News

Kiosks keep traveling newshounds up to date

April 15, 2003

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Keeping up to date on the news of the world while traveling often means reading the free USA Today shoved under the hotel door. But travelers have more options through kiosks from PEPC Worldwide.

The kiosks, placed in airports, conference centers and hotels worldwide, offer same-day editions of 114 international newspapers for $3 to $5 each.

Customers use a touchscreen on the kiosk to scroll down to the newspaper they would like to read, then they insert a credit card and wait about two minutes for the paper to print out. The screen displays commercial video during the wait.

The user gets a 40-page, stapled, unedited black-and-white printout of the selected newspaper. Publishers said that while their papers are available online, readers often still want something they can hold in their hands and easily transport.

PEPC (Publishers Electronic Printing Concept) calls its product the International Newspaper Kiosk. The kiosk is a self-contained, fully automated unit that receive files from newspaper publishers via a multicast satellite network, processes payments and conducts on-demand printing. The company uses proprietary software for these applications.