Impressions of KioskCom

So while everyone cool was enjoying themselves at FTIC in Toronto, I was obligated because of current business ventures to take a week off of an incredibly busy work schedule to attend KioskCom in Las Vegas.

Although not directly Flash related, there have been an increasing number of Flash-based kiosks out there, and I thought it would be important (besides business ventures) to see what Flash's place is in the self-service industry. As of yet, Flash is still somewhat a novelty in this area, although I think it will continue to gain ground in the future for sure.

The conference was essentially two days, although it was scheduled for three. The third day consisted of a self-service tour through Las Vegas, a hotbed for pioneering technology in the self-service industry. I figured I would see enough on my own.

Although at times a little dull, the conference was actually quite useful for me. The exhibitors were many, and there were some pretty dang cool technologies on display for potential buyers--not to mention the catered lunch was surprisingly good. Some cool technologies to note:

• an entire PC that is about the size of a small paperback book, built for heavy usage (they had it connected to chords that were constantly throwing it around as it played a DivX rip of Pirates)


• Touch screen technologies that are starting to attract some attention, some using infrared or sound to detect touch as opposed to traditional pressure-sensitive methods


• Displays that go above and beyond the common methods of digital signage--one was on seamlessly integrated onto a display window at a Polo retail store


• Some crazily complex and cool remote kiosk management technologies (although ridiculously expensive, and in some cases, impractical)


• Some cool integration of 3D and live video (one booth took a 3D model of a storm trooper's helmet and put it on the subject in the camera)

Some useful sessions focused on common kiosk problems, useful and innovative implementations of kiosks, and overall trends and issues facing the industry.

It wasn't a bad way to spend a couple of days.

Phidgets in Flash

I'm not exactly a hardware guy, and I'm definitely no electrical engineer. That's why I got pretty excited the other day when I was able to use Phidget's RFID card reader with Flash to make a card reading application.

Working on interactive kiosks in my employment has been a lot of fun, and we've been exploring using Flash and .exe wrappers to make some cool kiosk applications. This card reader presents some cool possibilities, including language switching on the fly for international users, admin access with a card swipe, the list goes on. Plus, they offer documentation, Flash API's, and examples of how to integrate their stuff with your applications. It looks like they're pushing Actionscript 3.0 as they've stopped releasing AS 2.0 versions with their updates.

So if you're in a similar line of work, go check out some of the hardware that Phidgets offers.

Is it time for a switch? (iPhone)

My least favorite word of the day is "Cingular."

Call me a tech-geek, nerd, whatever you want. My F5 key is getting worn down, waiting for updates from San Fransisco. I see "iPhone," after my 250th refresh, and the whole world changes. The rumors are confirmed. I can't wait to get rid of my pocket PC with a crappy OS (guess which) and buy into the iPhone revolution. Then it happens. A single word, printed at the bottom of the screen: "Cingular." It's over. I'm in bondage to Verizon, I've practically sold my soul, and it will take a near act of heaven to release me from the "contract" I just signed only a few months ago.

Is it worth the switch? Believe me, if it weren't for the iPhone, I wouldn't even be considering this. I end up traveling a lot some of the more, let's say, "remote" parts of these United States, and Verizon seems to be the only carrier with enough coverage to help me out. I guess the "network" mumbo-jumbo isn't just marketing.

So please, send your comments and suggestions. I know it's completely off-topic compared to our previous posts. But what are your opinions, thoughts, rants about your cell phone providers? Is the Cingular going to crimp the iPhone's style?