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News Archive |
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Wednesday, 31 January 2007
TheAsianBanker.com: Diebold, Inc. announced it has been selected by PNC Bank, a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., as the bank's single source vendor to upgrade hundreds of ATMs and to add new machines in 2007.
The new, replaced and upgraded ATMs will feature the fifth generation of Diebold's Intelligent Depository Module technology, which will allow PNC customers to enjoy the accuracy, convenience and confidence of making check deposits at the ATM without the use of an envelope.
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Wednesday, 31 January 2007
Twincities.com: When a new billboard in San Francisco scrolls the message "Motor On Vera!'' it's a good bet that someone named Vera is driving her Mini Cooper at that moment.
A billboard using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology started "talking'' Monday. In a new twist on tech-savvy marketing, the board flashes a personalized message as the driver cruises by with a Mini-provided key fob that sends a signal to activate the billboard. It's all part of the flippant, quirky attitude of Mini and its loyal following.
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
ChannelNewsAsia.com: A*STAR's Institute of Microelectronics has developed a silicon microchip set to open up new markets for sensors in the RFID market. The costs of producing such RFID readers and their tags have been prohibitive, leading to slow adoption of the technology. But the institute, together with its industry partner SMART ID, are aiming to commercialize their reader prototype.
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Wednesday, 31 January 2007
TORRANCE, Calif. · Seiko Instruments USA Inc. Micro Printer Division, announced today it has signed a distribution agreement with Ingram Micro Inc., the world's largest technology distributor. This distribution agreement will be facilitated through Ingram Micro's Nimax Division, a leading distributor of automatic identification/data capture, POS and mobile computing products.
Under this strategic distribution agreement, Seiko Micro Printer Division™ extensive line of reliable mobile printers, innovative portable desktop printers, and high-performance kiosk printers will be available to a significantly broader customer base throughout Latin America and North America, via Ingram Micro™ unparalleled pool of value-added resellers. SII Micro Printer Division has produced innovative thermal printing solutions for OEMs for more than 25 years.
"This initiative builds on our successful track record of offering proven, direct thermal printing solutions to industry-leading manufacturers in healthcare, self-service, point-of-sale, government, mobile workforce and other key markets," Bob Falco, SII Micro Printer Division manager, said.
SII Micro Printer Division is a global leader in high-performance, high-reliability direct thermal printing solutions, with over 50 million units deployed worldwide.
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
Bloomberg.com: Eastman Kodak Co., the world's largest photography company, posted its first profit in nine quarters on higher revenue from photo kiosks and savings from firing workers.
Kodak installed kiosks that print digital photos in all U.S. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlets and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez has eliminated 23,375 jobs in response to waning consumer demand for film. Kodak is selling its health-care imaging unit to focus on other businesses including commercial printers.
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Wednesday, 31 January 2007
PRWEB.com: WinesandRecipes.com and Southwest Georgia Technology Services have announced they will develop and market a second-generation wine, recipe and cheese pairing kiosk. The new product will be marketed under the name Wine Market Kiosk.
This venture capitalizes on both companies' experience in the kiosk and retail industry along with the wine and food industry. The new application pairs content from WinesandRecipes.com with enterprise kiosk technology from Southwest Georgia Technology Services. The primary focus of this joint venture is to provide the Wine Market Kiosk to the grocery and beverage retail markets.
With wine industry sales expected to grow by 62.5 percent over the next three years, many retailers are actively developing strategies to expand total sales and market share. "Wine Market Kiosk addresses the full scope of needs and requirements our grocery and wine retailers need to leverage the higher growth and profit opportunities offered by the wine industry," said Jon Holland, WinesandRecipes.com president.
Wine Market Kiosk enables retailers to select from a variety of four application modules to best suit their environment. "By providing basic wine, cheese, recipes and meal-match modules, each retailer can determine which features and functions best meet their distinct image," said John Morrow, president of Southwest Georgia Technology Services.
The new application is designed to be scalable to any retail environment and provides full integration with a retailer's PLU and POS servers to ensure their store's wine inventory and prices are reflected on the kiosk.
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
Wqad.com: New Internet kiosks are being installed at rest areas along the Iowa interstates. Information about the weather, road conditions and tourist spots soon will be just a click away for drivers in Iowa.
The Iowa DOT already has computer monitors at most rest areas with rotating screens that display weather and road data. But in most cases, travelers can't choose what they want to see.
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Wednesday, 31 January 2007
LAS VEGAS · Leroy's Race and Sports Book and ISI Ltd. officials announced today their sports gaming kiosks now are on the gaming floor of Hooters Casino Hotel, offering bettors a faster, more convenient method to place sports bets.
The two orange iSports Stands, which display a photo of Michelle Nunes · Miss Hooters International and a blackjack dealer at Hooters Casino Hotel · are the first specially designed kiosks in Las Vegas. The iSports Stands are expected to be fully operational in time for the busiest sports book day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday.
"Hooters is a unique, world-famous brand with a very loyal following," said Bill Stearns, president of ISI. "We designed the kiosks to attract curious guests to take a look and try this new technology. It's very simple to place bets, and the kiosk can be open practically 24 hours."
The new betting kiosks feature pictures of
Miss Hooters International Michelle Nunes
Stearns compares the machines to using the ATM at a bank instead of dealing with the teller.
"We believe once legal bettors experience the additional features like receiving special offers from our advertisers, checking weather during events, obtaining advice from a professional sports handicapper, booking show tickets or making golf reservations, they will prefer the kiosks," he said.
ISI co-developed the iSports Stand with AWI Manufacturing, Inc. (AWIM). Acting as a stand-alone sports book, the iSports Stand provides the same services as an in-casino sports book. Also unique is the ability for local and national businesses to advertise on the kiosk's video screen, side panels and through on-screen banner ads. This is the first time companies and products outside of the casino can reach guests on the gaming floor.
Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Bowling Green, Ky. -- The Western Kentucky University Athletic Department has teamed up with Hitcents to develop satellite ticket locations in the Bowling Green area. This cooperative effort between the two partners may revolutionize where, when, and how customers can buy tickets for athletic events.
"Thanks to Hitcents, we are reaching out to over 10 million Topper sports fans each year with off-site ticket buying options," says WKU athletic director Dr. Wood Selig. "This technology is revolutionary and will assist us in our efforts to expand our footprint of support for our athletic events. It makes ticket buying easier without the additional charge typically associated with purchasing tickets off site. Fans get the best seat without having to call, order online, or travel to the ticket office."
Selig added that no other collegiate program in the nation currently has such a system in place, as the necessary technology and computer programming was originally and uniquely devised by Hitcents. Their goal was to provide a convenient and user-friendly method to purchase tickets in lieu of the other ticket purchasing methods.
"We have basically expanded our hours of operation and will be able to serve our customers much better throughout the year," Selig said. "We can place these kiosks in surrounding counties as well to gain a greater presence of mind for WKU athletics."
Fans can purchase tickets to WKU athletic events from the kiosks · which are designed and function in a similar fashion to ATM machines · at Greenwood Mall, Houchen's Market in Glasgow, and the Rockfield IGA on Russellville Road.
The interactive program allows customers to select which games they would like to attend and the number of seats needed. They will be presented with a list of the best seats available based on the fan's selected price level. After selecting the seats and swiping their credit or debit card, the customer will instantly receive their printed tickets and receipt. Visa, Mastercard, and Discover cards are the only forms of credit or debit payment accepted.
The kiosks also provide E-Fan information from WKU athletics. Fans can submit their e-mail addresses at the terminals free of charge to receive updates from the athletic department. They will also be sent a coupon which can be redeemed at the kiosks for a free ticket to any Hilltopper or Lady Topper basketball game this season.
The kiosks, which were installed in October, have already become a success according to WKU ticket manager Jim Cope. As more people found out about the stations, Cope said, the machines actually had to be reloaded with additional seat locations after a flurry of purchases before the men's basketball games against Eastern Kentucky and Southern Illinois. Several other athletic departments have inquired about the logistics and possibilities of using the program as well.
Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Henryherald.com: Waiting to take his luggage from the baggage claim area, frequent traveler and businessman Michael McKenney noticed the brightly-lit Georgia Lottery kiosk. And he thought to himself, why not?
This lottery kiosk is one of two at Hartsfield-Jackson. The other sits directly across the way on the South Terminal of the airport. The kiosks opened in November and have since grossed nearly a quarter-million dollars in sales · indications that more than McKenney believe the airport kiosks were a good idea.
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Monday, 29 January 2007
ITS Enclosures - Whether it's getting your order out in time, serving you in a quick, professional manner, or engineering a solution to your specifications, you can rest assured that ITSENCLOSURES pledges to provide you with the best, fastest, and most flexible service in the industry.
Our mission is to safely enclose electronic devices in any environment, protecting them from harsh surroundings, making them more powerful tools and extending their useful life. Above all else, we want to "Protect the Products That Serve People"!
Monday, 29 January 2007
LAS VEGAS · JCM American Corporation announced today that Harrah's Operating Company Inc., a subsidiary of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the world's largest casino company, has selected JCM as a preferred bill validator vendor for its properties. The decision was made after Harrah's conducted a technical evaluation of JCM's award-winning Universal Bill Acceptor validator software and hardware.
"JCM and Harrah's have had a long, beneficial relationship for both companies, and we are happy to see that continue through a preferred vendor relationship." Ken Weil, senior vice president of gaming at Harrah's, said.
Monday, 29 January 2007
SecureIDNews: Fifteen biometric ATMs were installed earlier this week in five districts in southern India. The scanner kiosks are projected to service more than 100,000 people who will scan their fingerprints rather than swiping a card and inputting a PIN.
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Monday, 29 January 2007
Canada.com: Charging people to use automatic teller machines from a bank other than their own in order to access their own cash is a ripoff that should be outlawed, said Jack Layton, New Democrat Party leader.
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Monday, 29 January 2007
TOKYO · NEC Corporation and NEC LCD Technologies Ltd. today agreed to merge NEC Akita Ltd. and NEC Kagoshima Ltd. with their parent company, NEC LCD Technologies, effective as of April 1, 2007.
The integration is aimed at increasing operational efficiencies and accelerating the decision-making process through streamlined management of R&D, manufacturing and sales functions, which are vital to enabling fast and flexible response to increasingly diverse and sophisticated customer needs in the target industrial and high-end monitor markets of NEC LCD Technologies.
NEC will continue to strengthen its technologies and management structure to maintain its leading position in the increasingly competitive LCD display market.
Monday, 29 January 2007
The Kentucky Post: Clear opened a Registered Traveler security lane at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport last week, fully aware of initial mixed reviews. But company officials are confident that with its embedded biometric identification cards now being issued and its high-tech check-in kiosk now open, those who fly the skies frequently · business travelers in particular · will take notice.
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Monday, 29 January 2007
Slam.canoe.ca: While some major league baseball teams have introduced ticket kiosks, the Cavaliers have taken it a step further, providing a completely paperless transaction. Nearly a third of their season-ticket holders use Flash Seats, owner Dan Gilbert's online ticketing company. Fifteen major league clubs use technology similar to Flash Seats.
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Monday, 29 January 2007
InfoWorld.com: The Mitsukoshi store in Tokyo's Ginza district is host to the trial in which RFID tags have been attached to lipstick, eye shadow and blush. In one part of the trial a kiosk can provide customers with a simulation of what they would look like wearing the make-up. The 19 items available all have RFID tags attached and shoppers just need wave them over a sensor for the simulator to detect which product has been selected, then it's up to a computer to do the rest.
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Monday, 29 January 2007
Bordermail.com.au: Mobile phones may be ringing a slow death knell for the payphone but Telstra is hoping a marriage between two aging technologies can extend its lease on life. The telco and ANZ have announced a partnership that could help financially prop up some of the nation's less profitable payphones.
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Friday, 26 January 2007
NEW YORK · mCosm and Helio have joined forces to develop a fresh consumer experience for Helio members using mCosm's mCast software to create, manage and distribute various digital media, ranging from signage and video to 3-D effects and animation. The mCast system prepares updates and schedules digital signage and media from a central server, sending the content immediately to displays throughout the Helio retail locations. The files are shown on sleek computer displays manufactured by mCosm's parent company, Micro Industries.
"Our stores reflect Helio's unique approach to this constantly changing wireless industry," said Ali Zanjani, executive vice president of sales and distribution, HELIO LLC. "Helio locations are on the cutting edge and need to be able to take our displays to the next level at a moment's notice as well. Our partnership with mCosm allows us to update our look and media · even if we are on the go. Just like our members."
Helio stores feature pods that are an integrated environment where visitors can sample live devices and services, learn about Helio memberships, accessorize and sign up without ever having to wait in line at a traditional cash register. Digital displays, constantly updated with the help of mCosm's user-friendly software, are a key element of this design. The intuitive Web-based service offered by mCosm makes constantly updating digital content simple and is capable of being presented on almost any size screen, from the hi-definition displays on the walls to Helio's own exclusive handsets in the palm of the customer's hand.
Helio Stores are open in Santa Monica, San Diego, Palo Alto and Denver and a store is planned to open in New York early this year. Additional Helio Stores are planned for 2007 and throughout the coming years.
Friday, 26 January 2007
Fast Company: Technologist and inventor Jefferson Han has recently been approached by Lockheed Martin, Pixar and various government agencies about his new multi-touch technology, which drew cheers and whistling at last year's TED (technology, entertainment and design) conference. (Watch the live demonstration.)
"Touch is one of the most intuitive things in the world," Han says. "Instead of being one step removed, like you are with a mouse and keyboard, you have direct manipulation. It's a completely natural reaction · to see an object and want to touch it."
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Wednesday, 24 January 2007
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio · The IBM Retail User Group announced that nominations for the 2007 Retail Innovation Award are now open. The Award will be presented at the Group's 30th annual conference in Las Vegas on May 20-24, 2007.
The Retail Innovation Award carries special meaning because the winner is chosen by the winner's peer group · the retail membership of the organization. The solution provider for the winning retailer is also honored with the Retail Solution Innovation Award.
Judging criteria will be based on creativity and uniqueness in the ability to enhance consumer experience, reduce the cost of doing business, speed up processes and expand competitive advantage.
Nomination forms are available at the group's Web site.
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
DAYTON, Ohio · NCR Corp. has awarded a five-year contract to Solectron Corp., a leading provider of electronics manufacturing and integrated supply-chain services, to manufacture the company's ATMs and payment solutions in the Americas and its self-checkout systems globally. As part of its recently announced global manufacturing realignment, NCR will transfer its Americas manufacturing to Solectron's sites in Columbia, S.C.; Guadalajara, Mexico and Jaguariuna, Brazil by the end of 2007.
"Expanding our relationship with Solectron supports our ability to remain competitive, build a sustainable cost structure, and better serve our customers' needs by freeing up capital to invest in new product innovation," said Bruce Langos, NCR senior vice president of Global Operations. "We believe this strategy will play a key role in helping us improve our longer-term operating margin."
Solectron has been producing and assembling Teradata data warehouse servers as well as providing systems integration for NCR's Teradata Division for seven years.
"Solectron is a proven entity," said Langos. "The company has consistently demonstrated its ability to adhere to the same global quality standards for manufacture and testing that we demand of all of our manufacturing facilities worldwide."
"NCR has been a valued customer for many years, and we are extremely pleased to extend our relationship," said Doug Britt, executive vice president, Sales and Account Management, Solectron. "Our strength in manufacturing automated and self-service systems combined with our expertise in highly complex electro-mechanics, build-to-order, configure-to-order and system-level integration fits perfectly with NCR's product line."
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Seamark International is a leading supplier of ergonomic, space saving, durable point-of-sale solutions for the retail industry. Our products can provide you with unparalleled efficiency in your checkout areas, back offices and show room floors.
Tuesday, 23 January 2007
Add Mineta San Jose International to the growing list of airports offering the Registered Traveler program, which allows frequent travelers to use a biometric kiosk instead of going through long security lines · for a fee.
By the end of the week, the kiosks will be installed at five airports across the country. The machines, developed by General Electric's homeland security division, currently use fingerprint and retinal scanners to positively identify each traveler. Within the year, the kiosks will be able to scan footwear and fingerprints for explosives, possibly eliminating the need to remove jackets and shoes.
Watch the kiosk in action in this video from CBS 5 in San Jose.
Tuesday, 23 January 2007
Waiting in line can be frustrating no matter where we are. But the most frustrating wait for Americans: cooling our heels at local department or division of motor vehicles (DMV) offices, closely followed by waiting to make purchases at retail outlets.
A survey conducted for NCR Corp. by Opinion Research Corp. also found that 39 percent of consumers are willing to use timesaving self-service alternatives to help reduce their wait times.
Although the DMV was number one on their "wait we hate the most" list, respondents in the "NCR Queue Review" survey dislike waiting for service in many other areas affecting daily life. Ranking third, fourth and fifth on the list were registering at clinics or hospitals; checking in for airline flights at airports; and ordering at fast-food restaurants or deli counters.
"Clearly, Americans want more control over their lives, and that includes being able to reduce the time they spend in nonproductive activities such as waiting in lines," said Mike Webster, vice president, Self-Service Solutions Division at NCR. "Fortunately, a growing number of retail, travel, health care and government organizations are providing alternatives · including self-service solutions · to help give that valuable time back to their customers, patients and clients."
The top reasons for consumers' frustration with waiting for service or waiting in line were: the lack of employees able to assist them (44 percent), a concern for being late (39 percent), not knowing how much longer they'd have to wait (33 percent) and the time it takes for each person ahead of them to finish (19 percent).
A day or two saved is quality time earned
The survey found that consumers figure they are spending more than two days per year waiting in line for service · time they believe could be better spent with friends or family or other forms of leisure. Nearly half (49 percent) of the respondents estimate they waste between 30 minutes to two hours each week waiting for service. Younger consumers seem especially cognizant of their lost time, with one-sixth (16 percent) of those aged 18-24 saying that in a typical week they waste two hours or more standing in line or waiting for service.
When asked how they would use time saved by using self-service technologies instead of waiting in line, spending more time with friends or family was the clear winner from a list of 10 possible alternative activities.
Self-service to the rescue
Consumers are seeking and embracing alternatives, such as self-checkout and other self-service technologies, to reduce their wait and help them get out the door faster. Thirty-nine percent of the survey respondents said they would be extremely or very interested in using a self-service kiosk or other self-service device if one was available to help them complete the activity at hand more quickly.
The availability of self-service can influence where a consumer goes for goods or services, with 43 percent of respondents saying they have chosen one provider of goods or services over another because it offered self-service. The survey found that minorities are even more inclined toward self-service technologies, with 55 percent of African-American and 57 percent of Hispanic survey respondents saying they have chosen one provider of goods or services over another because it offered the option of self-service.
"Self-service is emerging as the new ‘essential convenience,' like the Internet or the cell phone," Webster said. "More and more, we find it hard to imagine how we ever lived without it!"
Monday, 22 January 2007
SAN JOSE, Calif. · DVDPlay, owner/operator of DVD rental kiosks, announced that Tom Szwak has joined the company as vice president of video.
Szwak joins DVDPlay from Monterey Media where he served as senior vice president of sales and drove sales of new release and catalog DVD and VHS product to retailers, distributors and Internet sites in the U.S. and Canada. Earlier in his 24-year career, Tom was vice president of purchasing at Blockbuster Entertainment where he was responsible for the purchasing and distribution of all products and merchandise to over 4,000 Blockbuster corporate stores, and for negotiating agreements with studios and distributors. Szwak left Blockbuster to take the position of senior VP of acquisitions and development, and later senior vice president of sales at Republic Pictures.
"Tom's leadership will play an instrumental role in developing and maintaining the strategic alliances with industry vendors," said Chuck Berger, chairman and chief executive of DVDPlay. "We are delighted to welcome Tom to our executive team. He brings a wealth of industry experience and expertise in purchasing to DVDPlay. His role is critical as we accelerate our roll out of DVDPlay kiosks to supermarkets, convenience stores, military installations and other high-traffic locations across the country."
Monday, 22 January 2007
Thisweek Online: The Eagan City Council placed a moratorium on electronic billboards at its meeting Jan. 16 so that city staff can investigate the impact of the new technology. LED billboards weren't around when existing sign ordinances were drafted, the city said.
Several other cities in Minnesota are taking a closer look at the signs, as is the League of Minnesota Cities, which could undertake a study of the issue on behalf of its member cities. Eagan currently has one such billboard, owned by Clear Channel. The image on the sign changes every eight seconds.
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Monday, 22 January 2007
CHICAGO · NEC Display Solutions of America Inc. and Cisco announced a collaboration to deliver a function-rich digital signage solution.
NEC Display Solutions will offer its suite of large-screen MultiSync LCD displays while Cisco will offer its Cisco Digital Signage solution to provide digital signage customers rich marketing, advertising and training functionality · in addition to unique operational ease and efficiency. Cisco's Digital Signage solution is an advanced offering for management, publishing and playback of digital media on networked digital signage displays.
"We haven't seen the full potential of digital signage due to a lack of flexible network-based offerings. The Cisco Digital Signage and NEC Display Solutions combination has the potential to drive digital signage into prime time," said Melissa Webster, program director, Content and Digital Media Technologies, IDC. "Global operations and rapidly changing business conditions require signs that can be adjusted quickly, and with the way this solution uses the network as the platform, this can be done remotely. It's clear that enterprises will be able to gain strong support from these two leading companies."
"Recently there has been terrific growth in the digital signage market · more companies are recognizing the possibilities of out-of-home media in retail; marketing messages during business hours; corporate communication before and after," said Chris Cicmanec, technical director, broadcast production and emerging content, DraftFCB. "We see Cisco and NEC's partnered entry into the digital signage business as the start of a new era · bridging the gap between marketing strategy and IT requirements. Since Cisco already provides the backbone to many corporate networks, we're excited they're offering a powerful, value-added platform to deliver messaging for this channel."
Monday, 22 January 2007
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. · StrandVision LLC, a provider of hosted digital signage services, has established its Digital Signage Content Developer Program to make it easy for StrandVision customers, as well as installers and resellers, to find approved graphic designers.
The program is limited to content developers with proven capabilities in graphic design and customer communications. Two companies, Blue Pony Digital of Fort Wayne, Ind. and EZ New Media of Menomonie, Wis. are charter members.
The Content Developer Program was developed to assist StrandVision customers.
"StrandVision Digital Signage customers are often smaller companies with signage and marketing content requirements that go beyond their in-house capabilities," explained Mike Strand, StrandVision founder and chief executive. "The content developers listed on our site have experience in creating StrandVision digital signs so they will work quickly and efficiently. They can translate ideas into great looking signage and they can even regularly update and administer the signs, if that's what customers want."
Monday, 22 January 2007
DavisFreeberg.com: When I was a kid, people took the time to figure out a way to short-circuit Coke machines into giving away free sodas by spitting water into the slot for dollar bills. Considering that Zoom Systems is catering to a much higher end of the retail market with their iPod and cell phone kiosks, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that hackers have already figured out a way to get around the theft protections built into the Zoom vending machines.
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Friday, 19 January 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. · The reviews are just so-so for a shoe scanner rolled out at Orlando International Airport in Florida. Some travelers complained they had to kick loafers or heels off anyway, even after standing in a kiosk that reads their biometric information and uses radio waves to test for explosives and metal.
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Thursday, 18 January 2007
NEW YORK · Circuit City chief executive Philip J. Schoonover announced a new company focus on self-service and assisted selling during his keynote speech Monday at the National Retail Federation's Convention and Expo at New York's Jacob K. Javitz Center.
Schoonover is widely credited with turning around Circuit City's sales by returning the company's focus to its core competencies. In his NRF presentation, "Information Transformation at Circuit City," he described his forthcoming self-service focus and its importance to satisfying customers.
"In order for strategy to win, it must be different," Schoonover said. "It must matter to the customer and the customer must be willing to pay for that strategy."
Schoonover showed two applications from the stage: an assisted selling tablet PC for sales associates, and a live-assisted kiosk through which customers can communicate via video feed with off-site experts.
In demonstrating the tablet PC, Schoonover played the role of a customer looking for a flat panel television while an employee used the tablet PC. Schoonover reviewed the details of his living room, which the employee sketched out on the screen. It included details like light sources in the room and the viewer's distance from the TV.
Based on the large amount of light in the room, the employee suggested an LCD screen, which is brighter than plasma. He then used the tablet PC to demonstrate the difference of 1080p resolution versus 720p resolution, using an application with a magnifying glass over graphical images of digital screens to illustrate the differing pixel sizes.
After qualifying the sale to a few sets, the employee next showed the TVs' product specs side-by-side. The tablet PCs also showed complementary items such as cables, and information on extended warranties and service packages.
Schoonover said the system provides relief to a vexing and persistent retail dilemma: training employees to be knowledgeable about complicated products, even when many of them are new or, often, seasonal. He said the average Circuit City employee is 23 and that turnover is "quite high."
"Our products are more advanced than ever and our customers are demanding help with their needs," Schoonover said. "This will help us enable associates, even new hires."
He next presented a video demonstration of the live-assisted kiosk application. The kiosk consisted of a big-screen touchscreen turned vertically. The remote assistant's streaming video feed showed on the top half of the screen. In the bottom, the remotely based assistant could show product information and photographs while conferring with the customer about a sale. If the customer agreed to a sale, the remote assistant could send the details of the transaction to a store associate's tablet PC for checkout.
Schoonover said the systems are being piloted in 50 stores. He thanked several companies for contributing to the project, including Cisco, Microsoft and IBM. The live assistant program closely resembled an application developed by Experticity, a Microsoft development partner, but Experticity representatives would not confirm or deny that they developed the Circuit City application.
Schoonover said the solution "took seven months of disciplined innovation."
"We are investing in technology to enhance our customers' experience," Schoonover said. "I hope you sense the engagement of our associates and strategic partners as we transform Circuit City."
Thursday, 18 January 2007
NEW YORK · Versatile Systems Inc., manufacturer of instant credit kiosks for retail stores, has partnered with GE Money's Sales Finance unit to provide consumer finance solutions for their customers using Mobiquity Kiosks. Versatile was selected by GE Money after a technology review process.
"We have been looking for an innovative way to help our retail partners enhance the customer experience, improve sales and increase customer loyalty, with the highest level of security available," said Paul Boeckman, vice president of Strategic Accounts for GE Money · Sales Finance. "We are pleased to have Versatile's Mobiquity Kiosk as part of our suite of products and services offerings for our client partners."
Versatile has deployed its proprietary hardware and software in pilot projects with several GE Money Sales Finance retail clients, including Ivan Smith Furniture, Bassett, Sam Levitz, D&D Furniture and Stereo Advantage. All pilot participants have reported favorable results with increases in application volumes and sales, with many requesting additional units and moving forward with a full deployment of the Mobiquity Kiosk in their stores.
"Our dedication to quality customer service led us to the Mobiquity Kiosk," said Al Sepulvado, vice president of finance of Ivan Smith Furniture, located in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. "The ability to offer our customers instant credit has improved the customer experience overall and we were pleased to increase the number of kiosks in our stores."
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Magenta Research is the industry-recognized leader in the adaptive distribution and switching of video/audio/serial signals over Cat5 cable, and more recently, DVI over fiber and/or Cat6. For more than 9 years, Magenta has developed the highest performance, most flexible video-over-Cat5 product line, the MultiView Series.
The company utilizes patent-pending RepliSyncTM and complex, state-variable signal EQ technologies to enable UXGA video distribution at 1,500 feet (475m) and QXGA video at 1,000 ft, (305m). MultiView Series transmitters, receivers, switchers and distributive systems have been installed in a large variety of A/V applications, especially dynamic signage for airport, retail, fast food, museum, casino, theatre, courtroom and corporate applications.
Based in New Milford, Connecticut, Magenta utilizes a network of international distributors, manufacturers representatives and Pro AV dealers to market its enabling technology worldwide.
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
The (Malaysia) Star Online: Malaysia Airlines is deploying self-service check-in kiosks in an effort to comply with the International Air Transport Association's mandate for all air travel to be ticketless by the end of 2007.
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Wednesday, 17 January 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. · Source Technologies, provider of integrated solutions for managing financial transactions and other secure business processes, has been named as one of the top 500 small businesses in the United States (Div500) for a second consecutive year by DiversityBusiness.com, a leading multicultural Internet site. The companies listed on the Div500 represent the nation's top multicultural earners, ranging in revenue size from $20 million to more than $2 billion.
"We are very honored to receive the DiversityBusiness.com award for a second year in a row," said Bill Bouverie, president and chief executive of Source Technologies. "Receiving this award for a second time is a testament to our people, suppliers and manufacturing partners."
In addition to winning the DiversityBusiness award, Source Technologies was named to the FinTech 100 list of the international top vertical technology vendors serving the financial-services industry for a second consecutive year. In 2006, Source Technologies also was presented with recognition for Outstanding Achievements in Financial Self-Service at the 2006 Self-Service & Kiosk show.
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
YORK, Pa. · Livewire International announced the completion of a promotional system for T-Mobile USA Inc.
T-Mobile wanted to introduce its new Fave 5 service plans via "street-level" cross-promotions in addition to its traditional advertising methods. The idea was to engage the targeted consumers directly by giving them an opportunity to win prizes from its co-marketing partners, Sony, Samsung and the National Basketball Association. The result was an innovative campaign utilizing basketball-focused events staged at numerous malls and NBA arenas throughout the country.
Livewire was chosen to create a custom solution that allowed consumers to enter into a basketball shooting competition where the winner would have a chance of winning one of several giveaways (including a PlayStation 3, NBA '07 video game, Samsung phone, and NBA jerseys). The solution consisted of a wireless network of four IBM Anyplace kiosks (housed within large basketball-like enclosures) integrated with a central control computer and four remote display controllers.
Data entered by consumers into the kiosks was stored in a database on the central control computer. Web service technology provided distributed control of the display computers to drive digital signage mounted above shoot-to-win basketball games, as well as interaction with a 42-inch plasma display enclosed within a giant 10-foot high Samsung cell phone used to announce the game winner and initiate a "spin-to-win" giveaway.
Livewire, utilizing Microsoft's .NET Framework, created software that enabled participants to enter their contact information into the kiosk and choose icons representing themselves and their Fave 5. These icons were then displayed on the screens above four basketball games while players competed to make the most baskets during a 30-second countdown. At the completion of the game, an NBA-like ticket would be printed for each player showing their Fave 5 icons with additional information and offerings from T-Mobile. The winner's icons were then displayed on the cell phone and the player would push a button causing their icons to spin until their randomly selected prize was displayed.
"We were pleased to be involved in such an innovative project," said Dave McCracken, president of Livewire. "There are now three complete setups traveling around the country, sometimes being disassembled and reassembled in another location on the same night, and the feedback has been extremely positive; both on the promotion itself and the underlying technology."
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. · RealTime Shredding Inc. announced it has added wireless remote monitoring to its flagship offering, the Self-Service Shredder.
The new Enterprise Model, designed for business centers and corporations with multiple locations, allows a company to monitor and manage the Self-Service Shredder kiosks remotely. With a wireless Internet connection, purchasers or lessors of The Self-Service Shredder can monitor use, obtain reports, and change software functions for each kiosk.
With a network of self-service shredding kiosks, managers can aggregate information and easily determine changes to make each location as productive as possible, said Amanda Verrie, president of RealTime Shredding. "Wireless capability also will be most helpful for those who do dynamic route planning management," she said.
RealTime Shredding also recently incorporated anti-jam software into the Self-Service Shredder.
The Self-Service Shredder cross-cut shreds paper, cardboard, credit cards, paper clips, staples, CDs, DVDs, and floppy disks. The industrial-strength shredder, featuring multiple control points for maximum safety, can shred up to 200 sheets of paper a minute. Depending on the model purchased, the Self-Service Shredder will accept access codes and/or cash. Each customer can program the kiosk for the time/cost package they want to offer.
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Quality and convenience. Variety and selection. Increased profits with reduced expenses. The marriage of RFID technology and modern design has created a solution that will change convenience retailing as we know it. With innovative technology creating ways to enhance our lives and businesses every day, why should your business be the exception? Welcome to Freedom Shopping, the future of self-checkout.
Tuesday, 16 January 2007
MAITLAND, Fla. · Intermountain Orthopaedics, one of Idaho's fastest-growing musculoskeletal medical groups, announced it has implemented self-service check-in kiosks that allow patients to identify themselves upon arrival for an appointment, enter or verify demographic information, sign consent forms, and make copayments. The technology, called MediKiosk, is provided by Galvanon, an NCR Corp. company.
When a patient arrives for an appointment, he or she swipes a driver's license or credit card on the kiosk and enter another identifier such as a birth date to begin the check-in process. Any new information provided by the patient automatically flows to the group's practice-management and electronic-medical-records systems, which are provided by NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc.
The functionality eliminates the need for staff to manually enter patient data or scan forms.
"MediKiosk provides added convenience for our patients and allows them to check in for appointments more quickly than the previous paper-based system," said David Kirk, administrator at Intermountain Orthopaedics. "Our staff is also freed up to deliver more personalized care, rather than focusing on paperwork and data entry. The end result is a considerable increase in staff productivity and patient satisfaction."
Automating the patient check-in process also allows Intermountain Orthopaedics to reduce costs associated with printing and storing paper forms. It also has helped increase the accuracy of demographic and insurance information captured during registration.
Monday, 15 January 2007
NEW YORK, N.Y. · The MediaTile Company, provider of cellular digital-signage technology and turnkey narrowcast networks, announced that RAM Forest Products increased sales of deck accessories by more than 50 percent in Home Depot Canada stores last season.
According to a news release, Home Depot Canada expects to achieve faster ROI using MediaTile's Digital Signage End-Cap TV solution. MediaTile's cellular-based solution enables product vendors to deploy digital-signage networks in retail stores without any on-site network information-technology setup or ongoing management.
RAM Forest Products worked with MediaTile Canada to create a multimedia lifestyle advertising campaign called "Create The Deck Of Your Dreams." The campaign was deployed on integrated end-caps in Home Depot stores to connect with consumers and promote all elements that comprise a home-deck project.
"Using MediaTiles we were able to deploy an in-store broadcast network that dramatically increased our product sales for the 2006 season. Our totally integrated in-store approach provided us with maximum exposure, sales lift and return on our investment, so much so that we will significantly expand the program in 2007 with more stores and more integrated end-cap displays utilizing the MediaTile platform," said Keith Knowling, chief executive of RAM Forest Products.
Monday, 15 January 2007
Mail & Guardian: Airports Company South Africa has unveiled self-service check-in kiosks called Flightcheck at South Africa's four major airports. ACSA said in a statement that 36 kiosks have been installed, and plans are underway to add 70 more.
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Friday, 12 January 2007
Media Buyer Planner: Digital billboards, a possible "next big wave" in outdoor advertising, may be facing a battle, with safety experts saying that the new billboards add yet another distraction for drivers. A study commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration has recommended more research into whether the signs present risks to drivers, and the federal government has also allotted $150,000 for a study of digital signage.
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Friday, 12 January 2007
ePaynews: Three out of five U.S. consumers surveyed by online security firm Truste say they would support adding biometric identifiers to credit and debit cards. Truste interviewed 1,025 U.S. consumers between Sept. 25 and Sept. 29, 2006. The survey found that 64 percent of respondents support adding biometric data to credit cards; 62 percent support adding it to debit cards.
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Thursday, 11 January 2007
Dayton, Ohio · Officials at NCR Corp. announced Jan. 11 that they plan to cut 1,200 jobs as part of a realignment strategy that aims to improve the company's global ATM manufacturing efficiency.
NCR says it will continue to manufacture ATMs in China, India and Budapest. But in the Americas, the company is moving toward a contract model that will push its ATM manufacturing to outside vendors.
"This restructuring will strengthen NCR's global order fulfillment capabilities to better meet customer expectations and needs within this ever-changing market," said Bill Nuti, NCR's president and chief executive. "The realignment should enable meaningful cost reduction as we optimize our manufacturing operations by improving absorption across geographies and strategically outsourcing to contract manufacturers where the company can reap economies of scale."
NCR would not say with which companies it is negotiating · only that financial self-service equipment is not their primary business. But it did say the move is not expected to have any impact on any of its ATM product lines.
NCR's Dundee, Scotland, plant is taking the biggest hit, with 650 expected job cuts. And the ATM manufacturing facility in Waterloo, Canada, will likely drop 450 employees.
NCR's Carrollton, Texas, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, plants have been spared the brunt of the layoffs · 32 of Carrollton's 72 jobs are expected to be axed, while about 60 are expected to be cut in Sao Paulo.
"Managing three separate factories (in the Americas) is hard to manage," said Bob Tramontano, NCR's vice president of Self-Service. "We feel very sure of our capability to manage each of the (contract) sites to make sure the customer knows he is getting the highest quality from NCR."
Each of the three Americas facilities will retain research-and-development, project-management and marketing departments. Only the operations side will be scaled back, Tramontano said.
Those same departments will continue operating out of Dundee, but the operations side · logistics, supply-line management, manufacturing, etc. · will be moved to NCR's facilities in India, Budapest and China.
"We can have better efficiency, and that efficiency can be passed on to our customers in better lead time," Tramontano said. "So by combining our capacity it allows us to have greater volume, so we should be able to have better flexibility to respond to our customers."
Dundee will continue to manufacture a handful of NCR's more complex financial self-service products, he added, but most operations are being realigned.
"We're freeing up some capital so we can innovate more often. This is about re-investments in the new NCR self-service business and continuous improvement," Tramontano said. "I believe it's a win-win for everyone. It is regrettable, however, that the way we had to get to this is through employee reduction."
Tramontano could not speak to the amount NCR expects to save annually as a result of the realignment. He also would not release details about what the future holds for NCR's manufacturing facilities in Dundee, Carrollton, Waterloo and Sao Paulo.
"We will probably lease out the buildings that we own or reduce the footprint if we rent," he said.
NCR is expected to release more details about the financial impact the new ATM-manufacturing plan will have company revenue Jan. 25 during its fourth-quarter earnings call.
Thursday, 11 January 2007
ATLANTA · NCR announced its new EasyPoint Advantage kiosk, a compact device with a depth of less than three inches and a weight of 11 pounds.
"The introduction of the NCR EasyPoint Advantage enables NCR and third parties to deploy informational and transactional applications across multiple industries, accelerating the rapid adoption that NCR is already seeing with self-service worldwide," said Mike Webster, vice president and general manager of NCR Self-Service. "Its compact and retail-hardened design eases the process of finding a location for the device, and the kiosk is nimble enough for layout and/or location changes to fit the ever-evolving needs of today's consumers."
The NCR EasyPoint Advantage will be introduced at the National Retail Federation's 96th Annual Convention and Expo, Jan. 14-17, in New York (booth # 1637).
Thursday, 11 January 2007
The KioskCom Self Service Excellence Awards are open for submissions, and this year all entries are being accepted online.
KioskCom launched the global Self Service Excellence Awards to recognize the most successful and innovative interactive self-service solutions deployed. KioskCom has honored over 150 companies across multiple industries for their leadership, innovation, and success with self-service and kiosk business solutions.
Companies can enter in one or more of the following categories:
Industry Segment Awards:
- Best Retail Kiosk Deployment
- Best Financial Services Kiosk Deployment
- Best Government/Education/Non-Profit Agency Kiosk Deployment
- Best Travel/Hospitality Kiosk Deployment
- Best Entertainment/Gaming Kiosk Deployment
- Best Healthcare Kiosk Deployment
- Best Human Resources Kiosk Deployment
- Best Food Service Kiosk Deployment
- Best Other Kiosk Deployment (for categories not listed above)
Technology Awards:
- Best Overall Software Solution
- Best Hardware/Enclosure Design
- Best New Innovation in a Kiosk Deployment
Applications will be accepted through February 23, 2007. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on February 23, 2006. An application fee of $149 is due per entry (This excludes Industry Leader of the Year - Deployer, Industry Leader of the Year - Supplier and Industry Innovator of the Year). Finalists will be notified at the end of March 2007 and winners are announced at the ceremony at KioskCom's Self Service Expo, Wednesday, April 25th from 4:15 - 5:15 PM.
For more information, visit the KioskCom awards page.
Wednesday, 10 January 2007
PROMO: Under the "Use It. Win It." promotion, customers can enter to win a host of prizes, including Chrysler Crossfires, tickets to sporting events and free trips to Florida for using and registering their Dunkin' Donuts cards.
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Wednesday, 10 January 2007
WALCOTT, Iowa · IOWA80.COM, a provider of trucking accessories in North America, has unveiled a new Internet kiosk located in the Indianapolis Truckomat. Another Truckomat kiosk location will be announced soon.
Customers can browse the Web site, order products and even pay right at the kiosk, said Rodney Pugh, vice president of Truckomat. He said the kiosk is intended to serve drivers who want to purchase chrome and truck accessories not available at Truckomat locations.
Pugh said the company wants to offer drivers the best possible service, even during their downtime.
"The kiosk enables drivers to shop while their trucks are being washed," he said. "It's our way of reminding our Truckomat patrons that we are a full-service chrome and accessories shop. The kiosk is an easy and convenient way for drivers to browse our online store of over 120,000 products, and have their purchases shipped directly to their homes or business locations."
Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Fox28.com: An Indiana hospital has teamed up with the March of Dimes to help parents of premature babies. A new computer kiosk now sits in the waiting room outside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hospital. These new kiosks cost about $60,000.
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Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Mlive.com: A new electronic kiosk at the Bay County, Mich., jail is intended to provide convenience, but it's turning out to be more of a nuisance, says one user. ''This is the most cost-effective way to handle it,'' said Sheriff John E. Miller. "'This isn't a country club here. If the woman's that upset, we can cut the whole program out.''
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Tuesday, 09 January 2007
Not an hour into her first day as the first female speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) received a chorus of boos from Republicans.
The inauspicious start of her historic tenure began when she and fellow Democrats noted that Congress might unseat Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). The Florida secretary of state certified Buchanan's election, won by a margin of 368 votes, even though electronic-voting machines had lost 18,000 votes, 13 percent of the race's total, without a trace. The election is still being challenged in court by Buchanan's opponent, Christine Jennings.
The ruptured election is the most glaring example of e-voting failure at a time when the technology is under fire in the court of public opinion. Politicians, researchers, commentators, voters' rights groups and bloggers have all railed on e-voting in the wake of the scandal. But other studies, from equally credible sources, show something lost in the shuffle of the Florida election scandal: widespread improvements in vote counting.
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Diebold Election Systems' AccuVote-TSx touchscreen voting machine, shown with optional verified voting paper audit trail attachment.
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Angry voters
It was 44 degrees and drizzling in Austin, Texas, on election night 2000. Thousands of true believers in then-governor George W. Bush's presidential bid had gathered around the Capitol despite the weather, along with a stadium's worth of international media and acres of satellite trucks. A wheel-chair bound mother cradled her infant in her arms as they waited for Bush to appear, delivering either good news or bad. And wait they did, until after midnight as, one by one, the media called the election · for Gore. And then, for Bush. And then neither.
Bush never appeared that night and his home-state followers were far from the only Americans to be upset by the election that both sides still claim to have won.
The whole election hinged on one state, Florida, where old-fashioned punch-card voting machines made Americans cringe during the recount.
In the wake of the 2000 election, voters' rights groups like VotersUnite! cropped up from coast to coast, advocating for every vote to be counted. In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, budgeting $2 billion toward simplifying voting procedures and helping guarantee votes would be counted. And then Diebold Inc. jumped feet first into the touchscreen voting business, sending sales reps county to county promising that touchscreen technology would improve future elections.
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 We miss about 1 percent of the votes in this country. Historically, we were missing 2 or 3 percent, so we've really cut the problem in half since 2000.
-- Stephen Ansolabehere
MIT political science professor
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And there were improvements, big ones, though it was hard to tell from TV.
For the better part of the 2006 election cycle, CNN's Lou Dobbs explained that e-voting machines, especially those from Diebold, would unmake democracy.
"As of right now, there is little assurance your vote will count," Dobbs said in September. "As we've been reporting almost nightly on my broadcast for more than a year, electronic-voting machines are placing our democracy at risk."
Then the Buchanan election fouled in Florida. It was a familiar problem in a familiar place with an unfamiliar twist. This time, there was no paper trail. The Congressional votes of 18,000 voters just disappeared and, unlike in 2000, there was no way to find them. An attempt to recreate the errors failed. In December, a Florida circuit court denied Jennings' attempt to open the machines' source code for examination.
The story pervaded daily news, and it wasn't long before the watchdog groups decried touchscreen voting. In January 2007, four groups advocating the need to make every vote count, VotersUnite!, VoteTrustUSA, Voter Action and Pollworkers for Democracy, released a collaborative report, entitled "E-Voting Failures in the 2006 Mid-Term Election," which detailed more than 1,000 complaints of e-voting machine failures, including direct-recording electronic machines (touchscreen machines), optical-scan systems (fill-in-the-bubble, SAT-style ballots) and electronic-ballot markers (usually used to help disabled voters mark ballots correctly).
Of the complaints reported, touchscreen machines received the lion's share at 760 complaints, compared to 209 for optical scanners and 57 for electronic-ballot markers.
The report highlighted some of the biggest problems:
From Johnson County, Ind., a poll worker reports about the ES&S iVotronic:
"After we used the procedure that was given to the inspector, three machines out of four were not available at the start of voting."
From Prince George County, Md., a voter reports about the Diebold TS:
"At 7 A.M. only one machine is working. Nobody seemed to know how to fix the other one. Long lines of people trying to get to work."
From Indian River County, Fla., a voter's experience with the Sequoia Edge:
"Family of three went to vote. Father and particularly daughter had trouble with touch-screen voting machines. Daughter had to touch desired candidate five times to get the right candidate. The machine kept going back to the candidate that she did not want (Katherine Harris). She and the father were both eventually able to vote correctly."
But that was just half the story.
Corporate whipping boy
Diebold, with $2.5 billion in annual sales coming mainly from its ATM business, has been a lightning rod of criticism in the e-voting industry. Perhaps it was because of former chief executive Walden O'Dell's adamant public support for Bush; or perhaps it's just Diebold is the biggest target in the industry.
Not only did Dobbs continually drub Diebold on TV, BlackBoxVoting.org devoted long articles and photo shoots to picking apart every flaw in its e-voting machines, down to weak tabs holding in the power sockets.
Meanwhile, a report by researchers at Princeton University declared that Diebold's TS model machines opened the doors for fraud on a massive scale. The report describes multiple security vulnerabilities in the Diebold TS. For example, it asserts that the door to the memory card slot can be consistently picked by a researcher with modest locksmithing skills in less than 10 seconds. The report also states that most of the keys are the same or similar.
"With lever machines or paper ballots, a person with little technical skill can commit fraud at a local level by tampering with a few machines or stuffing some ballot boxes, but this is difficult to do on a large scale," J. Alex Halderman, one of the report's authors, said in an interview. "On the other hand, attacks on e-voting machines are more expensive, requiring a high level of technical expertise, but they can affect an election at a much larger scale, since they can be carried out against many voting machines with relatively little incremental effort."
Ironically, given the heat they had taken before the election, Diebold's machines weren’t used in Sarasota County, Fla., the one place where voting-machine trouble uprooted a national election in 2006. And Diebold Election Systems spokesman David Bear is quick to point out the fallacies of the Princeton research.
"The biggest flaw in the Princeton report is the whole report is based on the assumption of complete, unfettered access to a system, and the willingness of someone to commit a felony and go to prison," he said. "What system is safe from that? Voting centers are living, breathing environments. There are checks and balances, and that's the problem with 'What if?' scenarios."
Bear doesn't deny that one key fits many locks. But, he says, the study fails to acknowledge the logistical challenges of running an election, and other problems that could just as easily stop votes.
"I can see that using a different key for each device makes it more secure," Bear said. "But let's play this out. Look at Georgia, where they have 22,000 voting units. In almost all voting jurisdictions they have a Democrat and a Republican having a key. So you would have 22,000 districts with 44,000 keys. You're not going to have somebody coming in and picking a lock. You're going to have someone not being able to vote at all because you're going to lose one of 44,000 keys."
And if it seems conspicuous that a company known for its long-lasting, high-security ATMs would make voting machines with less-than-stellar plastic tabs on its electrical sockets, there's a reason for that, too: Counties can't afford top-quality equipment. Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of political science Stephen Ansolabehere, who co-authored a group of reports as a participant in the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, said during an interview that the project calculated the total amount spent on elections across the country.
"We went out and made an estimate in 2001 of how much money was spent on elections, and the total, all the office staff and everything, was only about $1 billion," Ansolabehere said, "which is about 1/15 of the amount spent on sewers. This is not a big, profitable industry."
A vast improvement
Ansolabehere, who also studied votes lost in elections between 1980 and 2000, said Americans had better chances of having their votes counted in 2006 than ever before.
"We miss about 1 percent of the votes in this country," Ansolabehere said. "Historically, we were missing 2 or 3 percent, so we've really cut the problem in half since 2000."
One state the Caltech/MIT project studied, Georgia, it rated as having the second-highest undervote rate (the portion of voters who conspicuously didn't vote for a presidential candidate) in 2000. That rate dropped from 3.5 percent then to .39 percent in 2004 after the implementation of Diebold's e-voting machines statewide.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State, the system saved 103,000 ballots from being improperly counted in 2004.
Still, security concerns and arguments over reliability issues abound in the media with no clear solution. The loss of 18,000 votes with no paper trail, and vendors' unwillingness to publicly expose their source codes (which the judge in the Buchanan case ruled would "gut" the companies' trade-secret protections), has spawned a new argument about transparency and accountability.
One possible solution, a mandatory paper receipt for voters, is often debated. Ansolabehere said the problem with a paper receipt is that it can lead to voter fraud: voters selling their receipts to candidates, for example, or employers and unions checking their employees' receipts. And creating a completely secure transaction without the option of a receipt, which has never been accomplished for financial transactions, has become a white whale for programmers.
Bear points out, though, that many Diebold TS machines generate receipts that voters can review but not remove, though many locales choose not to use them.
"There is almost this belief that technology has increased the likelihood of problems with elections," Bear said. "We count votes more accurately than we ever have before. It would be naive to think there haven't been issues with elections through time. But, for the most part, the vast majority were inadvertent. They have not been ill-intended. We've lessened the likelihood of those inadvertent and ill-intended issues."
Tuesday, 09 January 2007
Vancouver, Wash.— New Edge Networks named Linda Beck, a veteran executive with operations and IT experience, as president of the business network company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of EarthLink Inc. The appointment is effective immediately.
Beck, an executive vice president of EarthLink and general manager of EarthLink Business Solutions, had been interim president of New Edge Networks since last August.
"Linda is a proven and seasoned executive with the knowledge and experience necessary for helping the company become a growth engine for EarthLink's expansion into business communications services," said Mike Lunsford, interim CEO of EarthLink.
Beck was previously executive vice president of operations. She was responsible for the backbone and infrastructure that provides EarthLink's Internet service.
"Applications convergence is creating a new level of network complexity for businesses," Beck said. "New Edge Networks has systems, processes, and people who know how to manage complexity and help turn a customer's network into a strategic asset."
Sunday, 07 January 2007
Dexigner: Behavior Design has reunited with New York's Museum of Modern Art for their latest exhibition, Georges Seurat: The Drawings, creating an interactive touchscreen kiosk that enables MoMA's visitors to explore Seurat's four surviving sketchbooks.
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Thursday, 04 January 2007
A confluence of factors is bringing European kiosks to American shores, and entrepreneurs are riding the tide.
BCC research analyst Francis Duffy, who tracks the international kiosk market, said the Euro's strong position relative to the dollar makes the US market extremely attractive.
"Five years ago (the Euro) was roughly equal in value to the dollar," Duffy said. "Two years ago it was equal to $1.25. Today it's higher and unlikely to slip significantly in the near-term. Since almost all their manufacturing costs and a good deal of their selling costs are paid for in Euros, they have a built-in pricing advantage only a fool would ignore."
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The US market is also, well, just plain bigger than any other.
-- Francis Duffy,
BCC Research Analyst
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Tommy Walvaag is vice president of sales and marketing for Ewait of Norway. He said his company decided to hop the pond in 2004, after attending The Self-Service and Kiosk Show in San Francisco and seeing a niche their elegantly designed machines could fill.
"We were testing how our design would be welcome in the U.S. market," Walvaag said. "The U.S. market is a much more mature market than the European market. It's very service-oriented. We believe it's the service that generates business, along with design."
Once Ewait executives decided to sell stateside, they encountered numerous small logistical challenges. For example, there was no U.S.-based service center for their kiosks' touchscreens. They also encountered a problem that haunts many companies trying to set up shop in the U.S.: shipping fees.
"Shipping a kiosk by plane costs $300-$350," Walvaag said. "If you've got to add a printer or extra things to it, the price will go through the roof. And that's just coast-to-coast, to a major airport, and then there is freight in addition to that. A boat, it takes too long, but it would be a third of the cost if you did."
After a couple years chipping away at the US market, Ewait is making headway in communications and entertainment applications, enough to solve their shipping woes by contracting North American manufacturing. Of course, getting the kiosks to market is only part of the challenge. Companies, especially smaller ones, often need distribution partners to help move the products.
One of Ewait's resellers is Florida-based EuroTouch Kiosks, a young company that specializes in finding European kiosks and bringing them to market in the U.S. EuroTouch president RJ Kwap said European design draws customers to kiosks much like it does to European cars.
"I had traveled over there a lot, saw some of the applications they were using, and some of the designs," Kwap said. "One of the designs I saw at Regent's Park in London was standing out there in the rain. It had been for two and a half years and it still looked great. So I looked up the designer and we became a reseller."
While finding partners and crossing oceans is challenging, there are also efficiencies and rewards to be realized. Walvaag said there is probably as much potential in the EU market, but culture barriers can make it a hard sell.
"It's a lot harder to penetrate (the EU market) because we have so many cultures, so many language barriers," he said. "There are more culture barriers than you have in the U.S. It's not easy to succeed in the U.S. but, if you do, you open the whole market. In Europe, you can succeed in Germany, but not succeed in France. The European market as a whole is as big as the US market, but it's a lot harder to operate within that market."
Duffy said more users speaking the same language also create a cost savings, given the cost of adding and reprogramming different languages for deployments in different regions. Also, Duffy said the maturity of the US market means there is a bigger replacement market as companies phase out old machines.
"The US market is also, well, just plain bigger than any other," Duffy said.
Tuesday, 02 January 2007
Video Business: After a series of false starts, DVD burning has cleared its last technical hurdle, smoothing the way for movie download services and DVD kiosk companies to offer on-demand disc burning using CSS copy-protection technology.
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