Elo Releases 4th-Gen, Android 10-Driven Options For Interactive Screens

October 5, 2021 by Dave Haynes

With self-service ordering getting mainstreamed by the pandemic – use a machine instead of riskier person to person contact – all-in-one kiosk displays are presumably seeing a lot of demand across numerous industry verticals beyond the obvious one of QSR and fast-casual.

Silicon Valley-based Elo has just announced its newest interactive screen options – which run off Android 10, secured using Enterprise Android and includes Google Mobile Services. There are all-in-one units in the 4th-gen I-series, as well as a standalone Backpack unit (looks like a NUC or set-top box).

Says the PR:

“The Elo name has become synonymous with reliable Android devices built for business applications around the world,” says Craig Witsoe, CEO, Elo. “With twice the performance of the previous generation and the addition of an entirely new processor option, our next-gen portfolio provides more choice, greater flexibility and literally thousands of possible configurations for interactive solutions.”

Secure, flexible, and powerful, the fourth-generation platform I-Series and Backpack devices can be configured with a high performance 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor or the 6-core Rockchip processor. Elo’s lineup of Android devices has been designed to help enterprise customers find the right hardware solution for a greater range of uses.

One of Elo’s most popular products, the new I-Series all-in-one devices boast a sleek thin design with easier enterprise management capabilities of Android 10, optional Google Mobile Services (GMS) and OEMConfig. The 10-, 15- and 22-inches display sizes are all Elo Edge Connect ready with the ability to mount peripherals on any of the four sides making them perfect for virtually any application. The new I-Series devices also feature an 8MP camera, faster Wi-Fi, USB-C plus optional power-over-ethernet (POE) providing the possibility of a streamlined single cable install.

Elo’s Android-powered compute engine, the Elo Backpack 4, enables customers to transform touchscreens of any size and format into an affordable, scalable, single-architecture media platform. Now with VESA mounting compatibility and an even smaller form factor, the Backpack can easily attach to Elo’s broad range of 10- to 65-inch interactive display products, giving customers the flexibility to create virtually any interactive application using a single platform.

With Elo EssentialEdge for Android, developers, IT managers and business leaders can leverage a uniform and constantly growing set of tools over a broad set of applications. Everything from managing connected peripherals like scanners and payment devices to security settings and OS is supported from an Enterprise perspective. Among the powerful new features of the platform are Google zero-touch enrollment and OEMConfig capability for easy device configuration and enrollment in conjunction with any mobile device management software. Elo’s Android stack is chock-full of tools enterprises need from peripheral support to custom OS updates and security features. 

The new I-Series and Backpack devices are EloView ready. EloView is a SaaS platform for automated device enrollment, content management, and remote device management. Available in three versions, EloView offers: a free “Core” version for automated deployments and OS updates, “Connect” that enables device provisioning and management with a familiar Android desktop interface and “Control” which provides additional security for customer-facing and unattended devices.

Elo has been doing touch-driven displays forever, so these are evolved products. But the company has been smart to stay on top of developments in Android and not lag behind with older versions of the OS. They also make working with Android easy, and use very fast processors.

The company has always had competitors, but now finds itself competing in the all-in-one screen category with Samsung’s marketing muscle and reach. The Korean electronics giant recently started marketing its own 24-inch all-in-one kiosk.