May 25, 2007

Music Kiosks

Trans World which purchased Mix and Burn in 2006 is looking to rebrand in order to turn around poor results.

SmallCapInvestor.com: Trans World Entertainment Corp. hopes re-branding will jolt anemic sales

Trans World Entertainment Corp. hopes re-branding will jolt anemic sales

Will Atkinson | May 24, 2007 11:39am EDT | User Rating N/A

Trans World Entertainment Corp. (Nasdaq: TWMC) executives said on a Thursday morning conference call the company will focus on re-branding in an effort to turn around poor results. The Albany, N.Y.-based company, which owns Coconuts Music and Movies, Wherehouse, Sam Goody, f.y.e., Suncoast and SecondSpin.com, plans to brand all the stores f.y.e., except for Suncoast.

“By the end of the second quarter, the stores will be under the f.y.e. brand,” CEO Bob Higgins said on the call.

Higgins said the company spent “several hundred thousand dollars” on re-branding during the first quarter ended May 5, and plans to spend a similar amount during the second quarter ending July 29.

Trans World Entertainment wants to expand its Mix and Burn mall kiosks, but does not have the “proper metrics” to make a decision yet, Higgins said. The company bought Mix and Burn, a kiosk merchant that offers CDs and downloads of customizable songs, during the first quarter of 2006.

Video game sales were “disappointing,” Higgins said, with a 12% decline in comparable store sales on a quarter-over-quarter basis. A lack of available game hardware hindered the company’s progress, he said, and the supply deficiency is “a problem we will fix.”

Posted by staff at 09:32 AM

May 10, 2007

New Case Studies Released

Five new case studies released including Amtrak, SITA CUSS, ISI Gaming, Army Internet Gaming, and Vanguard Car Rental check-in.

Case studies published by KIOSK in Colorado and links are here:



Posted by staff at 12:41 PM

April 20, 2007

KIOSKS Case Study -- RFID and DVD Dispense

Grocery Stores Use RFID to Dispense Rental DVDs. Self-serve kiosks employ passive 13.56 MHz tags to dispense and track the discs that customers rent and return.

source link

April 18, 2007—Touch Automation, a Milwaukee-based provider of automated dispensing equipment, is using RFID technology in CD and DVD rental kiosks installed in stores. Within the past two years, the company has deployed at least 1,000 merchandising systems designed to provide customers the rental DVDs of their choice. Most of the installations have taken place within the past six months.

Unlike other automated disc rental machines, this solution uses RFID, rather than bar coding, to keep track of the discs checked into and out of the machines by customers. "The concept of utilizing RFID in this rental environment is new," says Brian Fitzpatrick, Touch Automation's director of engineering. Retailers can monitor and validate RFID-tagged CDs and DVDs entering and leaving the machine more accurately than they could with dispensing systems that used bar-coded labels to track the discs. Bar-coded labels are more susceptible to damage and can be read only if a bar-code scanner has a clear line of sight with the label.


The Touch Automation system allows customers to rent CDs and DVDs using RFID-enabled kiosks installed in stores.
Touch Automation machines, installed in retail locations across the country, are most commonly found in grocery stores. In most cases, the self-serve kiosks are owned and operated by private CD and DVD rental companies that have entered into hosting agreements with the grocery stores to lease space and/or provide a percentage of revenue from the system. Other grocery stores own and operate the system themselves. Either way, the kiosks allow customers to quickly rent a film or films while doing their regular shopping, providing immediate access to movies without having to either visit a video rental store or order the films online.

Touch Automation provides the kiosk, which measures 28 by 36 by 66 (or 84) inches and consists of a built-in RFID reader, a robotic mechanism for dispensing and receiving DVDs, a touch-panel screen and point-of-sale software. The kiosk is connected to a server via the Internet so the system owner can monitor it remotely. Touch Automation can host the Internet-based server for smaller companies, such as a small grocery store with its own kiosk. In most cases, however, all RFID and POS data is routed directly to the video retailer's own server.

According to Jan Svoboda, UPM Raflatac's sales and marketing director for the Americas, the Touch Automation system uses UPM Raflatac's circular Rafsec BullsEye HF 13.56 passive RFID tags, which comply with ISO 15693. The self-adhesive tags are applied to the disc's upper side, either by the disc rental company at the distribution center, or by a media distributor before it reaches the rental company's distribution center. At the same time, the DVD's unique ID number, SKU number, the movie's name and genre, as well as any other details the rental company chooses to write, are encoded onto the tag.

"The tag is used to manage inventory," Svoboda explains, "and to ensure a customer is getting the movie requested and returning the movie originally rented."

A customer using the kiosk follows prompts on the 17-inch screen to find the desired movie. After choosing what to rent, the customer presses the "checkout" prompt on the screen and swipes a credit card using the kiosk's built-in card reader. The machine's robotics system then pulls each chosen title from the storage area and brings it within an inch of the RFID reader, which captures the tag ID number of the movie. The Touch Automation system compares the RFID data with the data related to the customer's selection. If the information matches, the DVD is provided to the customer through a slot.

When returning the DVD, the customer presses the "return" prompt, the robotic system draws the disc into the machine and the reader captures the RFID data on the DVD's tag once more. If there is a match, the disc is returned to its storage position and the point-of-sale process proceeds to charge the customer's credit card the appropriate amount for the duration of the rental. The data related to the rentals can then be stored in a hosted Web site via a broadband Internet connection.

Posted by staff at 10:38 AM

April 03, 2007

KIOSKS Case Study -- WoW and Halo gaming at the Airport

News story on Colorado television station on new kiosk mpog game stations installed at Denver International Airport. Nice video of the kiosk units. Not your usual units as they have large 26 and 22 inch LCD screens and are housed in a payphone type private sitdown. Users can check their favorite portal like MySpace or YouTube or they can log on and play high end games like World of Warcraft, Battlefield, or any number of Steam/Valve. Here's the link to the video. The units are the Zazoox units and their website is here.




repeat -- News story on Colorado television station on new kiosk mpog game stations installed at Denver International Airport. Nice video of the kiosk units. Not your usual units as they have large 26 and 22 inch LCD screens and are housed in a payphone type private sitdown. Users can check their favorite portal like MySpace or YouTube or they can log on and play high end games like World of Warcraft, Battlefield, or any number of Steam/Valve. Here's the link to the video. The units are the Zazoox units and their website is here.

Posted by staff at 03:32 PM

November 21, 2006

Content Channels - eMusic Hits 100 Million Downloads

With all the talk about Zune and iTunes, the "no-DRM" solution from eMusic notes that they are nearing the 100 million download mark. Its worth noting the iTunes hit the Billion downloads-to-date mark recently and that the sharing services still see over a billion downloads every week. eMusic delivers its music in Open MP3 format (unlike the Windows WMA DRM or Apple's Fairplay).

Independent digital download store eMusic is nearing the 100 million-mark, a milestone that should arrive within "the next few weeks". eMusic started its download ticker on November 1st, 2003, the point at which the company moved away from an unlimited monthly download model. Ahead of the accomplishment, the company has tapped pop rock group Barenaked Ladies to pen a song for the winner, a unique digital commission. The lucky downloader will also receive a lifetime eMusic subscription, and inclusion within an upcoming print advertising campaign.

eMusic has long billed itself as the number two paid download provider behind iTunes, and the latest tally helps to validate that claim. eMusic is catered towards a targeted audience, one that prefers lesser-known indies over blockbuster artists and smash hits. Depending on the specific tier, the company offers its users a fixed number of downloads per month, part of a hybrid subscription and download model. And eMusic offers all of its tracks as open MP3s, enabling iPod compatibility. Meanwhile, Apple has crossed the 1.5 billion mark on its iTunes Store, a number that eclipses eMusic and other competing download providers. Others like Napster, MSN Music, and RealNetworks have not shared download figures.

Posted by staff at 07:18 AM

November 14, 2006

Cisco, Oakland and Kiosk

Press conference today with Cisco has kiosk featured on the side of the press conference which was John Chambers, Commissioner of Baseball and owners of Oakland A's. News @ Cisco: Oakland Athletics and Cisco Systems To Host Press Conference

Watch ESPN and other news outlets today as the Kiosk will be on stage with the President of Cisco, the Commissioner of Baseball, and the owners of the Oakland A's. We are doing a press conference with the A's starting around 11:15 Pacific. There is a live web cast as well.

http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_318112754.html
cisco link


Posted by staff at 01:18 PM

November 11, 2006

Interesting Outdoor Goverment Kiosk

dataweb.jpgPublic Access Kiosks in Aberdeen by an organisation called 'Public Dataweb'. These units are outdoor and have an umbrella above them. Statistics on usage by the people are also pretty interesting as Entertainment and Sports dominates the usage with things like Email barely being used. The units also provide wireless WiFi download to mobiles.

outdoorkiosk.jpg

The Umbrella Kiosk 2006

First introduced in April 2006 in the city centre streets of Aberdeen Scotland.

The 'i' Kiosks have dual operational viewing screens.

They generate a Wireless / WiFi service

Provide all the Public DataWeb multiple content service's.

Plus Video Email and VOIP/SKYPE Freephone telephony

A Verbot / Avatar assists and can also read out messages.

One major factor in collecting usage statistics over many years shows that when we introduced the Umbrella kiosk design usage shot up! With far less kiosks the usage on our new street kiosks rapidly exceeded the other designs. We believe this is due entirely to the open access design.

Public DataWeb usage statistics are collated and analyzed regularly.

The chart shows a typical month from a small random selection of kiosks.

The hit rates are very reasonable and are typical of the usage on the service over the past 3 years. The previous 18 months were much more erratic. This shows that access has settled down and a pattern of use has emerged, with reasonable access to council services and other citizen government facing options keeping pace with obvious top selections like entertainment, news and sport.

The statistics break down: usage by context/categories.

Importantly the usage hits are further automatically analyzed by our unique statistics profiler that generates the variable of hits that are associated with finding the exact need of the user.

Percentage of navigation against finding requirements:-

It is important to know the need itself is being satisfied e.g. for example, typically for job vacancies a person searches first by location or job category then a list of available vacancies, the links selected before reaching the target and actually finding jobs are in a percentage amount of the total links. People want the jobs not the links and probably other systems count these links as hits, they are not. The statistics show users are consistently reaching over 70% of their target need; thus the system is engaging them and providing rapid demonstrable access to their requirements.

Time in use: average time spent each session is 4.5 minutes.

Average time taken traversing links to exact need i.e. a job category is 5 seconds.

Notes; Percentage profiling also proves that genuine users are in the main as over 70% reach their choice whereas children or browsers will be mainly collected within the links rather than the results.

Weather plays a role in usage winter months and holiday periods reduce access.

In the evening the top shelter structure becomes illuminated.

The design maximises the visibility and the functionality.

It has increased usage dramatically.

Download file


Dataweb site

Sheffield Stats
Stats_Sheffield_G.jpg

Aberdeen
Stats_Aberdeen_G.jpg

Posted by staff at 02:12 PM

July 16, 2005

Digital Media Kiosks Gaining Acceptance

Photo Industry Reporter picks up on and writes on McDonalds music kiosks by DTM then goes into photo kiosks. Its a nice article.

Noted: KioskCom.com Website

n Munich, Germany, a large McDonald�s outlet frequented by tourists has been testing multifunctional kiosks�24 E2Go terminals from U.S. manufacturer Digital Transaction Machines (DTM). These kiosks allow customers to download ring tones for their mobile telephones, download music onto a CD, download images from memory cards onto a CD, or make 4x6-inch prints on an Olmec dye-sub printer.

An article in the current issue of International Contact provides a detailed description of the operation of these kiosks. Upon completing an order, users print out a payment ticket with an order number, which is taken to a "cash machine" that accepts cash, credit cards or the euro card. Once payment is completed, the CDs are burned and pictures printed.

The system in Munich was installed by Contnet AG, a local service company that remotely monitors, diagnoses and changes software for the kiosks via the Internet and a DSL connection. The terminals are subject to vandalism, such as "kids feeding the card slots with slices of pickle or ketchup," according to Thomas Kienbauer, a DTM representative in Germany. However, he feels that this, along with software glitches, is being solved. "In the first three months of operation we had some 18,000 downloads of current music titles without spending a single euro on advertising," he said. Based on the initial success of this test, DTM is planning to expand its placement of kiosks in other non-traditional locations.

What does this mean to Photo Industry Reporter readers? As we talk to people in the industry we are amazed how many don�t consider these non-traditional installations to be "serious" competition. For the McDonald�s test in Munich, the primary revenue source is downloading songs. But, we are sure that there are some photo prints and CDs being made, and these are prints and CDs that won�t be made at a traditional outlet. So, in addition to being profitable, these kiosks are taking business away from photo retailers. PIR readers need to consider how they can gain access to these non-traditional venues before non-industry companies gain a strong foothold and start chipping away at "our" print/CD business revenues.

Considerations When Buying A Photo-Imaging Kiosk

Opening his presentation, "Practical Strategies for Maximizing Your Kiosk Investment," George Briggs, CEO of Pixel Magic Imaging, said that the real cost of a 4x6-inch print at home is 29�, although consumers often experience "sticker shock" when buying a replacement inkjet cartridge and photo-quality paper. The "perceived" quality is good, but is it the best possible? And, while home printers are slow, they are getting faster and certainly easier.

Should consumers print at retail, the everyday retail price for digital prints has settled at around the same price as prints from film, and the everyday self-service prices are in the 29��39� range. Consumers know they will get photo quality at retail, and it is fast and easy to make prints.

Briggs showed a slide with kiosks from eight different manufacturers. They all have touch screens and media drives, but they differ in many other aspects. He addressed these from the viewpoint of what retailers should consider.

Rest of the Story

Posted by keefner at 02:40 AM

March 31, 2005

Sony Goes Movie Download

Sony to develop digital movie download service

Sony to develop digital movie download service

31/03/2005 by Leigh Phillips

An executive with Sony Pictures has announced that the movie studio wants to develop a digital download service for films.

The company is to make the 500 most popular films in its catalogue available in digital formats some time over the next year.

The senior vice-president, Michael Arrieta, of the firm made the announcement at a conference in the US. He also said that Sony is to put movies onto flash memory for mobiles and portable game players that are capable of playing video such as Sony's own Playstation Portable device.

story link

Posted by keefner at 02:20 PM

March 24, 2005

Ringtones and Albums

The new CD single "Baby" from rapper Fabolous allows UK consumers to choose which part of the song they want to use as a mobile phone ringtone, a feature that Warner Music said on Thursday was a first for the industry.

Until now, the 30-second ringtone clips packaged with singles have been pre-determined by record companies.

The Fabolous single from Warner's Atlantic Records, which includes built-in software that lets listeners isolate any part of the song and load it onto their phones, retails for 3.99 pounds ($7.51), the same price as other CD singles.

"It's the next step for music lovers," said Crispin Futrille, whose company Bounce supplied Warner with the technology. "Ultimately the idea is to get this included on all CDs."

Record companies are seeking new ways to capitalize on the desire among consumers to use their favorite songs as ringtones as the industry reshapes itself amid a fight against piracy and illegal downloading.

Some analyst estimates have put the global ringtone market at more than $3 billion. Industry trade magazine "Billboard" last year even launched a weekly ringtone chart of top sellers.

Warner Music, smallest of the four major music companies, declined to comment on prospects for the ringtone technology, citing its announcement earlier this month that it would sell shares to the public and the related prohibitions on discussing forward-looking plans.

link

Posted by Craig at 07:52 PM

September 23, 2004

digital audio players

Sales of portable digital audio players like Apple Computer Inc.'s trendy iPod are booming and are expected to generate $58 billion in revenue worldwide by 2008, according to a research report released Tuesday.

Sales of portable digital audio players like Apple Computer Inc.'s trendy iPod are booming and are expected to generate $58 billion in revenue worldwide by 2008, according to a research report released Tuesday.

The report, from research firm IDC of Framingham, Mass., is another indication of how portable MP3 players -- introduced in late 1998 -- have evolved from a niche technology gadget into a mainstream consumer device, said Susan Kevorkian, an IDC senior analyst.

Apple Computer has captured more than 50 percent of the digital player market with its iPods. These use small internal hard drives to store thousands of songs. But the Cupertino computer-maker may have to adjust its focus because prices for digital audio players that use flash-memory cards are falling, Kevorkian said.

"Although Apple will continue to have a leading position in the portable jukebox market, they may eventually offer a flash-based iPod branded player as well,'' she said.

The report said revenue from digital audio players is expected to reach $7 billion by the end of 2004, up from $4.4 billion in 2003. The category also includes portable CD players that are designed to play CDs with songs recorded in the compressed MP3 audio format.

By the end of June, Apple Computer had sold more than 3.7 million iPod and iPod Mini players since they were introduced in 2001.

Apple has been most successful in North America, where it has tied marketing of the iPod to its online iTunes Music Store.

However, Kevorkian said, smaller-capacity flash-based MP3 players remain more popular overseas, particularly in regions of Asia where "they are used more as a fashion accessory.'' More 22 million flash players are expected to be sold worldwide by the end of 2004, compared with a projected 8 million hard- drive players.

Kevorkian also said declining wholesale costs of flash-memory cards should bring average sales prices of flash-based MP3 players down from $117 in 2003 to $98 in 2008. Meanwhile, average prices of hard-drive players should decline from $304 last year to $171 in 2008.

More than 20 million combination CD-MP3 players will be sold this year, but that number is expected to rise only modestly in the next few years.

However, Kevorkian said, regular CD players won't disappear quickly because the CD remains the core distribution medium for the recording industry, "and we don't expect that to change overnight.''

http://www.sfgate.com/

Posted by Craig at 07:52 PM

July 26, 2004

Amusement Parks

Theme park tracking system lacks user-friendly features

Posted on Mon, Jul. 26, 2004


review


Theme park tracking system lacks user-friendly features

DEVICES ARE HANDY, BUT KIOSKS ARE HARD TO FIND

By Margot Leong and Vikram Mahal

Special to the Mercury News


Anyone who's ever gone to an amusement park with a family or a large group knows how tough it can be to keep track of everyone.

Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara launched a high-tech service this season that should solve that problem -- or so it would seem.

Star Watch -- a tracking system that involves a wrist watch-like device and kiosks scattered throughout the park -- is far from a problem solver. It's a step in the right direction for using Silicon Valley technology to keep people in touch. But it needs so much refining that it was tough for us to get excited about it.

The device charts the journeys of different group members by using a local positioning system operating over radio frequencies. The park is divided into different zones. As a Star Watch user moves through those zones, antennas placed throughout the park transmit data about his or her whereabouts to a central computer.

The problem is that all of the cool things that Star Watch offers -- the ability to track people in your group, even find the nearest restroom or send e-mail and instant messages -- is dependent on finding one of the seven kiosks.

Finding the closest restroom was easier than finding one of the kiosks, which aren't marked on the Great America park map. The stations are very inconspicuous, looking like 4-foot campsite trash cans with touch screens. Also, there are no signs pointing out any of the stations and they have no lighting around them at night.

The e-mail and instant-messaging features at the kiosks were very cool, but Star Watch offers no alert system to notify users when they have a new message. Who wants to keep looking for a kiosk just to see if they have new messages?

And if Great America really wants people to use Star Watch, the rental booths need to be easier to find. It was in an obscure area next to a popcorn stand, not next to the park's entrance. It seems as though it would be really easy to just walk out of Great America with the watch because there are no security measures to make sure that forgetful users -- exhausted after a long day with children or a large group -- return it.

Star Watch rents for $5 per day per watch, which seems a bit high after we learned that the handful of other parks across the country with Star Watch charge customers about $2.50 a day.

Great America and the other parks are smart to offer a tracking system such as Star Watch. The walkie-talkie radios so many families use to stay in touch become a garbled mess when too many people try to talk to each other over the same radio channels.

But Star Watch -- or something like it -- needs more research and more fine-tuning for the future. While the proposed ideas of the Star Watch seem to offer many benefits, the device -- for now -- just doesn't seem very practical.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margot Leong, a student at Menlo School, and Vikram Mahal, a student at Bellarmine College Preparatory, wrote this story for Mosaic, a high-school journalism workshop sponsored in part by the Mercury News.


MercuryNews.com | 07/26/2004 | Theme park tracking system lacks user-friendly features

Posted by Craig at 02:43 PM

June 15, 2004

Entertainment Events

Concertgoers could interact with mobile kiosks to send customized epostcards to friends and family, listen to music, and surf the web.

Nanonation Software Rocks Crossroads Guitar Festival

Billed as the �Super Bowl for Music Fans,� the Crossroads Guitar Festival held in Dallas this past weekend treated people to all-star concerts featuring Eric Clapton, B.B. King, James Taylor, Carlos Santana, ZZ Top and many more. This one-of-a-kind event brought together the biggest names in music, together with clinics, displays, a host of music enthusiasts, and localized, targeted, event-based marketing developed by Nanonation.

To make the experience more than just a typical music festival, sponsors such as SBC hosted the festival�s Guitar Center Village. At the Village, concertgoers were encouraged to explore and immerse themselves in the products and people. Concertgoers could interact with mobile kiosks to send customized epostcards to friends and family, listen to music, and surf the web. A total of 10 stations were set-up specifically for the event and powered by Nanonation�s award-winning software. Over 170 hours of usage were reported and an additional 400 e-postcards were sent during the event, each one containing a picture of the concertgoer and a viral email message that highlighted the brand and product offerings of SBC�s DSL service.

Bradley Walker, CEO of Nanonation, said this about the festival, �The Crossroads Guitar Festival showcases legendary talent and gives the music fan an unprecedented experience. Nanonation is proud to be able to deliver a fan experience that matches the excitement and talent surrounding this festival.�

For more information on Nanonation, please log onto www.nanonation.net or contact Brian Ardinger at 402-323-6262 or [email protected]

About Nanonation (www.nanonation.net)

Nanonation helps businesses stand out and deliver more with their proprietary, enterprise-class software for interactive, self-service kiosks and dynamic digital signage. Nanonation's patent-pending software is one of the most highly acclaimed in the industry for delivering high impact, high involvement, customer satisfaction at point-of-service. As a result, businesses can now offer a unique customer experience without complex, expensive, and lengthy system integration and programming. Nanonation�s client list includes the Mazda, Minnesota Wild, Douglas Theatres, Nebraska Book Company, Burger King, Petro, Yahoo, and many others in the retail, hospitality, entertainment, and education markets. More information about Nanonation can be found at its web site www.nanonation.net or by calling 402-323-6262.

Posted by Craig at 04:15 PM

June 04, 2004

DVD Rentals

Nice article on DVD Rentals from Mercury.

Posted on Fri, Jun. 04, 2004
Butch Oustalet Lincoln Mercury

Los Gatos firms revolutionizing movie rentals

NETFLIX, DVDPLAY OFFERING CONSUMERS APPEALING ALTERNATIVES TO BLOCKBUSTER

By Mike Langberg

Mercury News

Blockbuster's mighty grip on home movie rental is loosening in the face of new technology, much of which is coming from University Avenue in Los Gatos.

On University near Lark Avenue is the headquarters of Netflix, which has signed up 2 million subscribers to rent DVDs from the company's Web site for delivery by mail.

A mile south on University are the offices of DVDPlay, which has developed an Internet-connected DVD rental kiosk. It works something like an automated teller machine, dispensing movies instead of money. It's small enough and inexpensive enough -- at $10,000 to $17,000 a machine -- to fit into all kinds of locations Blockbuster could never reach.

While Netflix has become a household name, DVDPlay had been quietly struggling along for several years with only a small number of pilot installations around the country.

That changed in a big way May 24 when McDonald's announced it would put DVDPlay kiosks in all 104 of its restaurants in the Denver area.

The phones at DVDPlay headquarters have since been ringing off the hook. In a weird coincidence, the offices were previously occupied by Netflix, although the companies otherwise have no connection.

Netflix and DVDPlay, as I see it, are taking advantage of two things Blockbuster and other traditional video rental operators have been slow to recognize:

First, DVDs are much smaller and more durable than VHS cassettes. That makes it economical to deliver rental DVDs by mail or stock them on a big jukebox-type wheel inside a kiosk. The fact that DVDs provide superior picture and sound quality to VHS tapes is just icing on the cake.

Second, the Internet brings huge efficiencies to businesses that deal with large numbers of consumers. Netflix could never hire enough phone operators to take rental orders from its members; instead, the members manage their own request lists thorough the Web. DVDPlay's Internet-connected kiosks provide the distributors or retailers who own them with instant updates on which titles are renting, verification of credit-card numbers and reports on kiosks that are malfunctioning, and allows on-the-fly pricing changes.

Blockbuster, the national colossus of movie rental, is feeling the heat. On May 25, the Dallas-based chain announced unlimited rentals for a fixed monthly fee -- an offering very similar to Netflix, except that customers would pick up and return movies to Blockbuster stores rather than using the mail.

The monthly fee, which Netflix has used since its launch in 1999, means there are no late charges. That undermines one of Blockbuster's biggest sources of revenue: forgetful customers who regularly get dinged for keeping movies too long.

It's too soon to say whether DVDPlay will survive in this tough market, but the company's current offering is very attractive.

Two DVDPlay kiosks are installed in the South Bay, each storing up to 100 DVDs, at Zanotto's Family Markets on Naglee Avenue at Bascom Avenue in San Jose and at Victor Square in Scotts Valley.

I stopped by the Zanotto's on Naglee earlier this week and found the bright red kiosk easy and quick to use. Tapping the touch-sensitive screen with my finger, I flipped through the kiosk's selection -- mostly new releases -- and picked ``Kill Bill, Volume 1,'' a gory Quentin Tarantino movie I'd been curious about.

I swiped my Visa card through a reader on the machine and the DVD popped out a few seconds later in a plastic case. The rental fee for 24 hours: 99 cents, or $1.08 with tax.

I watched the movie that night, found it gross and silly in about equal parts, and returned it the next day. All I had to do was stick the case back in the same slot where I'd received it the day before.

Here's the kicker, an important marketing angle for DVDPlay: I returned the movie at lunch time. So I stopped at Zanotto's deli counter to buy a turkey-and-brie sandwich and a bottle of lemonade for $5.49. That was a nice bonus for Zanotto's, because I would never have been in the store if I weren't returning the DVD.

DVDPlay does have some competition, including MovieMat of Israel and Mediabank of Italy. There's a Mediabank machine running on the side of the Mac-Pro computer store at 2360 S. Bascom Ave. in Campbell.

But DVDPlay looks to have an edge in ease of use. Its kiosks are also smaller, making it easier to install them in tight spaces. A new model, just entering production, will hold 300 DVDs.

And DVD rental could just be the start. Jens Horstmann, DVDPlay's chief executive officer, told me the company is looking for other products to sell from its kiosks, everything from computer games to cosmetics. Future versions could also fetch music and movies on demand from the Internet, burning them to disc on the spot -- so you could buy or rent anything you want at any time. That's when Blockbuster will really have to start worrying.


MercuryNews.com | 06/04/2004 | Los Gatos firms revolutionizing movie rentals

Posted by Craig at 07:18 PM