Sun Microsystems and Apunix Deploy First of Its Kind Kiosk Using The Sun Ray
Enterprise Appliance for Alamo Rent-A-Car National Rollout of Innovative,
Award-Winning Kiosk Begins in Six U.S. Cities
PALO ALTO, Calif., Apr 25, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Enhancing the
travel experience for vacationers and road warriors alike, Sun Microsystems and
Apunix today announced the national rollout of an innovative information kiosk
system which uses the Sun Ray(TM) 1 Enterprise Appliance, Sun Enterprise(TM)
servers and Java(TM) technology for Alamo Rent-A-Car.
With this first-of-its-kind kiosk based upon Sun Ray technology and using
Apunix's Java technology-based Kiosk Software, travelers renting cars from Alamo
Rent-A-Car can now have access to a variety of local information, using a simple
touch screen and the Sun Ray system. For example, travelers can print a
directory of hotels, restaurants, department and specialty stores, and
entertainment venues, complete travel book-style descriptions of preferred
locations with addresses, telephone numbers, driving directions and maps -- all
from the convenience of the kiosks.
The kiosks will initially be deployed in Alamo locations in Orlando, Florida;
Jacksonville, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Miami, Las Vegas and Los
Angeles. Alamo plans to set up the multilingual kiosks in more than 50 locations
within the next two years. The solution, designed by Apunix Computer Services,
recently received the Frost and Sullivan Market Engineering Innovation Award for
its innovative and successful approach to design and implementation of kiosk
technology. Apunix developed the kiosk content in partnership with Travelers
Network, Inc., who provided its database of information resources.
"The server-based, network-driven solution that Apunix has developed for Alamo
Rent-A-Car will revolutionize the kiosk marketplace, where fat client desktop
systems have traditionally been a problem," said Gene Banman, vice president and
general manager, Information Appliances for Sun. "Robustness and reliability are
key to the success of kiosk deployments. The Sun Ray and Java platforms provide
just that for Apunix and Alamo."
According to Sylvia Berens, vice president, Apunix, "When Alamo asked us to
develop a unique kiosk solution for its U.S. locations, we immediately looked at
Sun technology. Based upon our experience with Sun, we realized that having a
Sun server and Java technology at the heart of this kiosk and deploying Sun Ray
systems would be the ideal solution for Alamo."
Driving Information to the Traveler
Keeping kiosks updated and current, as well as up and running, is critical to
the success of a kiosk deployment. With Apunix's Kiosk Software using Java
technology, content can be dynamically configured rather than "hard coded,"
making updates and changes to the kiosk easy and inexpensive to perform. The
Apunix Kiosk Software was designed using Apunix's Kiosk database connectivity
tool, which enables rapid builds of kiosk content linked to existing databases.
The databases can be text, graphic or multimedia, and the tool is compatible
with most standard database formats.
The Apunix Kiosk Software uses Sun's Java 2 platform and Sun's Java(TM) Media
Framework (JMF) 2.0 Application Programming Interface (API) specification. The
JMF 2.0 API allows developers to incorporate media capture, compression,
transmission and playback into Java applets and applications.
According to David McKee, director of Customer Innovation, Alamo Rent-A-Car,
"This kiosk system is graphically and functionally rich, making it dynamic and
inviting for users. We expect customers to look to these kiosks as a valuable
source of local information whenever they visit a particular city."
Traveler's Network, Inc. (TNI), a New Jersey-based corporation, assisted Alamo
in developing and implementing the Travel Center concept of the new kiosks. TNI
delivers travel and concierge information and transaction services through
leading-edge digital media including the World Wide Web and networked
interactive kiosks.
About the Sun Ray 1 Enterprise Appliance
Introduced in September 1999, the Sun Ray appliance, with its Sun HotDesk
technology, is an easy-to use, low-cost networked device. Unlike personal
computers which require an operating system and applications running locally on
the desktop, and which have traditionally been used for kiosk environments, the
Sun Ray systems allow for instant access to existing enterprise applications and
information resources on the network, regardless of the underlying platform,
whether it be Sun's Solaris(TM) Operating Environment, Windows NT or other
environments. Sun Ray systems provide an affordable, zero-administration
platform for implementing interactive, multimedia-driven kiosk environments.
About Sun Microsystems
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network is the
Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its
position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and
services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to ".com" their
businesses. With $14 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than
170 countries and on the World Wide Web at sun.com.
For more information about the Sun Ray enterprise appliance, please visit
sun.com.
About Alamo Rent-A-Car
Alamo Rent-A-Car, a division of ANC Rental Corporation, is the nation's premiere
provider of rental cars to leisure travelers. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, Alamo serves more than 15 million customers annually through 108
locations in the United States and Canada, and more than 400 international
locations in Europe and Latin America. ANC Rental Corporation, a division of
AutoNation (NYSE: AN), also operates National Car Rental and CarTemps USA making
it one of the world's largest car rental companies with revenue of more than
$3.5 billion.
About Apunix
Apunix Computer Services has been developing industry leading solutions for 19
years. Apunix has developed the first user configurable kiosk for the Java
technology platform. Apunix has developed complete turnkey systems for high
profile customers such as the City of San Diego for the Super Bowl in 1998, New
Line Cinema for the movie Lost in Space, and the San Jose Sports Arena for the
San Jose Sharks. Apunix's software technology has been awarded the Frost and
Sullivan Market Engineering Product Innovation Award for the year 2000.
NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo Java, Sun Enterprise, Solaris Sun Ray,
HotJava and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
Netscape Navigator is a trademark or registered trademark of Netscape
Communications Corporation in the United States and other countries.
Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available
on the Internet via the World Wide Web using a tool such as Netscape
Navigator(TM) or Sun's HotJava(TM). Type sun.com at the URL prompt.
SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.
(C) 2000 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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