FWi Re-Markets Kiosk Capability As App In Apple’s Online Store

April 30, 2013 by Dave Haynes

There are a few kiosk apps built already for turning iPads into locked-down showroom product knowledge devices, but as far as I know Denver-based Four Winds Interactive is the first digital signage company to effectively port its interactive software to an App Store version that anyone can just buy and run.

The company’s iDS Kiosk is now available for $20 on the Apple App Store, giving users a way to set an iPad browser to full screen kiosk mode and define what can be navigated, such as cached web pages for a new car in a showroom.

Says FWi in a release:

After seeing an increase in companies looking to use iOS devices in their signage networks, FWi developed iDS Kiosk to seamlessly work with its existing software products like Content Manager and webPlayer.

FWi will be holding a webinar to officially launch iDS Kiosk tomorrow, Wednesday, May 1, where members of FWi’s development and solutions architecture team will be demonstrating the functionality and potential use cases for the new product. More information and registration details are available online at http://tinyurl.com/d56k6m7.

App users can store up to 10 URLs and videos can be configured to play automatically.

The nice deal is that the units can have an access code used to secure or unlock the application screen. So the content can be defined and no 14-year-old boy can walk up and start surfing naughty photos. I have seen stuff in retails settings that was not locked down, and how quickly that could make a good idea go sideways.

The app, I think, is entirely independent of FWi’s content management software – meaning an end-user can buy and use it without touching the FWi system. For FWi, it looks like the company (which started in kiosks) had functionality it could re-market and monetize.