By expanding our self-service strategy to include real-time eligibility checking, we will not only benefit from more streamlined workflow processes, but we will also have the resources in place to submit cleaner claims, reduce accounts-receivable backlogs and improve cash flow."
Wednesday, 06 September 2006
The Street: Kodak signed a multiyear contract that will place new picture-printing kiosks in 1,000 Wal-Mart stores across the U.S.
Financial terms of the agreement weren't disclosed. Kodak's new G4 kiosk supports all popular digital media formats, including memory cards and USB drives, digital scanning and wireless printing. The kiosks apply a coating to the prints to provide extra protection against stains, spills and fingerprints.
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Wednesday, 06 September 2006
Naples (Fla.) News: There are 44 Subways using touchscreen kiosks for ordering across the United States, and they're becoming available in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia as well. Dave Hubbard, chief marketing officer for Pro-Tech, the Atlanta-based manufacturer of the systems, said more are in the works. The company also is talking to other chains about using the kiosks, including Arby's and Burger King.
Read more
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
Calling Get & Go Express an "unmanned c-store" might be a bit misleading. It not only doesn't have a staff, but the goods are all stocked in machines facing outward. What's more, it doesn't have tobacco, alcohol, gas or lotto tickets — c-store staples. And its profit margins are even more distinct from its traditional cousin.
Founder Jeff Parsons is building the chain on a simple idea. He realized removing the employees would widen margins to the point that it was feasible, even without the traditional high-margin items that require employees to verify age. And he's augmenting his efforts with kiosk technology: deploying DVD rental kiosks and ATMs in the mix.
The Get & Go unmanned "c-store" sporting its new look. The building contains outward facing devices from which walk-up customers can buy most of a traditional c-store's most popular items.
"When you talk about margins, right now across the board, we're running at 60-62 percent profit margins," Parsons said, comparing them to the 30-40 percent margins of a regular c-store.
The National Association of Convenience Stores backs up Parsons' appraisal in its annual industry financial reporting, and cites labor as c-stores' number one overhead, at 42 percent. And comparing Parsons' inventory to NACS' data reveals striking similarities to traditional c-stores than are outwardly visible: Get & Go Express, through its vending machines, sells the majority of top-selling c-store products, including sodas, foods and salty snacks.
Parsons' original unmanned stores were collections of traditional vending machines gathered beneath a single awning. He circumvented the normal wholesale mark-ups on items like soda by using third-party manufactured vending machines and stocked them with beverages from discounters like Sam's Club.
"Third-party retailers (normal c-stores) pay $18.20 per case of 24 bottles," Parsons said. "If you go walk into a Wal-Mart store or a Sam's store as a consumer, you can buy 24oz bottles for about ten bucks per case, and every weekend or so they'll have some of them on sale for $8 a case."
Other overhead is reduced, too. He said a new Get & Go costs $150,000 to build, a tiny fraction of a normal c-store. It also doesn't need the traditional c-store space, requiring 500 square feet or less to operate.
Parsons' latest location, in Hudson, Fla. has a sleek, red, branded look, cashless vending, fresh sandwiches and heaps of national media attention. Instead of separate vending machines, they're collected in the building's exterior, so the store itself takes the appearance of one big vending machine — even though different categories of product are still dispensed separately.
Though it's only been open since August, the store has regular customers. Real estate agent Tami Patrick started frequenting the Hudson Get & Go for snacks she used to buy at Walgreens and other local stores on her way to work and after dinner.
"My favorite, being so hot, is ice cream," Patrick said. "I've gotten some aspirin. There's sunscreen, which I haven't bought, but I know I will one of these days. I told the owner he should put in condoms for the kids who are too scared to buy them."
An original Get & Go Express. The unmanned c-stores started in Illinois as collections of assorted vending machines. As it expanded nationally, it added DVD kiosks, ATMs, and cashless vending.
Jeff Lenard, director of communications for the National Association of Convenience Stores, said customer comfort with self-service machines is driving unmanned c-stores, a trend including Shop24 in New York, and SmartMart in Memphis, Tenn.
"Unmanned stores address the two biggest expenses — labor and real estate," Lenard said. "There is certainly a future for them. The key is that they must offer a tangible benefit to consumers. That's the key part of the equation, whether you're talking about a staffed or unstaffed operation."
Parsons has already begun franchising the stores. Owner/operator James Gray said his 300-square-foot location, one of the original models with 10 machines, sells about $150 daily on a strip mall parking lot. Gray said starting the company cost about $40,000. He said running the new store takes less than two hours per day, which stacks nicely with his job maintaining a golf course.
"It is performing quite well," Gray said. "We expected it to perform less than the numbers they give you because you wouldn't think people would buy that much soda and snacks and stuff, but it has performed like they said it would. It's very well-received."
Parsons is finishing an agreement to open 24 more of his unmanned c-stores. For now, he's shopping tradeshows for unique items to drive more traffic to his locations. And he's also considering how to offer products that require age verification.
"Thumbprint verification through Mastercard or Visa will most likely allow us to sell age-restricted items," Parsons said. "And we're talking to states about selling lottery tickets. But I'm over-the-top excited about this concept, because we are profitable in the simplest form."
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
The New Zealand Herald: In a sign of the looming decline for the traditional movie rental and music retail business, Blockbuster is merging with CD chain Sounds. Icon Digital Entertainment (a new company owned by Blockbuster's New Zealand master franchisee Steve Dods) bought the local management of the Blockbuster brand, the 50-store Sounds music chain and specialist gaming retailer Games Plus. The merger will see Blockbuster stores expand into new areas, including digital downloading and retailing DVDs, CDs and computer games.
Users can now download movies, music and mobilephone ring tones over the Internet, posing a threat to the traditional movie rental store and music retailer. Dods said downloading kiosks would ensure Blockbuster could claim some of that business and would be rolled out in stores next month.
Read more
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
BEAVERTON, Ore. - Planar Systems Inc., provider of specialty display solutions, announced the completion of a 16-month project to transition its electroluminescent (EL) product line to be compliant with the European Union Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS). The electroluminescent line of displays is the flagship of Planar's Industrial Business Unit.
As a specialty industrial display technology, thin-film electroluminescent displays provide high performance visuals but can withstand the wide temperature ranges and vibrations often present in military, industrial, medical and transportation applications. Planar's LA, LB and LC lines of open frame LCD products, as well as Planar's recently released LX1200 in-vehicle touchmonitor, also are RoHS-compliant.
In February 2003, the European Union issued Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of hazardous substances, commonly known as RoHS, in certain electrical and electronic equipment. RoHS restricts the use of six hazardous substances, including lead. The directive states that all products placed on the European market after July 1, 2006, must be compliant with the new requirements.
A Planar part number has been modified with an "LF" suffix designation to indicate RoHS compliance.
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
LAS VEGAS -- As gaming patrons become more accustomed to the cashless gaming technology increasingly popular on slot floors, Casino Pauma patrons will be the first to utilize a cashless ticket dispenser that allows them to purchase slot vouchers with their ATM debit card.
Developed by Innovative Funds Transfer, a joint venture formed by Global Cash Access and International Game Technology, seven EDITH cashless gaming kiosks have been installed at Casino Pauma, a Native American gaming establishment in Pauma Valley, Calif. Infonox, a California-based technology company, created the EDITH application and administers system performance.
EDITH, which stands for Electronic Debit Interactive Terminal Housing, received Phase I certification in June from Gaming Laboratories International, an independent lab that tests and certifies gaming equipment and systems against specific technical standards for jurisdictions. EDITH will now be field inspected at Casino Pauma for its final certification.
"We have a strong relationship with GCA, which has always been at the forefront of providing innovative cash access products, so we're very excited to be the first to offer this cashless gaming technology to our customers," said Javier Saenz, chief executive of Casino Pauma. "EDITH will provide added convenience to our slot patrons, and we'll benefit from reduced cash handling."
In recent years, ticket-in, ticket-out systems have gained popularity among gaming establishment patrons, who appear to prefer the convenience of slot vouchers over coin or waiting for cash payouts at the game. This increase in slot voucher volume has resulted in a significant decrease in cash handling costs for gaming establishments. IFT believes that EDITH will decrease cash handling costs even further for gaming establishments.
"We think EDITH will help transform the way cash is accessed on the gaming floor, and we're thrilled that Casino Pauma and its forward-thinking management have agreed to be the pioneers for EDITH's beta test," said Tom Sears, executive vice president of card services and cashless gaming for GCA.
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
Dallas -- A new compact DVD vending kiosk has been released by TELeasy Corp., a Dallas-area company.
"It's a unique product," a TELeasy spokesman said. "The Mini Quik Flik can now exist in gas-stations, laundry rooms, convenience stores, mail rooms, coffee shops, etc. without taking up too much room and can still offer up to 300 movies for rent or sale."
The kiosk takes up less than 2 square feet of floor space. It is modular and it is substantially cheaper than TELeasy's standard Quik Flik kiosk.
The kiosk can be purchased to hold a minimum of 75 DVDs to a maximum of 300 DVDs. Increasing the kiosks' storage can be done with additional carousels.
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
TBNWeekly: The Florida Department of Veteran's Affairs and the Pinellas County Tax Collector's Office recently launched the state's first Veterans Information Kiosk at the Mid County Tax Collector's Office.
Read more.
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
InpuTech System Co., Ltd. - Manufacturer of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) touch screen technology
Tuesday, 05 September 2006
DQChannels.com: Supported by the government of Andhra Pradesh and leading banks such as State Bank of India, the initiative involves identifying local entrepreneurs and giving them complete support to set up an e-commerce kiosk.
Read more.
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