July 31, 2007

KIOSK Online Quote, Pricing and Ordering

Here's a new twist on self-service ordering -- now you can get a quote, price and purchase a self-service kiosk online. The people at KIOSK have been doing it now for the last few months and just now have formally...



July 27, 2007

Technology - Silverlight 1.0 RC1 released

The next generation browser from Microsoft just hit RC status. Remains to be seen if it can find its niche but good to see Microsoft pushing core technology again....



Acquisitions - Ingenico and Sagem merging?

French eftpos vendor Ingenico and Paris-based technology firm Sagem Securite are in exclusive talks to merge their respective electronic payments businesses....



July 25, 2007

Startups (or rather start back ups) companies

Apparently the Slabb people have managed to restructure and are back online. They have a different mix of product than before (more limited) but they are back online....



Acquisitions - HP Buys Neoware and Wyse Responds

Earlier today it was reported HP purchased Neoware for $214M. That's a pretty strategic buy for HP in thin client market. It didn't take long either for Wyse to deliver a "so what does this mean" response to the marketplace...



July 20, 2007

KIOSKS Case Study -- ticketing travel kiosks for Amtrak

Article on new Quick-Trak machines going into new locations for Amtrak. Looks like 300 machines in 150 stations. The new machines have upgraded touchscreens and are ADA-compliant. There is a nice link on the Amtrak site that goes thru the...



July 18, 2007

Gaming Technology

Shakeup at Microsoft has Peter Moore resigning. Moore directed Xbox division which has always been in one sense a virtual success, never made money, and recently took $1B hit for warranty issues with defective Xbox consoles. Xbox along with Wii...



July 17, 2007

Self-Service Kiosk market Numbers

"We expect that expenditures made at self-service kiosks will rise by about 20 percent this year and another 18 percent in 2008," Buzek said, adding that demand for self-checkout systems and other kiosks should push the dollar value of transactions...



Self-Service Technology - restaurant goes paypass

2200 Tim Horton locations in Canada expected to be equipped with Mastercard paypass by September 2007 (both the drive thru and inside the store). Tim Hortons is Canada's largest QSR chain....



July 16, 2007

Self-Service Technology -- DRM -- the saga continues

A program has surfaced that strips DRM off of tracks purchased from the Zune Marketplace, or traded via Wi-Fi. What makes this more significant is the optional Zune subscription which allows users to download almost all the Zune Marketplace....



July 13, 2007

Intel Makes Peace with One Laptop Per Child

Appears Intel has had a change of heart and will now join the board of OLPC and contribute funding. That's a good thing and definitely nicer than the prior stance it had which seemed to put corporate profit ahead of...



KIOSKS and Health - Diabetes Information

Awareness and self-diagnosis of diabetes is being done with touchscreen kiosks. “It is just a real simple test,” Gross said. “It asks you several questions about your health to determine if you are at risk for diabetes.”...



Icecream, Steak, Potato & Cereal in that kiosk

The newly merged owners of Cold Stone Creamery and the Great Steak & Potato Co. have added Chicago's Cereality Cereal Bar & Cafe to their mix. The Cereality cafes have a food order kiosk (Stealth by KIOSK) that takes the...



July 12, 2007

Trivia -- Worlds Fastest Internet Connection

From Sweden -- 40 Gb/s home internet connection fast enough for you?...



Acquisitions -- 3M Buys Rochford Thompson

UK passport reader manufacturer Rochford Thompson has agreed to be purchased by 3M. Passport readers are used in all types of airline and travel security kiosks. This narrows the field abit now with 3M, Access Keyboards, and Desko being most...



July 11, 2007

Kiosk Technology -- Speech Recognition Coming of Age?

Speech-recognition technologies are coming of age. Drivers tell Global Positioning Systems where they want to go. Callers speak commands into cellphones instead of pressing buttons. Doctors dictate patient histories into devices that automatically transcribe them. Growing at 22% a year,...



Movies on Game Consoles

Not sure if the demographics make sense but Microsoft struck a deal for customers with Xbox360 to be able to download/rent movies from Disney (includes Miramax/etc)....



Gaming -- Spielberg and EA

PQRS block game coming out for Nintendo Wii console (motion sensing). Steven Spielberg teamed up with EA (Electronic Arts) for the game. Next up Indiana Jones?...



KIOSKS and Financial Services in India

From Mumbai -- ICICI Bank CFO Vishakha Mulye explained: “We plan to introduce multi-product and multi-channel offerings, not only using bank branches, since operating costs will be very high. We’ll have franchises for the banks, kiosks for withdrawals." Expanding into...



July 09, 2007

KIOSKS and Photo News

We had a inkling that it was coming and sure enough it did: Fujifilm buys 35% of Whitech. They got the last name wrong (should be Delnawaz) but this is definitely big news in photo field....



Kiosks Hardware -- microATX and Intel arrive

Here's a new one. Intel released D201GLY which is the first Mini-ITX form factor offered direct by Intel. Requires less than 27W of power, uses Celeron 215 for CPU and amazingly enough costs under $100....



Music Download -- BurnLounge Changes Model

BurnLounge eliminates signup/membership and account management fee's as major revenue and shift it towards sales of actual music downloads. That's a real shift in ROI for them but it makes the FTC happy....