Interested in upgrading and want to see what features you are missing? Select your product and look for features released after your current version.

Select Product: KioWare KioWare Lite KioWare Server

6.3.0 April 2008	Security Audit The Configuration Tool now has a security audit tool that is useful for highlighting settings that are not in conformance with standard security standards. New Input Device Hardware Support Web Cameras New Remote Monitoring Devices US Micro Printer Windows Print Queue monitoring (for printers without direct monitoring capability) WatchPort Temperature/Humidity Sensor WMI Hardware (CPU, Fans, etc) Transparent Virtual Keyboards Abiltity to modify the opacity of pop-up virtual keyboards Additional Second Monitor Support Support for up to ten (10) second monitors Volume Controls Ability to set a default volume setting when a user session ends Addition of Voume Up and Volume Down buttons to the KioWare Toolbar Limiting Print Pages Per Session Ability to limit the total number of pages a user can print during a single session Integrated KioWare Restart/Reboot/Shutdown Scheduling Ability to schedule a daily KioWare restart, kiosk reboot or kiosk shutdown. Additional Cache Clearing Options Better granularity in selecting what items in cache get cleared when a user session ends. New ability to only clear HTTPS data and keep everything else. And, ability to keep only media files and delete everything else. Addition of String Constants to KioWare StartPage URL Ability to have Site Name, Kiosk Name and Unit Name added to the querystring of the StartPage URL - useful for server side scripting File Audit Feature In conjunction with KioWare Server, the ability for KioWare to audit files on the kiosk for corruption or missing files. KioWare Server sends a list of files with corresponding checksums, and KioWare checks that each file exists and has the proper checksum Integrated VOIP Support VOIP is now completely integrated into KioWare. Either using toolbar dial buttons, a numeric keypad, or embedded scripting, KioWare can dial a telephone number using VOIP. Phone Numbers can be limited to individual domains or pages. KioWare integrates with Bravora VOIP service.
6.2.0 Nov 2007	Custom 3rd Party .NET DLLs Custom KioWare features and enhanced integration with your application are now easy to accomplish because KioWare now integrates with 3rd party DLLs Custom Domain/Page Blocking Dialog The message that is displayed when a domain or page is blocked can either be a KioWare generated dialog box, or to enable better integration with your application it can be a custom HTML page Storm EZ Access Keypad Support KioWare maps browser navigation commands to the Storm EZ Access keypad. Includes linking an error URL to the Help button Additional Hardware Support SNAPI barcode scanners HID MSR readers OPOS MSR readers (IBM Anyplace) Frequent Content Update Scheduling KioWare can either download content on a daily schedule, or KioWare can check for updates on a time interval as short as every ten minutes. Frequent Usage Statistics Scheduling KioWare can pass usage statistics to KioWare Server on a daily schedule, or it can send statistics at the end of every user session, or on a time interval as short as every 10 minutes.
6.1.0 April 2007	Windows Vista Support: Support for Windows Vista OS, specifically a new keyboard filter that blocks CTRL+ALT+DEL Temporary Licensing Temporary licensing option that expires after a specified time period so that you can re-license to a new machine (ideal for rented computers and tradeshows) Custom Dialog Box Blocking Custom dialog box blocking that allows you to pick an choose which dialog boxes to block
6.0.0 Jan 2007	WSIWYG Toolbar editor that supports: Multiple toolbars that can be located at the top, bottom, left or right of the screen Complete control over the toolbar background color including the use of background images Support for toolbar labels and embedded graphics (ex, logos) Complete control over the number, size and look of toolbar buttons Ability to determine which pages display which toolbars
5.0.6 Nov 2005	KioWare Shell You can now easily switch the computer to use KioWare instead of Windows Explorer as the OS shell. Running KioWare as the shell significantly improves the performance of the kiosk and also increases security. New Command Line Arguments KioWare can now be started with command line arguments that load a specific XML file, or load a specific version of KioWare’s registry (useful for multi-user mode where thin-clients may have different configurations). End Session Modification Previously, to take advantage of KioWare’s ability to clear cache, cookies and retract printer paper upon session end, a session end URL needed to be defined. Session end URL is used to define a script that KioWare will run on session end. Now, the session end URL is completely independent of clearing cache, cookies or retracting of printer paper, so there is no reason to have to enter a session end URL when all you really want is to clear cooking, cache or retract printer paper. In addition, there is an option to clear the print queue upon session end. Attract Screen Modification Previously, an attract screen was required to initiate session end and application reset. Now, attract screens are optional and if no attract screen is present then KioWare will return to the start page URL. Toolbar Visibility KioWare can now control on which pages to display the toolbar. Multiple Settings Mode For thin client applications where individual PCs require different KioWare configurations, multiple configurations can be saved and accessed by KioWare via a command line argument. Shutdown Mode KioWare can be configured to either exit to the desktop with proper entry of passcode (default), shutdown the computer with proper entry of passcode, or shutdown the computer immediately upon initiating exit (ie, no passcode required). Dialog Box Timeout Option KioWare can now automatically close down any KioWare dialog box after a specified user inactivity delay. Additional Scripting Scripting support has been extended to include the ability to programmatically log off. This is equivalent to clicking the log off button in the KioWare toolbar. Also, second monitor display times can be programmatically modified.
5.0.5 Aug 2005	Input Device Domain/Page Blocking For applications which use KioWare to pass data read from input devices (barcode scanner, MSR, etc), KioWare can now limit the reading of data to a select set of domains and pages. Toolbar Refresh Button The KioWare Toolbar now supports a refresh button. Enhanced Security KioWare now provides the following security features: Hardware watchdog support Software watchdog support Centralized window/device disabling and lockdown control Optional blocking of common dialog boxes Scripting Currently, there are two KioWare functions that can be accessed through scripting within your application: initiating KioWare Toolbar printing and setting the second monitor URL. Scripting Domain/Page Blocking For applications which use KioWare’s scripting feature, KioWare can now limit the execution of scripting functions to a select set of domains and pages.
5.0.4 May 2005	Embedded Print Button Blocking The ability to block javascript print buttons embedded within an application. Particularly useful for existing Internet applications that are displayed on a kiosk without printer capability. KioWare Lite can block embedded javascript print buttons within the application. Toolbar enhancement In our continuing effort to extend the functionality of our toolbar capability, KioWare Lite now supports the display of descriptive text below each toolbar button. Custom Busy Indicator You can now create your own custom busy indicator of up to 64 frames complexity. Proximity Card Reader Support KioWare can now read data from RF Ideas PC Prox devices - perfect for HR application's user authentication.
5.0.3 Feb 2005	Virtual Keyboard KioWare now supports an optional HTML virtual keyboard. KioWare ships with a general purpose virtual keyboard already installed, but it can be easily replaced with a custom virtual keyboard. Refer to KioWare Design Guide for details. Toolbar Scroll Buttons KioWare now has optional vertical and horizontal scroll buttons on the toolbar. As with all buttons in the toolbar, the default button graphic can be replaced with a custom graphic tailored to your application. Toolbar Custom Link Buttons KioWare now has up to ten (10) optional custom link buttons on the toolbar. The link buttons act as URL redirector buttons and can be used to link to any content that can be displayed in the browser.
5.0.2 Dec 2004	User Session End Printer Retraction Rather than rely on the printer retracting a user's unretrieved printout after a time delay (or not retracting at all), KioWare can instantly retract the unretrieved printout when a user's session ends (usually via security mat or proximity switch). Timeout/Warning Dialog Box Formatting The font name, style, size and color and background color can now be set for the Timeout/Warning dialog box that displays when a user’s session is about to be reset. Custom Page Timeout Delays Some pages might require more viewing time for a user than other pages. A good example is a page displaying a long video. While the video is playing, the user typically does not interact with the kiosk, so the timeout timer is counting and may end the user’s session before the video is finished. With custom page timeout delays, a page can have an individual timeout delay that overrides the default timeout delay.
5.0.0 Sept 2004	Remote Monitoring To enable the current state of a kiosk to be monitored centrally, Remote Monitoring has been implemented. The functionality has two broad features: parameter monitoring and log file monitoring. OS parameter monitoring is contained within our Heartbeat feature. On a user defined time interval, KioWare collects system parameters such as uptime, disk space, pages served, etc. and using SOAP/XML passes the data to KioWare Server. In this way, each kiosk routinely checks in with KioWare Server giving baseline statistics, and kiosk maintenance can be performed based on whether a kiosk has failed to check in or on its baseline statistics trend. KioWare also queries all specified kiosk hardware (ex., printers) and creates log file entries as necessary (ex., paper low). Certain high priority log entries are immediate transferred to KioWare Server for maintenance action, and the remaining log entries are transferred to KioWare Server during the next Heartbeat transmission. Configuration Tool / XML Configuration Tool Merge Previously, the Configuration Tool and XML Configuration Tool were two separate programs, now the Configuration Tool can read from either the KioWare Settings or from an XML file, and the Configuration Tool can save your changes to either KioWare Settings or to an XML file. Second Monitor Digital Signage Support For those kiosks that need to have a second monitor displaying digital signage, KioWare now has the capability to display an unlimited number of html pages on a second monitor that are displayed in a sequential fashion. The second monitor does not allow user interaction. Embedded Phone Dialing Previously, KioWare required phone numbers to be defined ahead of time and associated with a page’s HTML Title Tag. This worked fine for applications with a finite number of static phone numbers to dial; however, for applications that need to have thousands of phone numbers or need to look up the current phone number in a database, KioWare now has a second method: embedded phone dialing. With embedded phone dialing, a special HTML tag unique to KioWare is embedded in any page that requires a phone number to be dialed. The tag contains all the information KioWare requires to dial the phone number, and the tag can be generated on the fly as your application requires. Phone Dialing Custom Dialogs Dialog boxes that are displayed during the course of dialing such as the Handset Pickup message, Dialer Success message and Dialer Error message are now editable so that a custom message can be displayed. File Download Blocking KioWare can now prevent a user from downloading a file that Internet Explorer doesn’t know how to display, thus preventing the File Save or Open dialog box from displaying. Address Bar KioWare can optionally display a URL address bar in the taskbar that enables a user to enter any http or https URL. Address is checked against existing domain/page restrictions before navigation occurs. Browser Cache Clearing When an End Session URL is enabled, KioWare can now optionally clear out Internet Explorer’s cache, thus effectively removing any private data of the prior user
4.3.9 July 2004	Toolbar Skins The optional toolbar that displays at the top of the screen that can contain navigation, print and logout buttons as well as the busy indicator can now be configured to be any color you choose. Furthermore, the buttons images are now user replaceable so that you can customize the toolbar to fit seamlessly with the design style of your application. Unattended Installation For projects with many units to be deployed, the KioWare installer now has the ability to install KioWare, run an XML configuration file, and automatically license KioWare over the Internet all without user intervention. Scanning Devices For applications requiring the input of scanned barcode data, KioWare has a very simple means of processing scanned data that doesn’t require sophisticated programming.
4.3.8 June 2004	XML Configuration Scheduling KioWare has the capability to reload its XML configuration file effectively reconfiguring itself on the fly. This means KioWare can download a new XML file on whatever schedule you require (ex., hourly, daily, weekly, etc) and reconfigure itself. This is particularly useful for advertising applications where the advertisements regularly change. Error Handling A URL can be specified for KioWare to redirect to whenever a web server error is reported. Furthermore, there is the option to pass, as a URL querystring, the error number and filename upon which your error handler script can act. Mailto Tag Lockdown HTML Mailto tags can now be explicitly locked out. Previously, you had to add Mailto: into the domain blocking list. There is also the ability to individually prevent right mouse click context menu activation in ActiveX controls, although for this release only Flash is supported. Additional ActiveX controls will be added as necessary. Attract Screens Each attract screen can now have its own display period, so that, for example, if a rich content page requires longer to read, its display time can be increased. Also currently, there is only one entry point into the web application, and it is defined by the Start Page URL parameter. This release allows each attract screen to be defined as an entry point into the web application. This feature is useful for advertising kiosks - each ad (attract screen) goes to its own set of pages. Also useful for advertising kiosks, there is the option to have the attract screen start off from where it left off. Previously, each time attract screen mode was entered the first attract screen automatically loaded which skewed ad display counts. Security Devices The IO Networks Watchport™ proximity switch is now a supported security device. Security devices are used to determine a user’s presence and consequently start or stop the user session.