Kiosk -- Engadget

kiosk posts

Blockbuster kiosks to offer movies on SD cards, you some candy as you checkout

by Darren Murph posted Nov 11th 2009 at 9:44AM

Blockbuster's been trying all sorts of, um, innovative things to get more foot traffic in its stores, but thanks to a dastardly invention known only as "Netflix," that very task has proven exceptionally difficult. Now, it seems the flagging movie rental company is giving one more far-flung idea a whirl: movies on SD cards. Around six Blockbuster and Hollywood Video stores will soon begin offering titles on SD cards, though the included DRM only allows customers 30 days from the purchase date to view it, and once it's fired up, you've just 48 hours before it vanishes completely. Each rental will cost $1.99, and while we definitely see the benefit of renting something that you don't have to return, we're still skeptical that folks will be more willing to make even one trek for a card when Netflix brings it all to one's mailbox (and PC, etc.) for just $8.99 per month.

[Via FastCompany]

Apple ponders kiosk-style movie and music downloads

by Joseph L. Flatley posted May 7th 2009 at 3:17PM

This is not the first time we've heard talk of an Apple media download kiosk, nor does it seem any more plausible this time around, but who knows? According to patent docs dredged up by Apple Insider and dating back to the halcyon days of late 2007, the company has certainly put some thought into this, detailing a wireless iTunes station that would allow users to access the iTunes store on the go, using a "virtual physical connection" to the player. As for the kiosk, it would both access media stored locally (perennial faves and new releases) and the rest of the iTunes store over its Internet connection, with users ponying up by either providing their iTunes account credentials or by credit card. Not a bad idea, eh? Well, we won't hold our breath. One more pic for you after the jump, jump, jump...

[Via Apple Insider]

Continue reading Apple ponders kiosk-style movie and music downloads

HP TouchSmart airport kiosk hands-on

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 1st 2009 at 7:51AM

HP has hooked up with the City of Chicago to install a whole bunch of TouchSmart 2-powered kiosks for a period of six months, offering weary travelers an all-too-brief respite from their normal routine as they wander through O'Hare International Airport's many nooks and crannies. In terms of functionality, we're not talking about much action here -- don't expect to plop down and catch up on email or video call the fam on Skype -- but users can head over to the city's tourism website, watch a video about the TouchSmart's capabilities, and browse a whole bunch of sweet (and huge) images of the city courtesy of GigaPan. The high-megapixel imagery suits the system's multitouch capabilities to a T, but needless to say, the high-gloss display doesn't get along too well with Terminal 1's harsh lighting; check out the video after the break to see what we mean.

Gallery: HP TouchSmart airport kiosk hands-on

Continue reading HP TouchSmart airport kiosk hands-on

iriver's Wave-Home WiFi VoIP appliance launches on KT Telecom

by Thomas Ricker posted Feb 11th 2009 at 4:44AM

While Verizon gets its Hub, lucky KT Telecom subscribers in Korea now have access to iriver's Wave-Home. The kits sells for 297,000 Korean Won or about $210 and features a WiFi VoIP handset in addition to that larger 7-inch display with 1.3 megapixel camera for video conferencing, surfing the web, checking your calendar and so on. You've gotta hand it to iriver, they reveal the initial UNIT2-S concept at a European trade show in August, refine it in Las Vegas for CES in January, and then launch it back home a month later. Now that's style.

[Via Akihabara News]

Movie Booth DVD rental kiosks head for UK, Ireland

by Darren Murph posted Jun 20th 2008 at 3:33PM

DVD rental kiosks have been lighting up pharmacies and supermarkets across the US, but it seems that UKers and Irish lads / dames will soon have the great, great privilege of interfacing with Movie Booths in the near future. This particular unit doesn't seem all too different from other variations we've seen, boasting a simple touchscreen display and a built-in android tasked with fetching your selected title and spitting it out for a nominal (read: undisclosed) fee. Apparently, trials have been deemed a success in outlets like Tesco, Centra and Applegreen, thus paving the way to see these pop up everywhere by the year's end. Any chance we'll see a Blu-ray Disc or two popped in there?

[Via Pocket-lint]

Xbox 360 kiosks headed to children's hospitals across the US

by Darren Murph posted May 5th 2008 at 2:29PM

Here's your heartwarming story for the day. Microsoft has teamed up with Companions in Courage in order to bring "hundreds" of Xbox 360 kiosks to children's hospitals across the nation, and the gaming stations have already been installed at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center of Seattle and the Children's Hospital of Orange County, California. The customized units are "hospital-friendly" and come pre-loaded with a variety of E and E10+ rated games, Y-rated television programs, G-rated movies and the Xbox Live headset / Vision camera in order for gamers to play online. Speaking of, each kiosk is wired to a private Live network which "allows hospitalized children across the country to play games and chat" with each other. There's no word on where the stations are slated to arrive outside of the three venues already mentioned, but those interested in broadening the reach of the endeavor can feel free to donate to the cause.

[Via OhGizmo]

It's a done deal: Dell puts an end to all 140 US mall kiosks

by Darren Murph posted Jan 30th 2008 at 12:13PM

Just as we feared, Dell will indeed be axing 100-percent of its US mall kiosks -- 140 in total. Unsurprisingly, the official word attributes the move to Dell's shift into big box retail stores, but we're sure that's not the least bit consoling to the fine folks who were pushing Round Rock's machines to mall-goers just yesterday. According to Tony Weiss, vice president for Dell's Global Consumer business, the move "fits in with how its broad global retail strategy is evolving," and for whatever it's worth, kiosks outside of US borders are still safe for now. You may still be getting a Dell, but dude, it won't be from the mall.

[Image courtesy of NotebookReview]

Lumin's MultiTouch display does... uh, multi-touch

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jan 27th 2008 at 1:20PM

If you've absolutely, positively got to have a multi-touch display system right this second, look no further than the Germany company Lumin and its creatively named MultiTouch. For an undisclosed price (available on request) you and your loved ones can be pawing all over the 42-inch, 1024 x 768 display, which is powered by a Mac Mini and can be coupled with Apple's wireless keyboard and mouse. The screen -- which is quite similar to the LG.Philips display we got our mitts on at CES -- is driven by Lumin's proprietary software, and allows you to do all Surface-esque manner of tricks, like zooming, rotating, and panning with various finger / hand combinations. The company also appears to be offering rear-projection, front-projection, and "shaped" screens, though none of those seem to be sporting touch capabilities. Check out the super-cool video after the break and see what's happening over there.

[Thanks, Mike]

Continue reading Lumin's MultiTouch display does... uh, multi-touch

HP's Retail Store Assistant: a wallet's worst enemy

by Darren Murph posted May 31st 2007 at 2:31AM

Fellas, if you thought Ralph Lauren's literal window shopping contraption was your wallet's arch-rival, we've got some unfortunate news, and for the ladies (or guys) who just love to spend it up, HP's about to become your very best friend. The clever gurus at HP Labs have developed a marketer's dream tool that enables customers to enter a retail store, swipe a card, and instantly receive a printout (shown after the jump) that includes "a personalized shopping list, relevant coupons, notice of associated store discounts or sales, and even a map to where the items can be found in the store." The inaccurately named Retail Store Assistant (we were thinking more along the lines of Wallet Depleter) is currently in the "experimental" stage, and would include an in-store kiosk which customers could access via a loyalty card or by inputting their phone number. Of course, this isn't the first stab we've seen at retailers using previous history to target consumers, but the team behind this apparatus insists that it will be much more effective than the typical junk mail that barely graces our eyes before hitting the trash. ~~Best~~ Worst of all, the system will reportedly be available even on the web, meaning that those with an urge to shop can log on during the waning hours of the workday and plan out their shopping spree for maximum efficiency. Oh, the humanity.

Continue reading HP's Retail Store Assistant: a wallet's worst enemy

Rare NES kiosk goes up for auction

by Donald Melanson posted Apr 11th 2007 at 3:03PM

Those looking for something slightly rarer than a Virtual Boy to add to their Nintendo collection may want to head over to eBay before it's too late, where this rare in-store NES kiosk is currently up for auction. While the stylin' TV set in the picture above unfortunately isn't included, the game console itself should be enough to impress any NIntendo fan that pays the lucky winner a visit, with twelve selectable cartridge slots available to load up with your choice of games (none are included). Just don't expect to bring this home on the cheap -- last we checked the bidding was topping $600 with two days left to go.

[Via Crave]

Sony announces launch of North American PSP Spot download stations

by Darren Murph posted Nov 21st 2006 at 1:21PM

No need to stop when you're on a roll, right? We've seen the 3.0 firmware hit the wild, heard rumblings about a future television streaming service, and still know that the not-so-universal UMD format was dead from day one. In a presumed attempt to hit Nintendo (or more specifically, the DS Lite), where it hurts most, Sony is intelligently pushing the non-gaming aspects of its portable system by announcing the forthcoming availability of PSP Spot download stations. While our pals in Japan and Europe have been enjoying these services for the past few months, Sony is getting ready to toss wireless streaming displays into Circuit City, GameStop, Target, and Toys 'R Us locations to deliver "game demos, movie trailers, music clips, mini-strategy guides, wallpapers, and more" onto needy PSP memory sticks. While we don't have any hard dates in which to expect such kiosks to land on showroom floors (or overcrowded electronics departments), we do know that they'll start trickling into North America "beginning this month," and should top out at around "6,000 units" by January.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Shots of the Zune in-store kiosk

by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Nov 5th 2006 at 5:16PM

One of our many thoughtful readers sent us a few snaps of a Circuit City Zune kiosk with a design that makes it clear to us that Microsoft's new packaging ethos hasn't manifested itself in every area of the Zune's marketing department. Although the kiosk is restrained in the sense that it doesn't scream for attention -- the brown Zune sees to that -- the dark shades and annoying marketing slogans don't compare to the iPod's minimalist Apple Store surroundings. Despite the kiosk's staid design, you can bet your shuffle that Microsoft will work its corporate ass off to get these things into as many gadget stores as possible.

[Thanks, John Matthews]

Continue reading Shots of the Zune in-store kiosk

South Florida GameStop nabs first Wii demo kiosk

by Darren Murph posted Nov 3rd 2006 at 11:23AM

Ah, the time must be drawing nigh, as we've just seen our first report of that heavily-guarded Wii demo kiosk being fully assembled and ready for play. As expected, Wal-Mart didn't get first dibs on this bad boy, but a South Florida GameStop is already giving eager Wii users a go at Excite Truck. The stipulation? You've reportedly got to hand over your keys and / or driver's license to even sniff the untethered (albeit proudly labeled) Wiimote, and your collateral is promptly returned once you prove you aren't walking out with any GameStop property. Initial hands-on reports suggested that driving vehicles with the newfangled controller took about three rounds to master, but it wasn't too long before gold medals were flying off the shelf and extra rides were being unlocked. If all this sounds like fun and games to you, be sure to hit the read link for a few more photos and the 411 on the lucky location.

[Thanks, Anmol]

Wii demo kiosks to be under supervision?

by Darren Murph posted Oct 18th 2006 at 4:20PM

We suppose any Wii is better than no Wii, but having to battle it out in a round of Excite Truck with a proudly-pinned employee watching over each shoulder just seems a bit idiosyncratic. While we already know that Wal-Mart isn't planning on hiring any more smiling faces to oversee the presumably fractious gaming crowd, you just might find a few "helpful staff members" at your side while flinging the Wiimote in your local GameStop. Nintendo's George Harrison has insinuated that all Wii demo stations will feature untethered controllers, but store personnel will be eying the players to ensure the nunchuck isn't used as a weapon (and that it doesn't leave in unauthorized pockets). He also noted that the big N has spent "considerable amounts of time" in designed the forthcoming kiosks, and mentioned (vaguely) that they "could be found at retail outlets, malls, the Nintendo Fusion Tour, and other consumer events." While we still aren't exactly sure where you'll wind up finding that ever-elusive Wii demo station, be sure to mind your manners when you finally do.

[Via The Wiire]

GameStop to have only authorized Wii kiosks?

by Cyrus Farivar posted Oct 3rd 2006 at 5:38AM

So if you think that you're going to pop down to your local store and play the Wii on a big kiosk when it comes out on November 19, think again. According to The Dallas Morning News, the only retailer to have authorized playable Wii kiosks will be GameStop, much to Wal-Mart and surely every other big box retailer's chagrin. That said, as our brethren at Joystiq point out, many shops may open up their own Wiis and set up a playable demo unit or three, but official blessed-by-Nintendo kiosks apparently won't be widespread for some time.

[Via Joystiq]