The KioskSimple Blog

Blocking Ctrl-Alt-Del and Other Windows Shortcuts on Your Kiosk

Preventing malicious users from tampering with the Windows operating system on your kiosk necessitates that system keystrokes like Ctrl-Alt-Del be blocked. This can be surprisingly difficult since Windows doesn’t give you a built in method for doing this. The next logical step would be to have your kiosk application filter out these keystrokes which turns out to be a problem since your kiosk application is running in user move not kernel mode (see user mode vs. kernel mode explanation).

This leaves you with three options:

Create a kernel mode upper filter driver that listens for system keystrokes and discards them before they reach the operating system.
Use a 3rd party kiosk lockdown software that filters keystrokes for you.
Replace the physical keyboard with a touchscreen keyboard that does not include any modifier keys (i.e. Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Windows Key, etc…)

Continue reading “Blocking Ctrl-Alt-Del and Other Windows Shortcuts on Your Kiosk”

6 Reasons to Develop Your Kiosk Application as a Native Windows Application

In a previous article I briefly covered my thoughts on the pros and cons of developing a kiosk application as a website. In this article I’ll be exploring the pros and cons of developing your kiosk application as a native Windows application (i.e. a .NET WPF kiosk application). It boils down to a case of client-side vs. server-side and deciding which approach best fits your needs. My goal for this 2-part series is to define the pros and cons of each approach to better help kiosk application developers make an informed decision. Continue reading “6 Reasons to Develop Your Kiosk Application as a Native Windows Application”

Integrating a Webcam Into Your Kiosk Application

Integrate popular webcams into your kiosk application with KioskSimple — Add support for modern webcams to your kiosk application

Adding a webcam to your kiosk application can go a long way to improve the security of your kiosk. In the case of disputed credit card charges (i.e. chargebacks) it can help to have a picture of the customer swiping the card in question. One of our main goals with KioskSimple was to make it really easy for kiosk application developers to integrate popular kiosk devices, like webcams, into their kiosks. The KioskSimple developer API supports integrating a webcam into your website and we have code examples to get you started. Continue reading “Integrating a Webcam Into Your Kiosk Application”

Getting Started Developing Kiosk Software – Part 3 Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Payment Kiosks

This is my third and final article in a series titled “A Beginners Guide to Developing Kiosk Software.”

In this article I’m not even going to attempt to delve into the specifics of developing support for accepting payments because there is a huge variation between payment devices and their interfaces.

What I am going to cover is the decision making process you as a developer or business owner need to carefully step through when you decide to make your kiosk accept payments.

If you have any questions about a specific payment device please shoot me a message on one of my social media channels listed at the end of this article. Continue reading “Getting Started Developing Kiosk Software – Part 3 Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Payment Kiosks”

5 Reasons to Develop Your Kiosk Application as a Website

In a previous article on getting started developing kiosk software I briefly covered my thoughts on the pros and cons of developing kiosk applications as a website vs. a native Windows application.

It boils down to a case of client-side vs. server-side and deciding which approach best fits your needs.

My goal for this 2-part series is to define the pros and cons of each approach to better help kiosk application developers make an informed decision. Continue reading “5 Reasons to Develop Your Kiosk Application as a Website”

Easily Integrate Popular Kiosk Devices with the KioskSimple Developer API

Does your kiosk application need to support accepting payments or possibly integrate with some elaborate biometric device? If so then we’ve got a solution that your developers will love. The KioskSimple Developer API is specifically designed to make it easier, simple even, to integrate popular kiosk devices with your kiosk application. We’ve provided code examples in .NET WPF C# for native Windows applications and JavaScript for websites to get your started quickly. Our developers have done all the heavy lifting by creating an abstracted interface (aka API) for popular kiosk devices so you don’t have to understand all of the ins and out of these intricate devices.

Here are just a few examples of the sort of kiosk devices our API supports:

Credit Card Readers
Bill Acceptors
Coin Acceptors
Biometrics
Thermal Printers
Webcams

Continue reading “Easily Integrate Popular Kiosk Devices with the KioskSimple Developer API”

How to Easily Put Your Website on a Kiosk with KioskSimple

Getting your website on a self-service kiosk is a simple process with the use of kiosk lockdown software like KioskSimple. In this article (and accompanying video) I’ll show you just how easy it is to convert your existing website into a self-service kiosk in just a few simple steps. Don’t worry, no nerd degree is required.

Continue reading “How to Easily Put Your Website on a Kiosk with KioskSimple”

If You’re Not Considering Tablet Kiosks, You’ll Hate Yourself Later

Tablet kiosks are becoming an increasing popular economic alternative to traditional standing kiosks. They offer many advantages, chief of which is their affordability, but they also have several limitations which are worth considering. My goal for this article is to help you decide if a tablet kiosk is a better fit for your kiosk project than a standard kiosk. Continue reading “If You’re Not Considering Tablet Kiosks, You’ll Hate Yourself Later”

Why Does My Website Look Different On a Kiosk?

So you’ve decided to put your gorgeous website on a kiosk to make it available to the public. It looks so touch friendly and easy to use in your web browser and then you load it on your kiosk and it looks like BLAH! What happened to your once immaculate website? It still looks fine when you view it from the web browser on your computer but it looks like a big mess on your kiosk. Continue reading “Why Does My Website Look Different On a Kiosk?”

Getting Started Developing Kiosk Software – Part 2 Application Security

Welcome to the second article in my series on kiosk software development.

My goal for this series of articles is to give an overview on the basics of developing kiosk software that’s both a joy for your customers to use and adheres to the guidelines of PCI-Compliance.

This is more of a series of general guidelines and tips based on my 7+ years of experience developing and dealing with other people’s kiosk software not a comprehensive how-to guide. When I use the term “kiosk software” I’m referring to any software running on a kiosk in a self-service (unattended) environment regardless of the technology used.

This second article will focus on the security aspects of “hardening” your kiosk software to ensure that your kiosk is always running smoothly and your customer’s information is safe from malicious users. Continue reading “Getting Started Developing Kiosk Software – Part 2 Application Security”