MS server adds self-service features

Microsoft has released the first in a series of test code drops for the next version of SQL Server, reports The Register. The company has delivered the community technology preview of its SQL Server R2 2008 to subscribers on the company's MSDN and TechNet communities.

The next version of Microsoft's flagship database will focus on business intelligence, the company said, with "self-service reporting" and "self-service analysis" through Project Gemini.

The project is designed to deliver self-service analysis through "deep integration" with Microsoft's SharePoint Server and Excel.

In the wake of bank machines that dispense cash, vending machines for DVDs, and automated, biometric passport checks, chain stores in Europe and America have joined the self-service revolution, writes Ha'aretz.

While in the US the phenomenon has taken over mainly in wealthy suburbs, in London most of the big chains have already equipped themselves with "self- checkout stands." In some branches, all of the checkout stands have been converted to self-service stations.

So why not in Israel? "Because no one cares about [consumers]," according to Alon Goetz, executive vice-president for retail solutions at Retalix, a company that provides software to stores to operate these self-service checkout stations.

Digital media company Yeahpoint has selected UK-based Zytronic, a display technology manufacturer, for an interactive project with Singapore-based telecom operator SingTel, states SelfServiceWorld.

According to a news release from Zytronic, SingTel will use Zytronic's Zybrid touch-sensor technology in interactive touch-screen terminals that will feature information about SingTel's full range of products and services.

Zytronic says the project also will include touch-enabled interactive tables with 42-inch Zybrid touch-sensors tied to rugged glass overlays that allow customers to download items from an extensive library of music, games and videos. Zytronic says the tables also provide the SingTel staff with a customer-validation and queue-management system.