More POS stuffs from Toshiba

[IparryU]

Toshiba develops hybrid POS system

Technology Aug. 29, 2012 - 06:11AM JST ( 0 )

TOKYO —

Toshiba TEC on Tuesday unveiled the WILLPOS M30, a sleek, high-performance hybrid POS system that will allow retailers to connect with sophisticated consumers in the new world of multi-channel retailing. This cost competitive point of sale terminal has been designed with the high-speed performance benefits often seen in business PCs.

The WILLPOS M30 performance benefits ensure the terminal is 5-20 times superior to the current competitive top of the range POS terminals. The WILLPOS M30 is indeed a successful balancing act of advanced PC technology with the key requirements of retail.

System developers and integrators of mission-critical applications rely on Toshiba TEC to provide them with the highest quality ruggedized electronics and innovations in computing and intelligent display solutions that deliver long-term solutions for the competitive edge. The WILLPOS M30 is geared for food and non-food operations and is suitable as a back-office server or a Kiosk engine box.

WARNING: Japan Today link...
http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/toshiba-develops-hybrid-pos-system

[GomiGirl]

cue CSTaylor laughing his arse off.

I googled a photo of that system and it is basically a huge PC box, monitor with a keyboard hanging off as well as a mouse, money drawer and docket printer See below. Try fitting that at a checkout.

7148884.bin.jpg

Honestly, POS systems in Japan are a POS (see what I did there..). I have said this before, the POS systems in other countries far exceed the Japanese ones. My local supermarket, still doesn't accept credit cards. Completely behind the times compared to most other developed countries. The EFT-POS system in Australia is fantastic for both customers and stores.

[matsuki]

LOL, talk about bulky POS....and I don't mean point of sale.

[GomiGirl]

LOL, talk about bulky POS....and I don't mean point of sale.

Right.... no touch screen but a keyboard and a mouse FFS!!

[matsuki]

LOL, talk about bulky POS....and I don't mean point of sale.

Right.... no touch screen but a keyboard and a mouse FFS!!

Couldn't they run everything off relatively shitty tablet pc's with the scanner/printer connected via wifi?

[IparryU]

LOL, talk about bulky POS....and I don't mean point of sale.

Right.... no touch screen but a keyboard and a mouse FFS!!

Couldn't they run everything off relatively shitty tablet pc's with the scanner/printer connected via wifi?

sure they could... but this is Toshiba we are talking about... whatever they dish out must be what the Japanese people should use!

I remember like 7 or 8 years ago when I was working at Home Depot... we had much better systems than that. for some orders we had to use the dinosaur system just because we placed orders directly to the vendor... but we had touchscreens and all sorts of shit.

[Coligny]

ALL POS SYSTEMS are glorified dell/whatever desktop PC with few accessories plugged in.

Jusco was/is running Windows 2000 (not even the embeded) on all their systems... with a custom front end from whoever was skilled enough in visual basic...

With an elegantly designed system you might not notice the of-the-shelf roots...

With the japanese systems... yoiu just want to put a bullet in the head of a lot of people...

[yanpa]

LOL, talk about bulky POS....and I don't mean point of sale.

Right.... no touch screen but a keyboard and a mouse FFS!!

Couldn't they run everything off relatively shitty tablet pc's with the scanner/printer connected via wifi?

Running mission-critical systems relying on wifi? I wouldn't like to be the poor sod who supports that.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

With the japanese systems... yoiu just want to put a bullet in the head of a lot of people...

Applies to more than computers...

[matsuki]

Running mission-critical systems relying on wifi? I wouldn't like to be the poor sod who supports that.

Or hardwire it with a docking station for the tablet. A million better ways to do things than that Toshiba mess...

[cstaylor]

cue CSTaylor laughing his arse off.

Have you seen most of the entry-level POS software on the Japanese market? You definitely need a keyboard and mouse to use it. Complete crap.

But like most of the domestic IT market here, it's all about the salespeople. Plus a lot of the entry-level POS stuff is slapped on there for free (I kid you not) in order to make the hardware sale.

As for running mission critical stuff over wifi: you learn not to rely on the network except in short bursts. With iOS you've got CoreData (basically sqlite for dummies) that makes transactional writes to local storage a snap. But even with always-connected requirements, an enterprise-level AP will work without any trouble if you've positioned it properly.

The only market worse than POS sales (every single Japanese customer thinks we've got to rewrite the software to _their_ shoddy business practices... the small business owners are the worst: AVOID) is web design. Unless you're willing to work your employees 80+ hours without compensation so you can compete with the larger houses that get away with bloody murder on not paying overtime.