Hasta La Gadget!

If you are a store owner, running a small mom and pop business, or happen to own a huge chain of stores across the country (or countries), I am quite sure that you are more than familiar with the power of advertising which could help push sales figures through the roof. Each physical store has a limited amount of square footage, so with the large number of items that you are carrying in there, the different brands would be competing against one another for the eyeballs of customers. M3Tech of Malaysia has come up with a rather unique solution in the form of the i3Display, which will function as an intelligent salesman mechanism.

For instance, you might not have enough sales personnel to attend to the customers walking through the store, so they can always make use of the i3Display to check out the kinds of items that you already happen to have on your shelves by flipping through a digital kiosk. There is an Android-powered display which will arrive with 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, making it a snap to update a slew of kiosks throughout an entire store with new information. Of course, it is always good to have a back up, and M3Tech does offer you the chance to update these kiosks individually and manually using an SD memory card or a USB flash drive.

The interface depends on what the client wants to display, and there are a few levels on the menu system so that a store that carries, for example, 10 different brands, will be able to showcase a slew of devices or items under various categories. It will arrive in three form factors – the usual boring kiosk that we see at shopping malls these days, as well as arriving in a floor stand; where one has a single display, while the other would be a dual display version.

Screen sizes of the LED displays range from 42” to 46”, and they are all on wheels for easy transportation and moving around. Bear in mind that this is meant for indoor use only, as there are many other issues to take into consideration when one moves into the outdoor realm. Right now, we do know that the Android-powered screens will run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean which should be sufficient for most commercial users.

There is also another version which will run on the Raspberry Pi platform, and that is more flexible since it boasts of the capability to display multiple brands and multiple products as mentioned earlier. All in all, this is definitely a greener way of advertising a ton of items in your store to the masses, and it also lets those who prefer to browse alone do so at their own pace without being seemingly “harassed” by store assistants. Those who are interested will be able to rent such kiosks for several days’ use, or to purchase it outright (with full support thrown into the package) for a more cost effective and long term advertising effort.

Company Page
[ i3Display offers a unique commercial solution for stores to display their wares copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Some changes underway in the automated retail space: Outerwall, operators of the Coinstar coin-counting kiosks and the Redbox disc and game distribution network, is acquiring ecoATM for $350 million in cash. EcoATM operates its own kiosk network focused on accepting used mobile phones, tablets and MP3 players for cash and has positioned itself, coincidentally, as the “Coinstar for used devices.”

Outerwall, which officially changed its name from Coinstar Inc. today complete with a new stock ticker (OUTR) and ringing today’s opening bell, was already an investor in ecoATM, which had raised $31.4 million in VC financing, plus another $40 million in debt. Because of the 23% stake that Outerwall already owns, that will be deducted from that $350 million pricetag, the company noted today.

EcoATM is also holder of the 2012 Crunchie for best clean tech startup.

The move is a sign of consolidation in the self-service retail space, and also a mark of how Outerwall has much bigger ambitions beyond simply turning your multitudes of pennies into more useful dollar bills — hence, also, the rebranding.

It also underscores how lower-margin companies like these are looking for ways to ramp up into higher value items, while at the same time providing a much-needed service in our highly disposable economy. In the U.S. alone, ecoATM says 175 million new devices are sold each year, but in terms of older models, only 20% of used mobile phones are collected, and another 50% are either stored or simply thrown away.

“With ecoATM, Outerwall will advance its evolution into multiple automated retail businesses and increase our exposure to the growing demand for refurbished products and mobile devices across the globe,” said J. Scott Di Valerio, chief executive officer of Outerwall, in a statement. “As evidenced by our growing investment in ecoATM over the last four years, we are confident that ecoATM’s innovative, environmentally minded business model will continue to resonate with today’s technology savvy consumers.”

Outerwall, for its part, had already been extending well beyond coin machines and simply returning paper money in exchange for coin shrapnel.

In February 2013, the company (still called Coinstar at the time) kicked off a rollout with PayPal to let users credit their PayPal accounts with the change, as well as withdraw money from those accounts ATM-style and also transfer money to others.

It also owns Redbox, the Blu-ray, DVD and video game kiosk network in the U.S. and Canada, which offers a standalone service but also partners with Verizon for Redbox Instant. The company says that to date 2.5 billion discs have passed through the Redbox service.

Lesser known are the Rubi coffee kiosks launched last year.

EcoATM, which will remain headquartered in San Diego, says that going forward it will expand its service to more locations across the U.S. “We are excited to build upon our successful relationship to take the business to the next level,” Tom Tullie, chief executive officer of ecoATM, said in a statement. “We look forward to benefitting from Outerwall’s resources and expertise to accelerate ecoATM’s rollout and bring our innovative solutions to consumers nationwide once the transaction closes.” That transaction is expected to close in Q3 of this year.

Replacing those unused telephones that still dot the streets of NYC with high-tech kiosks is just the start. Control Group, one of the companies looking to Reinvent Payphones, has been hired by the MTA to bring its touchscreen and app-driven vision to the New York City Subway system. All told, 90 of 47-inch panels will be installed in stops from Grand Central to Bedford primarily near booths, but also on the platforms themselves. At least initially the rugged displays will primarily be used to feed information about delays and outages and, of course, serve up ads. Eventually, the stainless steel-encased kiosk will be able to run apps approved by the MTA, but the star of the show will be the navigation system that offers a mastery of New York public transportation that Google could only dream of. Sadly there’s no concrete timeline for the rollout, we’ll just have to keep an eye on the platform. There’s one more image waiting after the break for the truly curious.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Source: Fast Company, Control Group

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.

Continue reading Warner, Redbox agree to 28 day delay on disc rentals, UltraViolet support for Redbox Instant

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Warner, Redbox agree to 28 day delay on disc rentals, UltraViolet support for Redbox Instant originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

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?

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Redbox Instant targets launch by year-end, blends subscription streaming and DVD rentals with VOD originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Inside Redbox  |  Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments