Air travellers will be able to download feature films and computer games to a handheld computer using a service to be launched first at US airports this summer.
Customers will be able to insert their computer鈥檚 removable memory card or chip into slots in the kiosks, to download films, music, games, electronic books and newspapers. 鈥淓ach location can choose what content they would like,鈥� says a spokesman for nREACH, the US company behind the idea.
The service will be available for handheld computers running Microsoft Pocket PC or Palm operating systems. A range of memory cards and chips, including Flash memory cards, Sony鈥檚 Memory Stick and IBM鈥檚 Microdrive, could be used in the kiosks. Video for Pocket PC devices will play through Microsoft鈥檚 Windows Media Player. On Palm computers, it will play through the Generic Media gMovie Player.
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A typical feature film will take less than three minutes to download, and one megabyte of memory will store a minute of film, says Pocket PC Films, the company that will supply the movies in a compressed format. Games and books will have a much quicker download time.
Pocket PC Films currently sells feature films and other video content on CD-ROMs. These cost between $9.99 and $49.99, but movies will cost slightly less through the new kiosks, nREACH says. Similar kiosks will also be installed in shopping malls and other retail outlets.