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There can be very little doubt that kiosks of all kinds are becoming more and more popular.

And when you consider the range of services a kiosks can provide and the self-service ethos of many consumers, it is easy to see why. Here is a brief look at a small sampling of kiosks in the news.

Check-in Kiosks Rapidly Replace Human Touch

When the new passenger terminal at Indianapolis airport opens in 2008, the front lobby will have more room for self-serve ticketing kiosks - and much less space for traditional ticket counters.Why? 85% of all of Continental Airline passengers now check in online or at a kiosk.

Interactive Taxi Kiosks Deliver Information, Entertainment

Where’s the best Chinese restaurant in the city? Did the Patriots win? What shows are playing this week? Is there a Starbucks nearby? Any good news from the stock market? Is it going to rain all day? What about tomorrow? Taxi drivers have long fielded an array of questions from travelers. And even though they are tough to stump, every now and then they could use some help. Enter the interactive taxi kiosk.

Kiosks Help To Level The Healthcare Playing Field

Credit card-enabled kiosks are helping drug stores and big-name retailers, including Wal-Mart, CVS and Target, to gain share of the US health care market. ... Kiosks help pharmacies retain customers by automating patient registration and payments at in-store health centers, while vending machines can be used to dispense repeat prescriptions both in- and out of business hours.

Survey Finds Kiosks Make Shopping Easier for Majority of Americans
From paying at the pump, to price checkers, to pre-paid products, Americans are using self-service kiosks to simplify shopping and everyday errands.

More Consumers Reach Out to Touch Self-Service Screen
Striding into the airport here one recent afternoon, Kimberly Ward did not so much as glance at the two ticket agents waiting at the counter. Like most of her fellow travelers, she instead claimed an automated check-in terminal, touched its screen a few times, and took the proffered boarding pass with a quick smile of thanks.

Self Service a Hit with Shoppers
Stop & Shop, which has installed its "EZ Shopper" self-scanner in 60 stores statewide, said they are a hit with customers because they're able to control the shopping experience from start to finish.

Do-It-Yourself Attitude Catching on with Americans
Kari Anderson is on the go. With two kids in elementary school and another in preschool, time is at a premium for the Eagan, Minn., homemaker. So after she dashed into a Home Depot recently for a few packages of screws and hooks and what-not, she headed straight for one of the store's new self-checkout stations.

Generation Y and the Interactive Kiosks
How do you tap into a market (more like a population) that has grown up on PlayStation, DVD players, computers and other high-tech devices? Try an interactive kiosk.

Federated says 'I do' to new bridal kiosks
Macy's is now on its fourth wave of bridal kiosks, and the company says that never before have they been as convenient, informative or heavily trafficked.

California Police Using Kiosks to Reduce Waiting
A new touchscreen terminal has been installed in the lobby of Santa Rosa police headquarters. The kiosk provides users information such as where a car has been towed or updates on restraining orders and the locations of sex offenders.

Self-Serve Kiosks Save Passengers Time, Airlines Money
For a growing number of air travelers, that first stop at the ticket counter is fast becoming a thing of the past. Self-service kiosks that allow passengers to avoid lines - and carriers to save money - are multiplying at airports across the country, including at Raleigh-Durham International.

Self-Checkout Systems on the Rise
A report in the New York Times estimates that nearly 13,000 self-checkout systems will have been installed in American retail stores like Kroger and Home Depot by the end of this year, more than double the number in 2001, according to the market research firm IDC. Eager to save money on labor costs, businesses are stepping up the pace of automation.

Self-serve DMV
Nevada lawmakers gave $2 million to set up self-service kiosks in as many as 20 DMV offices. When fully functional, these kiosks will allow motorists to renew driver's licenses, register vehicles and perform records searches within a matter of minutes ... without the necessity of dealing with a DMV employee.

Kodak To Roll Out Photo Kiosks That Develop 35mm Film in Minutes
The latest advance in old-fashioned photography is coming soon: a self-service kiosk that can convert a roll of 35mm film into prints in as little as seven minutes.

Computerized Kiosks Let C-store Customers Help Themselves
Even as national quick-service restaurant chains garner trade and consumer media attention for tests of computerized customer-activated order terminals, or kiosks, three food service-focused convenience-store groups are operating daily with such technology at more than 900 locations.

Buick-Pontiac Implements Card-Reader Kiosk
Reeves Buick-Pontiac wants to hand every driver two things--a car key and a card key. The dealership, in Greenwood, IN, worked with Reynolds & Reynolds to implement its Loyalty Link smart card system which, for a $200 up-front fee, provides drivers with free and discounted service offerings over the life of their new or used car, all managed through a card-reader kiosk.

Kiosks Help Hotel Guests Check In/Out
...The 1,215-room Sheraton Boston Hotel and the 509-room W New York in Times Square are the focus of the trial by Starwood Hotels. A "self-service kiosk" is located in each of the hotels' lobbies that allows guests to check-in and out by swiping their credit card. Using this facility, check-in takes less than 45 seconds as compared to several minutes if you had to visit the front desk.

Self-Serve Units Will Sell Lotto Tickets
The Texas lottery is joining the high-tech revolution. Lottery officials plan to install about 1,000 ATM-like machines at retail outlets across the state that will dispense Lotto tickets. The machines will also be able to scan tickets from previous drawings and tell players whether they have won money.

Airlines, Customers Save With Self-Serve Check-in
Chinyere Neale still remembers long waits at airports to check her luggage and get a boarding pass. The University of Michigan minority student recruiter now spends less than two minutes checking in with Northwest Airlines' self-serve process. This process saves time for the Detroiter and millions of others who use electronic check-ins, and is a money-saver for the financially strapped airline.

British Airways Off to a Flier with Self-Service Check-in
British Airways is bringing check-in times for customers down to under a minute with 190 new self-service kiosks at Heathrow and across its European destinations. The touch-screen kiosks allow customers to check-in, select seats and request upgrades. The system aims to significantly reduce check-in queues, especially at peak times.

New Kiosk Lets Clients Pay DayCare Bills Unassisted
MEI's bill acceptor has been integrated into the Creative Cashiering System from Atlanta-based F&B Creative Management Systems, Inc. The kiosk, currently deployed in sixteen independent daycare centers, lets parents pay for daycare services without the assistance of a daycare employee.

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