Sprocket is proud to support Healthpoint Technologies in their deployment of health related kiosks using the Launchpad’s desktop and freestanding iPad stands.Healthpoint is the leading provider of accurate interactive health information and preventative screening tools in Australia and the United Kingdom, for pharmacies and pet retailers with over 700 pharmacies Australia wide using this innovative system.Sprocket’s iPad stands and enclosures are increasingly the product of choice for high quality yet low cost deployment of public access interactive media.
The Launchpad iPad Handheld is the ideal way to securely house your iPad and yet allow it to be picked up and used for a wide variety of applications from restaurants and exhibitions to trade shows and museums. Secured by a stainless steel tether and cushioned from the odd accidental drop, the Launchpad handheld has demonstrated its effectiveness from Melbourne to Manilla!Available with either hide or show home button and featuring an optional power adaptor for fast and easy charging, the Launchpad Handheld iPad case is the enclosure of choice for iPads on the go.
Ian Wong, that intrepid industrial designer of renown, continues his passionate determination to educate the wider public on the history of Australian design has created a fabulous historical haven of orange Aussie design. Move over Orange People this exhibition is a joyous celebration of product design that works so well I am going out to buy something orange.
Sprocket supplied a Launchpad to secure Ian’s iPad allowing visitors to the Gallery to browse his blog and peruse items not on display [and almost all the items are from Ian's extensive private collection of design classics].
The Orange exhibition is showing October 6th – 28th
Design Gallery
10am-4pm Monday-Friday
Design Institute of Australia
Level 1 – 175 Collins Street, Melbourne
There is not enough room in cyberspace to detail the impact Steve Jobs has had on the way we communicate and the way we engage with the virtual world.
In my small case, it was the iPad that impacted with the force of a supernova on my thinking and my business and sad to say at first it was more a dismissive “this thing hasn’t got a defined user case” that entered my head on day one of its release. How wrong was I [and I am not alone] and how quick did this technology would revolutionise my business direction.
As a designer and manufacturer of interactive kiosk devices for the past 15 years I am on the constant lookout for any new technology that has the capability to redefine the interactive marketplace. 3D technology?..still doesn’t excite…flexible LCD panels?..good but limited use…bigger and bigger LCD panels?…there is a limit to one person’s viewing area. On and on,…new technology releases one after the other and each one less exciting and revolutionary than the previous.
So then the iPad came in my life and lights went on in my head [ok a few people helped turn them on but why spoil a good story]..”the traditional kiosk is dead” I thought or at the very least it was gravely endangered! Why not put the iPad to use as a kiosk? The large lumps of metal and plastic we carefully designed and crafted, winning Design Awards along the way now seemed foolish and clumsy by comparison to the iPad which we safely ensconced in our sleek Launchpad housing.
The iPad kiosk has helped reposition my company and dare I say it, reignited the design passion in me, something that Steve Jobs never lost and for that I alone I am eternally grateful.
As David Pogue said in his great article in the New York Times [see link below]” Steve Jobs, “imitated, never duplicated”
The many and varied uses for iPads has even spread to public transport and Sprocket”s Launchpad iPad Kiosk is being deployed ”on the buses” by Redline, Tasmania”s leading bus company. The secure and versatile iPad enclosure developed by Sprocket was selected by the software system developer Bert Post and incorporated as both a self serve ticketing kiosk at the sales counter and an on board 3G powered passenger manifest system.
Sprocket and LaunchPad had a significant presence at the Australian International Motor Show. The LaunchPad iPad kiosk is ideally suited to exhibitions. Companies can feature their own content or run application to perform specific tasks. At this exhibition the iPad LaunchPad Kiosk assisted in helping 6 major car manufactures to deliver their marketing message on over 35 individual LaunchPads. Featured heavily on the Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, Suzuki and Better Place Australia stands Launchpad integrated seamlessly into these companies overall stand designs.
On the Better Place Australia display sprocket was commissioned to develop software specifically for the event. This software collected valuable marketing information for the company.
Sprocket and Omnecom have recently teamed with Hog’s Breath Cafes at Noosa and Mooloolaba on Australia’s stunning Sunshine Coast to fast track their customer loyalty program right in store where it counts. Using Sprocket’s LaunchPad iPad kiosk solution, Omnecom deployed the Chimpadeedoo mail App with custom graphics to enable customers to sign up for special offers at the point of purchase. The system is so simple and intuitive that it takes no more than a minute to register your name and email address to receive free dining vouchers and other offers on a regular basis.
Phil McKercher, CEO of Omnecom said ” this system empowers the Hog’s Breath franchisee to engage with the customer using the latest technology, provide great value directly to that customer and at the same time building a growing data base of regular clientele, the value of which cannot be underestimated.”
The key to the success of the deployment of the system is Sprocket’s secure and robust LaunchPad enclosures that deliver the message to the customer in an engaging and visually appealing form.
Having enhanced the stand with a new banner and inserted foam insoles in our shoes, we were ready to take on MacWorld Day 2 head on! Another busy day was in store with many more high quality LaunchPad enquiries including multiple order requests from companies outside central America and also local reseller interest.
After a very late night of finalizing the show stand, we made our way down to the exhibition hall the morning of Day 1 a little weary but with much curiosity and anticipation. Although having attended a respectable number of tradeshows over the years, they had mostly been very kiosk specific and so really had no idea what to expect for the more consumer driven MacWorld.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too long to find out what was in store when our stand was swamped with attendees wanting to know all about Launchpad, saying it was the most exciting product they had seen so far. Between the media interviews, photographers and even requests to make immediate order placements, we were overwhelmed by the response to our secure iPad kiosk solution.
Posted by mark | Posted in Sprocket News | Posted on 31-01-2011
Our emergency trip to IKEA to get the last minute items for our stand found us in a traffic jam over the Bay Bridge that made our 6pm deadline to get back into the conference hall before lockout even more out of reach. It’s one of those times when google maps made the trip across to Emeryville look like a stones throw but in reality ended up taking a really, really long time. After spending all our cash, finding out that taxis don’t accept credit card payments, seeking out an ATM totally loaded with IKEA purchases and then waiting..and waiting for a return cab, you could say we were a little on edge and we raced back across the bridge but have to say San Fran did manage to cut through the chaos with a rather spectacular golden sunset over the city and it was wonderful to take a moment to breathe and enjoy…
Posted by mark | Posted in Sprocket News | Posted on 31-01-2011
This incline actually made be short of breathe by the time we got to the top and I pride myself on my high level of fitness! No wonder all the locals are so trim, taut and terrific.
Sprocket is winging its way to Macworld in San Francisco to release the new LaunchPad on January 26.
Macworld is the perfect place to premiere our new innovation in public kiosk design. Launchpad is all about cool design, functional flexibility and ease of use. It’s sleek yet rugged injection moulded housing can be mounted to your choice of stand using quality steel and aluminium fittings in either a portrait or landscape orientation.
If you are on the westcoast of the US of A this week you can find us at the the show at stand 552; as close as we can get to the cafe!
Keep tuned to this blog for updates and bulletins.
