Article

Protecting your iPad kiosk

More than 500 iPad kiosk enclosures designed by nClosures are already in use.

May 10, 2011

Apple's iPad can do just about anything, so it might as well serve as a kiosk, too. And an American design and manufacturing company, nClosures, has created an iPad kiosk enclosureto make it possible.

"The iPad is revolutionizing the way companies and organizations are delivering and gathering information and content," said Dan McKean, director of sales for the company that has offices in Albuqurque N.M. and Traverse City, Mich. "The number of applications and uses are only limited by what we are able to imagine and build. However, securing and protecting the iPad while providing users the ability to use it has provided innovators with its own set of challenges."

McKean said his company has developed a sleek line of kiosk enclosures to prevent theft and tampering of the iPad.

"You can now feel comfortable about putting iPads on display knowing that your iPad is secure," he said.

McKean said that although the most obvious use for the enclosures is in retail settings, it's not the only industry using them. McKean's other clients include a lumber yard, several corporate day-care centers, and even a university lab that uses them to mount iPads on cadaver tanks to help students reference information while learning about the human body

In fact, the enclosures have become so popular that the company is opening a new fulfillment center this week to accommodate the influx of orders, McKean said.

How it works
Each ipad enclosure comes with a keyed tubular-locking screw and can accommodate an additional cable lock for added security.

The aluminum enclosure is radio transparent, allowing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G to remain fully functional, according to McKean.

Each iPad kiosk enclosure also has a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) bolt pattern, which can be used with the company's angled VESA mounting bracket for mounting on a counter or as an angled wall mount.

McKean explained that VESA is an international standards body for computer graphics. VESA bolt patterns on the rear of the kiosk enclosures are simply a standardized hole pattern for mounting AV devices.

"Because we have adopted the VESA standard, our enclosures are compatible with thousands of mounting solutions throughout the world," he said.

The stats
The iPad kiosk enclosures are 10.98 inches by 8 inches by .88 inches and weigh only 1.4 pounds.

They come standard in fine-texture black or a natural aluminum finish.

"We have taken our cues from Apple's engineers, making our design sleek, elegant and easy on the eyes," McKean said.

However, nClosures can also customize nearly every aspect of the design. Deployers may choose a custom color or add logos for branding purposes.

The cost
The base price for the enclosures, which are made in the USA and from 100 percent recyclable aluminum, are $169.

McKean said the company provides discounts on orders with more than 10 units and also offers special pricing to those customers reselling to their own clients.

He said using an iPad is an easy and inexpensive way to deploy kiosks, so he's not surprised that so many people are embracing his company's enclosures.

"It comes down to the ability of how easy it is to write your own apps," he said. "It's about the ease of use and also the cost. Now you're at a place, with an enclosure like ours and with an iPad, you can put together a kiosk sometimes up to a one-third of what a professional kiosk would have cost you."