Smartphones challenge kiosks

North American consumers continue to embrace self-service technology, as transactions at self-service kiosks will surpass $740 billion in 2010, says Digital Signage Expo.

However, the rate of growth going forward may be tempered in favour of enabling consumer smartphones in the future, according to a research study conducted by the IHL Group.

“Self-Service continues to grow, and clearly DVD kiosks are driving huge increases in the number of units in the market. However, the rise of consumer mobile devices will have an adverse effect on many new kiosk installations within the next two years,” said Greg Buzek, president of the IHL Group, an analyst firm and consultancy that serves retailers and retail technology vendors.

Jibbio has unveiled an unprecedented self-service online marketing platform specifically developed to help the small and self-employed business, writes Wire Service Canada.

Jibbio is a game-changer, as it is the ideal 'one-stop' affordable solution for many businesses who are not tech savvy, providing them with a toolset consisting of six online marketing tools all integrated into one platform, the company says.

Jibbio says it provides the small and self-employed business with six online marketing tools, all integrated into one platform, allowing the business to take control and actually grow their business online without having to rely on others.

Sky's Internet service UK Online will be shut down on 14 January 2011, a spokesperson for the company confirmed, according to Top News

The spokesperson said the company decided to shut down its second string ISP brand in order to concentrate on Sky Broadband that could higher quality and better value services.

The company said in a statement: "To better serve customers now and into the future, we are going to focus all our efforts on Sky Broadband, which allows us to offer higher quality, better value services."