The iPad is the latest technology to hit our world and everyone wants a piece of it. The smart and sophisticated new device has been installed with a variety of applications which are applicable to a variety of markets, from food to travel.

And not only that, self service kiosks can no be integrated with the device and many businesses are jumping on the bandwagon.

However there are some sceptics when it comes to the iPad, with people commenting on its durability etc, so we at Protouch thought we would have a look at this mad craze to see if the introduction between the two devices goes down well.

Applications

It is clear why the iPad is appealing to the kiosk industry. Touch screen technology, customisable application software, and a multi touch user interface. The only main difference is that the iPad is portable and delicately designed.

With the iPad craze, kiosk manufacturers are trying to find new ways in how they can integrate this modern technology into their offerings and services.

Brian Ardinger, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President at Nanonation said that his company has a long history of Apple-related product development and has expanded these efforts to include iOS projects for the iPhone and iPad.

“We recently showcased an application designed for sales associates in a retail enviroment at the KioskCom show in Vegas in April of this year,” Ardinger said.

Furniture company Room and Board, contacted Nanonation to feature an application which would allow users to browse inventory and provide customers with a sign up form to receive special offers.

The first iPad ticket kiosk was rolled out at the Malaysian Kuala Lumpur Airline. The SITA Lab developed the MNkiosk, which allows users to book and purchase flights, search for flight schedules and flight status and check-in, as well as choosing their preferred seat.

And retail giant Gap has also jumped on the iPad bandwagon. Its application software, developed by AKQA, is described as a ‘social shopping experience.’ Users are able to customise their outfits within the Gap brand and ask for advice from sales assistants.

Versatility

Founder of iPad-kiosks.com, Blain Warkentine, is iPad business enthusiast working to get products to market. Warkentine said that service industries need to be more efficient, however the iPad may not always be an answer for them.

A prime example would be the food-service industry which demands a quick and efficient service than the iPad can currently provide if used improperly, however if used correctly it can still deliver some benefits. During rush hour lunches the iPad could be integrated into restaurants with the option to remove the iPad from its kiosk mounting offering a mobile menu for customers. This can virtually eliminate wait times. Then once the rush hour is over, the iPad can be restored back on its stand for customers to use as a kiosk to order meals.

“Every technology platform offers positives and negatives. Traditional kiosk platforms have excelled at issues such as peripheral support, remote management and enterprise integration,” Ardinger said. “The iPad doesn’t pose an immediate threat for some of the kiosks developed specifically for retail environments like the IBM Anyplace Kiosk and others. These solutions have been retail hardened, offer a variety of peripheral support options and have a longer legacy of application development.”

Some people think the iPad is a fun and cool accessory however it just isn’t robust enough for public developments.

“While these kinds of consumer-grade products are powerful and fun devices, right now they simply cannot stand up to the daily wear and tear a kiosk is subjected to,” said Bob Ventresca, vice president of marking for NCR Netkey.

Cost

Expect to be paying between $3,500-$8,000 for the touch screen kiosk, printer enclosure and software. Applications and customised materials cost within the region of $1,000 -$10,000. Extra software from$2,500-$20,000.

“Many retailers have already created apps on the App Store: Walgreen, Target, etc./” Warkentine added. “The investment was made for customers’ devices, but the need for that customer to have the app and the device is no longer required with iPad-kiosks.

“In the end though, it will come down to what experience the retailer wants to create and matching it with the technology that enables them to best develop, deploy and support it.”

Wine kiosk at Pennsylvania grocery store

So, in December 2009 the Government body who issue the alcohol licenses decided to pilot two wine kiosks across grocery stores in the state.  And the launch last week did not receive a warm welcome for many local citizens or opposing Government and Union bodies.

Implemented by The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) two of the wine kiosks began operating at local grocery stores in Dauphin and Cumberland counties.

Over the next 30-45 days the beta test machines will be closely monitored and if all goes well, PLCB Chairman P.J Stapleton said they will start the rollout of 98 more machines statewide, giving wine drinkers in Pittburgh the chance to buy a bottle or two from a vending machine by autumn 2010.

The 40-square-foot machines will operate from 9am to 9pm, Monday through to Saturday. More than 53 types of wine stored at 62 degrees will be available to purchase from the kiosk system. Prices will range from $10-$20 a bottle.

Users are asked to swipe their drivers license and then look at a high definition camera to allow a worker at a call centre to verify identity of the purchaser. Once approved, the customer has to blow on a screen housing a Breathalyzer. If a breath of alcohol level of .02 or higher is detected, the consumer will be unable to make the purchase.

The kiosks touch screen also guides shoppers through the wine selection process and offers food pairing tips.

Wine kiosk vending machine

All the machines are to be placed in grocery stores but the final list of locations has not been confirmed.

Stapleton said, “Consumers are yearning for additional consumer convenience. Customers are going to local supermarkets to pick up a couple of great steaks and bring them home for dinner and now they can bring home a cabernet to have with them.”

At present, Pennsylvania is the only state using such kiosk systems.

Their are many people who have been outraged by the kiosk, including the union that represents the state store employees. The Independent State Store Union spokesperson, Ed Cloonan, said, “Cigarettes are banned from being sold in vending machines in Pennsylvania supermarkets and yet Americans’ number one drug of choice will now be vended only in Pennsylvania by the PLCB.”

Cloonan has coined the wine kiosks ‘Rube Goldbery-like contraptions.’ In retaliation to the kiosks, The Independent State Store Union has filed suit in Commonwealth Court to stop the placement of wine vending machines in grocery stores. “Alcohol is not a Red Box DVD – it is the most abused drug in every town, city and state in the USA,” says David Wanamaker, Vice President of ISSU.

And it’s not just the Union that are unhappy.

At the blog The Wine Culture Project, the kiosk has been singled out as the ‘worst wine idea of the year.’ Writer John Kafarski laments what it will do to the wine buying experience, turning the product into ‘nothing more than soda in a vending machine.’ Shoppers will be unable to look at a bottle, hold it in their hands and read the labels before committing to the purchase.

One person had a major issue with the breathalyser function, not only that you are putting your mouth up close to something that other people are also breathing into, and it’s not being cleaned between uses, but the fact that there is need for this function for the kiosk to work within regulations in the first place.

“I think that it is incredibly restrictive,” said Neal Ward, sommelier at The English Grill in Louisville, Ky, a AAA Four Diamond restaurant with a wine cellar that is considered to be one of the best in the Midwest. “You have to prove that you are not drinking in order to buy a bottle of wine? Come on, that smacks of Big Brother. I don’t see where forcing a person to take a breathalyser test serves any purpose other than to frustrate the consumer.”

According to the PLC press release, the breathalyser is set to the state’s zero tolerance level of .02 blood alcohol – so in other words, if a shopper has had a beer with dinner, he would be unable to complete the purchase.

Newspaper and magazine kiosks – in the sense of street corner stalls – have been around for over a century. But as tangible, printed consumer press moves ever closer to a thing of the past, let’s take a look at the all-new beast waiting to step in.

Touch-screen tablet computers are now one of the must-have gadgets of the new decade. Spearheaded by the Apple iPad, tablets can display and deliver emails, web browsing, music, videos, photos,

This demo was given at SXSW and shows one way in which we might purchase our favorite publications in the future.

It’s a given that over-the-air downloads would work just as well, but this could be a solution for those who choose Wi-Fi-only tablet computers or ebook readers.

South Africa’s Southern Sun Hotels’ Sandton City is launching what it bills as “Africa’s very first hotel self check-in and check-out kiosks,” according to the chain’s Facebook page – nicely timed for the 2010 World Cup that begins in June.

The touchscreeen-enabled kiosk allows guests to check-in and out and to perform certain in-house hotel functions within the hotel environment. Guests can check in by identifying themselves by reservation number or credit card, and then the kiosk integrates with the hotel’s operational system, allocates a room, authorizes a debit or credit and dispenses a room key card. Check-out follows a similar identification process.

“Our guests already use self check-in facilities at airports and the movies, and at economy, economy plus and brand hotels overseas. Generally, they welcome technology that enables them to ‘do it themselves’ – not to mention quickly,” said Southern Sun managing director Graham Wood.

For those seeking a human interaction, Garden Court Sandton City hostesses will continue to provide check-in services at reception, and will also be available to assist customers with the self check-in terminals if needed.

Apple is inviting reporters to an event next week to see what it calls “our latest creation,” which is thought to be a tablet-style touch-screen computer.

The company email offered no specifics about what it would display at the invitation-only January 27 event in San Francisco.

But it comes amid speculation that Apple is close to unveiling the gadget that is bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a standard laptop.

Tablets are one-piece computers with big screens and no keyboards. Such devices have been around since the early 1990s, but haven’t seen much success in the mainstream.

The real questions will be asked after the launch, when focus will fall on who will be providing what types of content (music, magazines, video, games, books etc) for Apple’s new slate.

Recent rumours have suggested that Apple is currently in talks with HarperCollins and a number of other major book publishers suggesting the tablet will be looking to straddle the eReader market.

An electronic touch-screen kiosk at a major hotel was hacked to show an online video demonstrating humorous uses for condoms, prompting an investigation by tourism authorities. The video appeared on a kiosk at the Souk Qaryat al Beri, adjacent to the Shangri-La Hotel and operated by Abu Dhabi Tourist Authority.

“The relevant ADTA department has launched an investigation into this situation, and the kiosk at the Shangri-La has been closed,” said a spokesman for the authority.

ADTA said it would release more information when it became available.

Someone manipulated the kiosk at the Shangri-La to circumvent the visitor advice system and connected to YouTube via a web browser. The prankster appeared to have searched for the word “condom” on the video-sharing site, and the kiosk was displaying the result in full screen.

The Abu Dhabi emirate is renowned for its stringent laws, especially when it comes to the subject of sex.

Industry research by Kiosk Marketplace has produced a key White Paper on how businesses can get the most out of their kiosks, looking at touch screen technology from the customer’s perspective.

Here in part two, we’ll look at five more key ideas that have emanated directly from consumer feedback.

6) Size matters
In some kiosk uses such as healthcare, it is critical that other customers cannot see the kiosk screen. However, there are a number of reasons why privacy is important even for everyday uses. People don’t like being watched, particularly if they are trying out something new, and customers don’t want to feel judged if they make a mistake. However, a recent trend has been to place ever-larger screens on kiosks.

To maintain privacy, screens must be kept small, preferably less than 12 inches.

7) Instant gratification

Sometimes kiosks make use of a question and answer session in order to identify a product which satisfies a customer need. This makes an implicit assumption that the customer knows exactly how to answer the questions, but it is more likely that the customer will not know how to answer, and simply abandon the session, sometimes after as few as three screens.

The kiosk is there to support the customer, not the other way around. The kiosk must provide results almost immediately to satisfy the human desire for instant gratification.

8. Just looking…
The common kiosk browsing experience is very clumsy; each page only contains a small number of products, so the customer must click from page to page, taking time and leading to frustration.

An alternative is to display multiple products on a single page in conjunction with an effective scrolling mechanism. Even though trackballs and mice can be used, they are difficult to control standing up, and can actually make the problem worse. Thumbwheels are a good alternative. ‘Thumbing’ through products this way allows visual comparison of many different images. This is particularly valuable when color and style are major product features

9) Search facility

Standard kiosk searches require the customer to type in a query and wait for the results. Misspelling and over-qualification often produce no results, or too many results.

So, list results in real time as the query is typed. As the query becomes more specific, the number of results reduces. For example, someone searching for an egg roll recipe would:

- Type in the word “egg,” resulting in all items containing eggs being listed
- As the word “roll” is typed, the list would change to only display recipes for egg rolls

A graphic of each result also can be provided to help identify the results. Searching should be phonetic rather than based on exact spellings to allow for errors.

10) Don’t bring the website instore

- Websites are designed for someone who is sitting down with a mouse and keyboard. A kiosk is designed for someone

who is standing up interacting with a touchscreen.

- Websites have many small buttons which are impossible to use with a touchscreen. This is particularly acute with the use of underlined text on the web to represent links.

- Websites make extensive use of “hover over” technology, which is not supported by kiosk touchscreens.
- Websites have information which is not appropriate for in-store use.
- Websites make extensive use of “cookies” to identify user behavior. This does not work when there are multiple users on a single kiosk.
- Any data entered by a user into a kiosk must be deleted after an appropriate timeout. Data to be deleted includes browsing patterns as well as identifiers such as name and address.

So many changes must be made to make a website appropriate for in-store use that it is often easier to start again and develop a solution that is tailored to the kiosk.

With the emergence of Windows 7′s touch screen capabilities, the major players for the New Year and beyond are already emerging. Let’s take a look at the contenders….

Lenovo Thinkpad T400s
This little fella has a simple tap application that lets you double tap anywhere

on the screen to bring up the control panel. You can then control the computer from the 14.1″ screen, which is probably the best feature. It has an anti fingerprint coating to protect the screen and also helps to lower power consumption. This laptop will set you back £1000+ and it comes equipped with a wider Touchpad and DDR3 memory modules.

Archos 9 PC Tablet

The Archos Tablet line jewel that offers a new way to enjoy Internet, your media, and TV – all in a handheld device. It clearly redefines the high-end portable device with its ultra-thin design 9-inch touch screen and still weighs less than 2 pounds. It comes with a 1.3 megapixel webcam for your video conferences, 1GB of RAM and 60GB of hard drive.

Asus T91MT

We love this touch screen that can turn in any direction you want – excellent for presentations. This can lay claim to being of the world’s smallest and slimmest touch pcs. It is also very light weighing in at 2.1 pounds and also comes with a 3D interface and touch friendly browser that will let you flick through floating panels on the screen. The touch screen is very easy to use and you can navigate the web effortlessly at the flick of a finger.

We doubt they have the capacity to transport you through time and into space, but Tardis-style kiosks are set to land in Preston nonetheless, with powers designed to help police combat crime.

The intergalactic-looking touch-screen will have screens on three sides, providing information about “policing issues”, public safety and tourist information. Messages will also be broadcast via a ticker tape LED display. It will also include a help button, linked to the city centre CCTV control centre, which can be pressed in an emergency – such as looking for a missing child, or to alert the authorities of a street fight.

And police hope the “modern and iconic” addition to Preston’s city centre will become a “local source of pride”.

The unmanned, three-metre high “citizen contact kiosk” will be made of stainless steel to withstand vandalism and the design will be based on one which has been successfully operating in Glasgow since 2005.

Coun Ron Atkins said he hoped more of the kiosks could be built elsewhere in the city if the initial model proves successful.

“I think it’s an excellent idea – it will do a lot for communication between the people of Preston and the police.
I think it’s one of the best ways of contacting the police for people who would otherwise be reluctant to contact them.”

Movie-rental giant Blockbuster has rolled out its plans for next year, which will see them go touch-screen kiosk crazy!

They’ll be throwing money at their new Blockbuster Express campaign with an increased amount of automated kiosks as well as maxing out their Blockbuster on-demand digital streaming offering.

At present, their physical points’ presence stands at 2,500 Blockbuster Express branded kiosks and by early 2010, they’ll be unleashing their first 24-hour automated retail store.

James Keyes, CEO of Blockbuster, says: “We are working hard to take the multi-channel approach to the next level by providing the customer with flexibility, control, and ease-of-use. Through our planned integration of stores by mail, vending, kiosks, digital services, we intend to utilise a centralised customer database to realise supply chain efficiencies and ultimately to deliver a superior customer experience.”