DIMA Photo Kiosk Shootout Results

Recent competition at PMA Show in Las Vegas results with Storefront winning 6 of 8 awards with the photo kiosk used provided by KIOSK Information Systems.

Storefront.com Wins the Super Bowl of Kiosks with a Blowout Victory

To the folks at Storefront.com, the Super Bowl is over. They won and are now uncorking the champagne to douse each another.

The equivalent of the Super Bowl in the kiosk business is the DIMA Photo Kiosk Shoot-Out, which was held in Las Vegas the day before PMA opened. Unlike the face-off in Arizona, where one team plays only one other team in one game, DIMA's Super Bowl pits 28 kiosks in eight separate competitions.

Storefront.com won six of the eight competitions, the most one-sided blowout since the Shoot-Out five years ago. Kodak was a winner of one category, and Whitech the other.

The competition is broken down into four separate categories: Digital Order Station; Instant Print Kiosk; Software Only; and Multi-Function Photo Kiosk. Each category is judged by two different panels: a group of three industry experts and a consumer panel of local residents. In total: eight competitions.

Kodak took the Expert's Choice honors with its new G4x Print Station in the Multi-Function Photo Kiosk category as selected by the expert panel. Whitech was the winner in the Digital Order Station group, with its PT2600 taking the People's Choice honors. Storefront.com swept the other six, three from the experts and three more from the consumer panel. Its IT-2000 kiosk won two of the awards.

The expert panel consisted of FRANCIE MENDELSOHN, Summit Research Associates; ROBERT PORTER, Euro Kiosks Network; and LAWRENCE DVORCHIK, KioskCom (JD Events). CHAD MUNCE, PMA executive, digital imaging markets, coordinated the Shoot-Out competition for DIMA.

Asked for his reaction when he first heard about the six awards, TOM CEH, senior VP, Sales and Marketing for Storefront.com, said he used exclamations not suitable for printing in a family publication. Then: "We were ecstatic, totally flabbergasted. The word 'wow' is definitely in play." In describing his firm that flies somewhat below the radar, Tom said, "People are beginning to see Storefront.com as a leader in the kiosk space." Among the firm's customers are Kroger, Duane Reade, Fred Meyer, and King Soopers.

MURRAY MACDONALD is president and BOB RICCI is CEO of Storefront.com. To them, Super Bowl Sunday's game was only an incidental event.
-Jerry Lansky

HP and Self-Service Kiosks

HP showcases two new self-service kiosks —HP Store Assistant and an updated version of Media on Demand at Chicago tradeshow.

At the Retail Systems expo in Chicago last month, HP showcased two new self-service kiosks —HP Store Assistant and an updated version of Media on Demand, the first product of its kind to use content scrambling system (CSS) encryption, which enables DVD-length downloads. HP has licenses from Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures to burn movies.

Both products focus as much on the back-end of the retail industry as the front, an important component of HP’s self-service philosophy, said Brent Brown, HP’s director for in-store retail solutions.

“When you start talking kiosks, the whole area of self-service comes into discussion,” Brown said. “You can really help a customer with a self-service device, but we know for certain there’s a return on investment when you serve the associates and employees.”

full story

HP Unveils Self-Service Photo Kiosks

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard Co., looking to expand further into digital photography, plans to supply retailers with kiosks and consoles where consumers can instantly print pictures and create books and calendars with their favorite photos. Read More about Photo kiosks

Kiosk Industry Buzz -- Photo Kiosk Tips

Francie Mendelsohn of Summit Research takes some time to talk about what she thinks is hot. This month -- the photo kiosk is a complex equation.

Photo Kiosk Negatives – Don’t Neglect Maintenance

Photo kiosks are HOT! And will get even hotter over the next two-three years. They already account for more than 20 percent of all currently-deployed kiosks. Yet recent articles in the mainstream press paint a distressing picture. In their June 2005 issues, both Consumer Reports and PC Magazine discuss frustrations with using in-store photo printing kiosks. Not only were the prints of generally poor quality, but in almost half the cases, the reporters were unable to use the kiosks at all – they were not functioning.

We at Summit have been preaching the necessity of top-notch kiosk maintenance and remote monitoring software for years. Nowhere is it more necessary than with photo kiosks. Retailers have to know if the unit is malfunctioning. In one case, we tested a kiosk that was not able to accept credit card payments. Because that method was the only way to pay for prints, we wasted more than ½ hour of our time. When we encountered this problem – at a leading grocery store chain – store employees told us that the problem had been evident—and unresolved—for a month. This is unacceptable and will lead to the removal of these promising devices. Furthermore, it is naïve to expect a customer who has been “burned” by this kiosk ever to return to use it another day. Once he/she has been frustrated, they are not going to try it again—ever.

Similarly, if a photo kiosk is low on consumables, the appropriate people have to be notified long before the unit actually runs out of photo paper or inks. Remote monitoring plays a key role in these devices and must be an integral part of the total photo kiosk solution. It cannot be left to chance or to employees who cannot be depended upon to rectify a situation before it actually becomes a problem. Both magazines reported several incidents of “dead” kiosks.

Onsite maintenance is also a requirement. Both the kiosk and the photo printers (both internal dye sublimation or external silver halide) have to be operating at peak levels. Customers will not use a kiosk again if the prints are of poor quality - grainy, fuzzy or washed out. Replenishment of consumables, normally signaled by the remote monitoring software has to be tied in with maintenance because a growing number of customers report ordering, for example, 100 prints only to receive 60. What happened to the remaining 40? The printer ran out of paper. The kiosk remote management software had indicated that there was “plenty” of paper and inks available, and let the order be processed. Because people are taking more and more photographs with ever-larger memory cards, this a problem that will only worsen in time. Accordingly, the remote monitoring software has to be modified to ensure that these problems will be a thing of the past. It should calculate the total size of the customer order, compare it with the available consumables, and either process (and charge) for a partial order, or not allow the transaction to proceed until and unless the consumables have been refilled.

Summit Research Associates recently published the Second Edition of their Kiosk Industry Sector Report – Digital Photography. Details can be found at www.summit-res.com/reports.html

Photo Kiosk and Wireless Brief

New Photo Kiosk Research Brief Released

February 8, 2005 Louisville, CO -- The latest research brief on photo kiosks from Summit Research is now available on the KIOSK InformationSystems website. The Digital Photography (DP) kiosk sector is the fastest-growing in the kiosk industry today.

For retailers and others looking to deploy these units, there are many choices available today; more than 20 companies manufacture photo kiosks. Many of these are traditional camera manufacturers, such as Kodak and Fuji. Others, traditional kiosk hardware and software developers notably KIOSK and their application software partners such as TouchPoint Solutions and St. Clair Interactive Systems are making successful installations both in the US and Canada.

KIOSK also has launched a new research repository area for customers where case studies, whitepapers and other research is organized and available.

The photo brief and repository can be accessed here.

KIOSK InformationSystems designs and manufactures touch screen, self-service kiosk solutions for retail, human resources, employee benefits, CRM, Wi-Fi, loyalty, gaming and many more self-service applications. With more than 28 standard kiosk models, custom models, turnkey vending units such as public internet terminals and photo kiosks, KIOSK has the largest self-service product and services line from which to choose.

About KIOSK InformationSystems
Founded in 1993, KIOSK InformationSystems has more than 100 years of combined experience and is ISO 9001 and UL-listed certified. Retail kiosks, human resource and self-service solutions are a core competency. Major clients include Wal-Mart, U.S. Postal Service, McDonalds, Pepsi, the U.S. Government and FedEx. For information about KIOSK products and services please visit www.kis-kiosk.com , call KIOSK at 303-466-5471 or email pr@gokis.net

Sony Photo Kiosk Article

In The News: The competitive battle to grab retail locations for photo kiosks is being ratcheted up by Sony with moves on both the technology and marketing fronts. Excerpt and pdf courtesy Photo Trade News magazine The race to deliver dye-sub prints to consumers in ever faster times has been a challenge to the kiosk industry. Slow print output tends to tie up a kiosk, preventing access by the next customer in line as well as frustrating the consumer waiting for his/her prints. Sort of like waiting for a pot of water to boil.

Sony has developed a new, higher-speed printer that is being incorporated into the Sony PictureStation. According to Dave Johnson, senior marketing manager, the new printer will reduce first print output from 23 seconds to about eight seconds for the first 4R and each print thereafter. He claims it is the industry’s fastest delivery off a single printer. A 5x7 from this printer takes 15 seconds, a 6x8, 20 seconds.

Others have dealt with the speed problem by incorporating two printers working in tandem. Johnson said that ganging two of Sony’s new printers, which can be done, would cut delivery to four seconds a print. By comparison, Kodak’s G-3 kiosks, with two model 6800 printers in tandem, output the first print in 11 seconds and each subsequent one in five seconds.

Pixel Magic outputs first print in 18 seconds and following prints in 10.5 seconds off one printer and half that time when two printers are ganged. At photokina, Pixel showed a four-printer setup with correspondingly faster output times.

To read the entire story download the pdf

Digital Media Download Station

Clearsky Unveils First Integrated Mobile Download Station at CTIA

Mobile Download Station Lets Users Buy and Instantly Download Ringtones, Animated Greeting Cards, Mobile Coupons, MP3 Music, Games, and More!

March 22, 2004 (Atlanta, GA.) - ClearSky Mobile Media, Inc., a leading cellular brand entertainment company and content publisher for cellular smart phones and camera phones, announced today that the company is releasing its first integrated mobile download station at the largest data and wireless event in the United States, CTIA Wireless 2004, held in Atlanta Georgia this week.

ClearSky's Mobile Download Station is the first fully integrated, fully functional download kiosk offering mobile users the opportunity to do the following:

• Browse and purchase ringtones, real tones, college logo wallpaper, and MP3 music files
• Download Java^TM Games
• Instantly print camera-phone color pictures (3x5 or 8x10) via Bluetooth®, Infrared, or USB
• Pay cellular phone bills
• Browse and print out mobile coupons
• Customize and download animated greeting cards.

The ClearSky Mobile Download Station will be placed into theme parks, cellular retail outlets,shopping malls, and other high traffic areas.

Visitors to CTIA Wireless 2004 are invited to try the Mobile Download Station at Booth 2575.

About ClearSky Mobile Media
ClearSky Mobile Media, Inc. is an eight-year old mobile platform and carrier solutions company providing carriers, content publishers, consumer-brand owners, and handset manufacturers the ability to generate incremental revenue by delivering premium content to wireless devices. ClearSky offers a comprehensive suite of content and applications for SMS, MMS, WAP, streaming video and Java. ClearSky is headquartered in Orlando, Florida and serves customers throughout the Americas and beyond.

Source: ClearSky Mobile Media

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For more information click here

Photo Kiosk Shootout

KIOSK InformationSystems Enters Digital Photo Kiosk Shoot-Out LOUISVILLE, Colo., Jan 30, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- KIOSK InformationSystems, Inc. (KIOSK) has entered its QuickPIX Photo Machine in the First Annual Digital Photo Kiosk Shoot-Out sponsored by the Digital Imaging Marketing Association (DIMA) at its 2004 Conference February 10 in Las Vegas.

QuickPIX, manufactured by KIOSK in partnership with TouchPoint Solutions, Inc., is a complete, self-contained photo finishing station with a small footprint designed for placement in a wide range of retail locations including convenience stores, supermarkets and drugstores. Each unit incorporates full point-of-sale functionality including photo printing, cash and credit card processing and the issuing of receipts. In addition, QuickPIX units can be tailored to the branding needs of individual retailers.

At the DIMA Shoot-Out QuickPIX will compete against other stand-alone output photo finishing kiosks. A panel of judges will evaluate each system on a variety of attributes including speed of first print, user friendliness, quality of print and simplicity of use. QuickPIX by KIOSK offers the user high speed, high volume and high quality photo printing. Surface wave technology and pure glass touch screens in QuickPIX assures superior resolution and fewer false screen touches.

"Retail leaders and consumers have quickly embraced the photo kiosk as a natural outgrowth of the digital camera revolution," said Rick Malone, president and CEO of KIOSK. "The uniqueness of QuickPIX makes the experience of editing, printing and paying for your own digital photos quick, fun and easy."

QuickPIX and other KIOSK kiosks will be on display in Booth B203 at the Photo Marketing Association International Annual Convention and Trade Show February 12-15, 2004.

KIOSK InformationSystems designs and manufactures touch screen, self-service kiosk solutions for retail, human resources, employee benefits, CRM, Wi-Fi, loyalty, gaming and many more self-service applications. With more than 28 standard kiosk models, custom models, turnkey vending units such as public internet terminals and photo kiosks, KIOSK has the largest self-service product and services line from which to choose.

Founded in 1993, KIOSK InformationSystems has more than 100 years of combined experience and is ISO 9001 and UL-listed certified. Retail kiosks, human resource and self-service solutions are a core competency. Major clients include Wal-Mart, U.S. Postal Service, McDonald's, Pepsi, the U.S. Government and Disney. For information about KIOSK products and services please visit www.kis-kiosk.com/pr-photokiosk, call KIOSK at 303-466-5471 or email pr@gokis.net.

For further information, please contact Tom Weaver of KIOSK, +1-303-661-1652.

SOURCE KIOSK InformationSystems, Inc.

CONTACT: Tom Weaver of KIOSK, +1-303-661-1652 # # #