GameFly has just introduced their first G-Box rental kiosk as part of an orchestrated plan to take over the US game-rental-vending-machine market.
It appears that Microsoft is starting to get more aggressive with that $US300 million marketing blitz. The new tactic? Setting up large kiosks outside Apple stores where visitors can record their own “I’m a PC” video. The image above comes from an Apple store in England where a trio of Microsoft staffers will attempt to intercept Apple store patrons and convert them over the course of the next few days. Details are scarce on where these kiosks are going to be located—or whether the campaign will even come to the states. That having been said, have you seen one of these “I’m a PC” kiosks lately? [AppleInsider]
This is an interesting turn to the Blockbuster media streamer rumour we heard last month. The Hollywood Reporter says Blockbuster will be going for the in-store kiosk download scheme where customers can download a movie within two minutes onto portable devices (we’re thinking iPods as opposed to USB hard drives).
Those friendly Dell kiosks you’ve been seeing in the mall are all going away as Dell shutters all 140 stores in favour of going back to their online sales and bigger name retail outlets (like Best Buy). All their inventory-less stores will be closed, meaning that you will have to order online from the comfort of your own home instead of trekking down to the mall and doing it. AU: Not sure if this is the same for Australia – I’ll ask and let you know…
[Reuters - With special shout-out to our man Nate]
New ideas are needed to keep the tumbleweeds from blowing through the Walgreens photo department, and the latest is a burn-your-own-DVD kiosk, specializing in the rare and out-of-print. We were the first to report on the DVD Copy Control Association voting to approve the “DVD Download” CSS format. But many of you complained that it would require special blank discs, and would still cost the same as a download for your iPod. In this case, Walgreens would supply the special discs and Sonic burning software, and in about 15 minutes, ordinary people would get their own copies of “older and more niche content selections” that don’t pay to produce down at the DVD factory. [Reuters]
Although the “upcoming” Zune music kiosk download feature seems obvious thanks to the player’s Wi-Fi capabilities, being able to download music onto your iPod or iPhone on the go seems less obvious. However, 22Moo has just announced a date for their iPod- and iPhone-compatible internet kiosk station that lets you download movies, videos, games and music onto your player when you’re on the go. The launch is planned for January ’08 at CES and MacWorld. [iPhoneTower]
