 NCR and MOD Systems Begin Digital Kiosk Trial in Retail
DULUTH, GA —NCR Corporation and MOD Systems, Inc., have taken the first step in changing the way consumers purchase, rent and play entertainment titles on electronic devices. NCR and MOD Systems today announced a digital kiosk download pilot that transforms the movie rental experience into a simple, three-step process: choosing from more than a thousand movies and TV shows stored in a kiosk, quickly downloading the title to a secure digital (SD) memory card, and playing the movie on a home television.
 The pilots, being conducted in select BLOCKBUSTER® locations and other retail stores, are the first step in an ambitious initiative to leverage breakthrough portable digital storage technology. The NCR and MOD Systems pilots offer the potential to revolutionize how consumers download movies, TV shows, music, books, games and other digital content outside of the home, and then play them on home televisions, computers, and other mobile devices, regardless of brand.
NCR already provides consumers around the United States the latest DVD titles through thousands of BLOCKBUSTER Express™ branded DVD-rental kiosks. NCR’s existing kiosks – such as its new outdoor kiosk – are "digital download ready” and NCR expects to quickly integrate this technology to its existing kiosk base as digital download becomes more popular.
Digital downloads from a kiosk provide an enhanced alternative to existing home
entertainment experiences. It:
Offers higher quality playback over streaming content
from the Internet (faster, no buffering delays)
Allows for the portability of content to other devices inside
and outside the home
Added convenience - content is always available and there are no returns
The initial technical pilot will facilitate playback on a TV via a digital media player provided to trial participants, and future iterations will allow consumers to move digital content via the SD memory card to a number of portable electronic devices, such as laptops and mobile phones.
Rentals from the digital download kiosks will be tested at various prices. In a departure from existing rental services, consumers will have 30 days from purchase to watch the movie. Once they begin watching the movie, they have 48 hours to finish watching it before digital rights management (DRM) technology automatically locks the content to prevent further viewing.
The initial deployment will offer consumers a choice of more than 1,000 new release and classic movie titles, with the catalog increasing to more than 1,500 titles by early 2010.
"Digital download across our kiosk network is a key part of NCR’s entertainment growth strategy. DVDs and Blu-ray discs will continue to be popular and powerful mediums, but we recognize the future of Entertainment is in the ubiquity of content – being able to play media on a wide variety of devices and being able to purchase it in a wide variety of locations,” said Alex Camara, vice president and general manager, NCR Entertainment. "This is the future of entertainment kiosks. Consumers clearly demand the choice to play content where, when and how they want. We are taking the first step in bringing the future of entertainment delivery to consumers in a convenient, fast and easy to access format.”
The MOD Retail Digital Content Distribution System helps retailers bring an expansive library of digital content into their stores and sell it in convenient concierge and self-serve models via the NCR kiosk. The company has extensive experience in digital media, enterprise software, and large-scale deployments and has delivered numerous industry-leading digital media solutions to retailers.
"This is an exciting milestone for our business,” said Anthony Bay, chairman and CEO of MOD Systems. "We have been working diligently with partners, studios and retailers to deliver on our vision of making it easy for consumers to access and download digital content from kiosks in a wide variety of locations outside the home. We’re encouraged by the early positive feedback and results, and we look forward to a more expansive rollout in 2010.” |
