HP to enter digital-film kiosk market
The already competitive market for digital-film kiosks is about to be entered by computer giant HP:
Last month, the company unveiled two photo kiosks, the Photosmart Express and Photosmart Studio. The former is a standalone unit that only produces 4×6 prints, but very quickly; the latter connects to a larger behind-the-counter system for one-hour service.
“It really comes down to following where the customer wants to go,” said Kalle Marsal, director of marketing for HP’s retail photo solutions group. “We see the same customer having the need to do photo printing and activities in the home, online and at retail, depending on the situation and depending on the day. It was pretty clear to us that we needed to have a strong offering in the retail photo space if we wanted to be the leader in photo.”
HP is betting on high-quality, high-speed printouts, and also a lighter touch:
While idle, the machine rotates through a series of humorous, lighthearted messages designed to put the potential customer at ease: “Touch my screen  I won’t bite.” “You can crop and zoom, like ex-boyfriends.” “Touch my screen to begin  careful, I’m ticklish.”