By Bary Alyssa Johnson

Traveling home for the holidays? Up your in-flight entertainment ante by picking up the new Apple iPod at your local Zoom Systems airport vending machine.

Zoom Systems, a major player in the automated retail market, aims to pioneer the retail revolution with plans to deploy a network of thousands of automated retail venues, to a range of locations (such as hotels, airports and malls) in the coming years, according to a news release, here in PDF form.

ADVERTISEMENT ``Zoom Shops are not your parents` vending machine,`` said Gower Smith, CEO and co-founder of Zoom Systems, in a statement.

``Unlike vending, we have developed the technology and intelligence to offer consumers the hottest products from $10 to $200, from the best brands. It`s like shopping online, but consumers have the instant gratification of getting their product immediately.``