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Wii U demo kiosks available at US retailers
If you're interested in checking out a Wii U pre-launch – or just interested in finally explaining to someone that it is an actual new console and not just a peripheral – here's your chance. Nintendo reports that over 5,000 Wii U demo stations are present in US retailers, including Target, Best Buy, Toys R Us, GameStop, and Walmart. To find your nearest Wii U demo station, search here.Chances are, however, you can just see your nearest one from your home, if they're all as enormous as the one pictured.
Warner, Redbox agree to 28 day delay on disc rentals, UltraViolet support for Redbox Instant
Redbox and Warner Bros. were at odds in January when Warner wanted to extend the window before discs hit kiosks to 56 days, but now the two have come to an agreement that keeps it at a 28 day delay. When their previous deal expired Redbox said it would find other ways to obtain discs and offer them day and date to its customers, although actually finding them in kiosks could be tough. The new two-year deal covers movies that debut after January 1st, 2013, and claims to improve economics for both Warner (which has apparently seen fit to eliminate the delay entirely for brick & mortar renters) and Redbox. Additionally, Redbox has joined with the DECE team and will support UltraViolet with its upcoming Redbox Instant service. With the new deal, it can offer UltraViolet digital access to Warner movies, and distribute movies through its subscription service. We'll have to wait for Redbox Instant to launch to know more information about that, for now check out the details in the press release after the break.
Windows 8 now available to try at Best Buy
Microsoft's already opened up the floodgates with Windows 8 pre-orders, and it looks as if those still on the fence now have a sandbox to goof off in. Pictured above is a trio of Windows 8 notebooks from a Best Buy located in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and we actually called around to confirm with several other stores that a similar setup had been erected in their locales. Nah, we can't make October 26th get here any faster, but at least you know where to head if you're looking for a sample.
Redbox Instant targets launch by year-end, blends subscription streaming and DVD rentals with VOD
The last concrete details we'd heard about Redbox Instant was that it was entering internal alpha testing, but now Verizon exec Eric Bruno has revealed more background information. Previous info indicated the service would focus more heavily on movies than the back catalog of TV shows that is a part of Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Prime Instant Video, and Bloomberg reports Redbox will break with their models by paying its content providers per subscriber cable TV-style, instead of a flat rate decided up front. What customers will get is a monthly subscription and allotment of disc rentals from Redbox's kiosks, as well as access to VOD movie rentals and downloadable purchases through the service. The alpha test is currently in the hands of about 500 Verizon employees, with plans for a short public test before launching in a late November / mid-December time frame. The main unanswered question however is how much it will all cost, but knowing what we do now -- how much are you willing to pay?
Intel's Core i3 NUC mini-boards set to hit market in October, power up hobbyists and OEMs
Intel has finalized the specs of its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) board, and announced it'll go on sale in October for less than $400 with a case and power supply. Carrying a 4 x 4-inch form factor between a Raspberry Pi and mini-ITX board, it'll be equipped with a Core i3 Ivy Bridge processor, HD 4000 graphics, two SoDIMM sockets, an mSATA slot for an SSD drive, three USB ports, one HDMI port and a mini-PCI slot for wireless connectivity. Two different models will be offered by the chip giant, identical except that one will be Thunderbolt equipped and the other will sport an Ethernet port for connectivity. Originally intended for the kiosk and signage markets, enthusiast interest compelled Intel to put the board on general sale, along with a case (pictured above) and power supply option. That'll pit it against offerings from VIA and others, while offering considerably more oomph in a similar form factor -- though a mini-server slaying Core i5 option originally proposed by Intel was dropped. [Image credit: PC World]
Digiboo movie kiosks now do wireless, still insist on Windows
So far, Digiboo's movie kiosks have been severely limited by a couple of factors, before you even get to the fact that their content is SD only. Firstly, they've required users to carry a USB stick on their person, and secondly they've only been able to transfer rentals to a Windows device. Today, however, the company has cleared a major hurdle on its passage to relevance, by allowing wireless transfers to any "Windows-enabled PC, laptop or tablet." This should make Digiboo's next step -- Android support, which is promised to come this month -- a whole lot easier.
Redbox, Sony extend distribution deal, keep the movies flowing with no delays
While Redbox's parent company Coinstar rejoiced over earnings results that showed revenue growth that was partially due to last year's price hike, the kiosk movie renter had more good news after extending its DVD licensing deal with Sony Pictures. This means Redbox can rent Sony movies the same day they go on sale in stores and has the option to license Blu-ray movies as well through September 2014, when Sony will have the option of two one-year extensions. We'll still have to wait and see if it can work out an arrangement with Warner and Disney, and what its streaming service has to offer, but more new movies right away is always good.
Griffin's Kiosk iPad mount now available
If you've been thinking about using an iPad for a customer kiosk in your business, but haven't figured out how to secure it, Griffin's new Kiosk may be just the solution. The Kiosk comes in two versions -- the Floor Mount (US$299), which screws into a floor and lifts the iPad to 47.5" above floor height, and the Table Mount ($199) that mounts an iPad so it's sitting about a foot above a table. The hardware to mount the Kiosk is included, and three interchangeable faceplates provide or deny access to the camera and home button. An included power cable runs through the center of the steel mount arm, keeping it protected at all times. Since you'll also want to make sure that your customers are focused on your custom app or website, Griffin is also selling the Kiosk app ($2.99) in the App Store. Users can set up a defined home URL and web domain, have a home page reloaded after a pre-set time of non-use, set up a whitelist of allowable web domains or create a customizable URL shortcut buttons, ID the devices by number or name, and get notified by email if a device is unplugged, has a low battery, or is being abused by a user. The Griffin Kiosk looks like a very good solution for business, and you can download a data sheet (PDF) with all of the details.
Tennessee drivers can use iPads to quickly renew drivers licenses
If you're a licensed driver in the state of Tennessee, don't be surprised if you see an iPad on your next visit to the local driver service center. Tennessee's Department of Safety and Homeland Security recently spent US$79,200 to install 72 iPad kiosks inside 26 of those service centers for the purpose of speeding up driver's license renewals. The kiosks are called ASSETS (Automatic Self-Service Electronic Terminals) and are targeted for the service centers in high-population areas where waiting in line for a driver's license renewal has become an annoying issue. Should you become bored waiting in line, you can use the kiosk to fill out a form and pay with a debit or credit card. You can change your home address and pay reinstatement fees, and the new license is available within minutes. Tennesseans who wish to take advantage of the ASSETS can find the nearest location in this PDF document. [via Mashable]
Intel's NUC mini-desktop said to cost around $400
Intel's Next Unit of Computing mini-desktop is reportedly going to cost around $400 when it arrives in the third quarter of the year. Designed for kiosks and digital signage setups, the weeny box has attracted so much interest from solder-wielding modders that the company expects it to go on general sale. The initial unit will include a Sandy Bridge Core i3, 4GB RAM and a 40GB SSD, while on the outside it'll come with three USB 2.0 ports and dual HDMI outputs. That high price might dampen the spirits of those hoping for an Intel-powered Arduino / Raspberry Pi, but we still expect to see it crop up in plenty of brilliant mods next year.
Intel enters mini-computer fray with Core i5-powered NUC
The mini-computer game has so far been dominated by upstarts such as FXI and Raspberry Pi, but a big name is getting ready to join the party, too. Intel first demoed its NUC (Next Unit of Computing) at PAX East in April, but details are just hitting the web now. One standout spec is the NUC's 10 x 10-cm (4 x 4-in) form factor, which places it between the Raspberry Pi and Mini-ITX boards in terms of size. Moreover, the NUC packs a Core i3 / Core i5 Sandy Bridge chip with last-gen Intel HD 3000 graphics, and sports Thunderbolt, HDMI and USB 3.0 sockets on the back. There's a heatsink and fan assembly on board, too, and the mini PCIe connectors leave the door open for added functionality. Because it runs an Intel Core i5 CPU instead of the ARM processors found in options such as the Cotton Candy and Raspberry Pi, the NUC promises to be a more powerful mini-desktop. But don't get too excited: Intel envisions it as a component in digital signage instead. Look for Intel's mini-PC at a kiosk near you in the second half of 2012, when it's expected to drop.
Lilitab iPad kiosk hits the mark on price, simplicity
Having the iPad serve as a portable, simple display kiosk or showcase is terribly tempting. For one thing, now that the 16GB iPad 2 has dropped in price due to the new iPad launch, it's more affordable than ever. For another, getting that touch interaction right in front of your customers or exhibit viewers is a great way to increase their engagement and focus. Rule #1 of iPad kiosks is, of course, make sure we don't lose the iPad. That's among the strengths of lilitab's kiosk line, which keeps device security top-of-mind throughout the design without giving up ground on ease of assembly, looks or price. I tested out the lilitab standard kiosk model, which comes in either white or black and retails for US$495. In white, the lilitab looks a little bit like a section of a high-end shower assembly. The heavy steel baseplate keeps the unit steady and vertical once the iPad is installed (it can be bolted to the floor too, if desired), and the top section encloses the device easily and without fuss. The top enclosure comes with a set of security screws (and an Allen wrench to set them) so that nobody else can come along and abscond with your iPad. You have a choice of frontplates with or without a camera opening, and with or without a home button pinhole -- you can lock in your chosen app with the fully closed frontplate and it won't get changed inadvertently or purposefully. Down at the base, the main pipe stalk slides into a corresponding section welded to the baseplate. That's also where the included iPad charging cable meets up with the user-supplied iPad AC adapter and Apple charger extension cord -- you do have to bring your own on those. Getting the power adapter installed was really the only tricky bit of the assembly, as it requires you to feed the AC cord into the base at a sharp angle so that both pieces fit into the available space. Once the power is plugged in, the next security step is the two-piece cowling that attaches around the pipe fitting. Another pair of security screws keep it firmly attached. The base also has a lock fitting for both Kensington-style and conventional 3/8" steel cable attachments. With all items set up, the iPad can be fitted into the enclosure and mounted either in landscape or portrait mode. The enclosure itself includes foam supports that can be adjusted to house any model of iPad (current or future, as long as it's the same screen size); there's also no metal at all around the iPad's RF antennas, so WiFi and 3G performance should be unimpaired. You can get additional options and branding kits from lilitab, but even the spare and unadorned kiosk made a positive impression on everyone I showed it to. Aside from the tight tolerances on the power adapter in the base, there's not much to criticize and a lot to admire about this product; if you're looking for a good way to get your iPad kiosks to look professional and sleek, give them a call.
Digiboo kiosk video service launches, opts for USB drives instead of DVDs
Judging by its quirky name, you'd think Digiboo is anything but an à la carte video service hoping to fight it out with the famed Redbox, or even Qwikster Netflix. The outfit's kiosks allow you to grab a two-day rental from a 700-plus film menu for $3.99, while $14.99 makes any title yours to own. Here's the interesting part -- rather than getting a DVD for your cash, though, you'll insert a flash drive to download your movie in as little as "30 seconds." Digiboo's setting up shop at airports in Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul to start, but mum's the word on its plans for expansion. Taking a trip over to P-Town anytime soon? Be sure to let us know your results if you happen to try it out.
Hubworks uses iPads to help restaurant customers order food
We've posted before about Hubworks, a company based in Idaho that develops consumer-facing solutions for ordering food and interacting with servers at restaurants via iPads. Most of Apple's sales are directly to consumers, but Hubworks is just one company of many that's getting more involved in business-to-business sales of Apple products. These companies are the main reason you're soon going to see iPads used in kiosks and sales environments all over the world. Hubworks' VP of sales and marketing, Aaron Gabriel, told me, "In the next six months this is something that people will be able to go and see in their local environments." Currently, Hubworks is working on big deals with a few big "large international chains" of restaurants, with pilot programs and trials currently underway to check out how viable these iPad solutions can be. But Gabriel is convinced the iPad has a place in the retail and food sales environments. Hubworks uses its own special case for the iPad. The unit hooks up to Apple's tablet through the dock connector. It contains a credit card slider unit to charge customers and plugs into a point of sale system already working at the restaurants to deliver food and drink orders back to the kitchen. Hubworks has developed its own app to do that, though the iPad can have other apps or games running on it as well. The unit also has a battery pack that allows the iPad to be used for up to 18 hours. While the company hasn't squared away a security solution yet, Gabriel says, "we haven't had any problems thus far." Eventually there will probably be sensors on the iPads to let restaurant management know if they've been carried out the door by less-than-honest customers. Why haven't we seen this solution implemented on a wide scale yet? Gabriel says most of the biggest restaurant chains "just want to see it develop a bit" first and would like to "gather some performance metrics" before widespread deployment. In other words, restaurants are interested in giving iPads to customers, but don't want to be the first to do so. Gabriel is convinced that once these chains see a successful program in action, they'll all jump in on the idea. "These first deals are very important," he says. Once we do see these iPads in stores, Gabriel says there are more benefits than just the customers getting to play with Apple's tablets. Some servers were worried that with customers ordering from the iPad their tips would go down, but Gabriel says, "the average check size is going up" at restaurants where the customers use iPads to order their food and drink. With service that's quicker and ordering that's easier than ever, servers have more time to talk and customers buy more food than usual. That's the kind of stat that could really kick these programs into more widespread use. It may be only a matter of time before you're given a menu at your local chain restaurant printed on an iPad.
Redbox notches its second billion rentals, offers freebies Thursday to celebrate
It took six years for Redbox to cross the one billion discs rented mark, but clearly the pace is picking up as it's taken only 18 months to duplicate the feat. Sure, two billion is no 25 billion, but at least the red kiosk company isn't only going to share the love with the milestone maker who just wanted to check out Ryan Gosling in Drive. Thursday, all customers can pick up a free DVD rental (Blu-ray and videogame rentals will just be discounted by the price of a DVD) courtesy of a promo code that can be found on the company's Facebook page, hit the giveaway link below to snag it.
Redbox deal with Universal keeps DVDs, Blu-rays on 28-day delay through 2014
So far, Redbox has maintained that it's only willing to delay rentals of new releases a maximum of one month, but while Warner pushes for a longer window the rental kiosk chain has reached an agreement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The new deal keeps the delay window at 28 days, and promises to keep the discs flowing through August 2014. Despite Redbox's threat to start offering Warner movies day and date due to their dispute, so far it's still taken a couple of weeks for new releases like Harold & Kumar and J Edgar to make their way into kiosks. So far there's no word of other studios backing Warner's push for a 56-day delay between the date movies go on sale at retail and the earliest budget renters like Redbox and Netflix will offer them, which is a good sign. Not mentioned in the press release? Whether or not this deal could affect the availability of content for Redbox's internet streaming service that's on the way with Verizon.
Redbox snatches up NCR's entertainment division, swallows Blockbuster Express business
If you thought Coinstar was through making industry rattling announcements today, you were wrong. After taking the wraps off its joint venture with Verizon, now the company has announced it'll be taking over NCR's entertainment division for $100 million. That includes DVD kiosks, retailer contracts and an inventory of discs for stocking the machines. That's big news not only because it expands Redbox's already sizable self-serve rental empire, but because it's doing so at the expense of the floundering Blockbuster, since NCR owns the blue and yellow rental kiosks. Presumably existing Blockbuster Express installations will become Redboxes, though, how quickly that might happen is unclear. For a few more details about the deal check out the PR after the break.Update: We've attached a letter from Blockbuster explaining the switchover after the break.
Redbox refuses to push Warner movie delay to 56 days, will rent flicks as they go on sale
Two years after bending to Warner's demands and delaying its kiosk rentals 28 days in exchange for lower acquisition costs and a steady supply of Blu-ray discs, Redbox announced the agreement has expired. This comes as a result of Warner's desire to extend the delay between the time movies are available for purchase to the time they can be rented in kiosks or by subscription to 56 days, and instead Redbox will go back to buying the studio's movies at retail -- coincidentally, it has renewed its lease agreement with Walmart for 3,700 retail locations for three more years. While that means more expense and possibly unsure supply for Redbox -- we'll wait and see if retailer interference is an issue again -- the good news for consumers is that for the time being, they'll have the choice of renting as soon as movies go on sale. The first flick affected by the new reality is A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, so until Warner backs off, or Redbox blinks once its streaming service comes into play, then go forth and enjoy those $1.10 rentals freely.[Thanks, Stephen]
BubCap Pro updates tamper protection to the big league
I first looked at BubCap by Paperclip Robot last summer, finding it handy for parents, during demonstrations and preventing inadvertent access to the iPhone or iPad Home button. At that time, there were three BupCaps models available: the Regular, the Ultra and the Max models (in order of resiliency). They made it especially difficult to hit that Home Key. "That's exactly what you want -- a significant challenge for smart-alecks who would get cute with your demos, or someone whose physical development may outpace their wisdom," I wrote then. One problem remained, however. It was pretty easy to peel them off. A sharp fingernail and the will to act up could quickly remove the sticker. Paperclip Robot's Rob Mitchell explained, "[A]side from BubCap used with children, we sold thousands of custom-branded Max to business customers. Clients started coming to us looking for greater deterrence." Paperclip Robot responded by introducing the BupCap Pro. Industrial-strength and compatible with all mobile iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch), the BupCap Pro uses an aggressive adhesive and a strong aluminum base. Its adhesive, combined with the rigidity of the aluminum, makes the Pro particularly difficult to remove. Paperclip Robot sent me a sample to test and I can assure you that it is essentially unbendable. Unlike older models which resist presses rather than prevent them (perfect for families with small children), the Pro blocks the Home key completely. The only access that remains is through a small paperclip-ready hole in the center of the cover. This hole allows administrators to use the Home key to set up any software, while preparing for public deployment -- whether in classrooms, offices, kiosks, or intake centers. The Home Key cannot be pressed without that paperclip (obviously, the devices must be set up to disable multitouch overrides, which offer Home key alternatives). Mitchell told TUAW, "I have several developer clients who have ordered BubCap Pro for use in bars and restaurants. I also have a developer who wants to keep users in a custom iPad shoot-em-up game used to market their brand at events." BubCap Pro is an excellent follow-up product for Paperclip Robot, helping to expand its line to a larger group of users. You can order units from the company website for US$9.99 for a 2-pack, and $225 for 50-packs. It is currently available only in black, although a white version will be released soon. Be aware that the BubCap Pro uses an extremely strong adhesive, and removal isn't easy. You'll need an X-Acto knife or razor blade and may damage the device's finish if you are not skilled. The non-pro models -- Regular, Ultra and Max -- can be easily removed with a fingernail.
VIA adds Android support to embedded x86 line (video)
VIA is hardly the first hawker of x86-based chips to start bragging about its Android compatibility, but it certainly doesn't want to be left behind as the open source OS starts worming its way into more and more machines. The EITX-3002 is the first of its offerings to sport official support for Google's OS. At the heart of the Em-ITX board is your choice of a 1.2GHz NANO X2 or a 1GHz Eden X2, and a VX900H, which casn push 1080p video to dual monitors. The target devices are obviously touch-based systems like in-car entertainment computers and kiosks. To see the board in action head on after the break and, please, try to stay calm -- we all know how exciting Froyo-based kiosks are.
