iPads are the latest technology to be used in coffee shops and quick food outlets. We've seen it hit restaurants and hotels but is there an iPad / iPhone App for ordering and paying for your meal at your favourite coffee shop or fast food outlet? Well we've scoured the Internet to find some success stories and some companies servicing this market for Coffee shop Apps.
Aptito (http://aptito.com/blog/2011/07/13/technology-prediction-order-food-ipad-%E2%80%93-the-next-big-trend-for-coffee-shops-cafes/) is a menu technology company in the United States whose App for the iPad has worked wonders for some coffee shop / sandwich outlets. Coffee shop proprietors say that it cuts queues and enables the customer to comment on their coffee shop experience for each menu item and their visit in general. See the following video testimonies:
And:
Let us know what you think of this as a time saving device. Would it work in your coffee shop? See also the article on Technology trends in Hotels.
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you're working on some project on your PC [or Mac] with all your programs and desktop laid out just the way you like it and then you have to go somewhere else? You could hall along your laptop, cabling but there are bound to be times when even that is too big to carry for where you're going. Another scenario might be that you're a developer of Android Apps and you'd like to have a separate operating system to test your App, but don't want to work off two laptops? Or perhaps as a developer you want to run a server off another PC which is networked to your laptop rather than the computer your working on but you can't lug another desktop or laptop around with you everywhere? Well a PC (Personal Computer) solution may soon be available for under €150.00, which you can fit into your wallet. Well The Cotton Candy PC, named after an American confection because it weighs less than 21 grams and developed by a Norweigen company called FXI Tech, may be just the thing.
The Cotton Candy has a dual-core 1.2-GHz Samsung Exynos ARM CPU (same as in the Galaxy S II),
802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI-out and a microSD card slot for memory and most importantly has a USB key on the other side. Designed to be slotted into any monitor, TV, lapto, Desktop PC or Mac or connected via Bluetooth to an iPhone, iPad or other device the miniature PC is loaded with an Android operating system although it supports Ubuntu too and will take power from the device its plugged into. Once plugged in an Android window will open up on whatever desktop, monitor / TV device you are using, take over that device virtualising all input and output devices and displaying all your own files and programs that you own and like to have at your fingertips. You can move files from the host computer onto the Cotton Candy and either store the information there or sync the data to a Cloud service. The device can also support 1.2 Gigapixels of 3D graphics output, quite impressive!
Check out the CEO talking about it recently:
My only wonder is how hot the device could get? There is also another device called the Rasberry Pi which is a another mini-computer which will cost less than €25.00. Equivalent to the performance of a PC from 2002 (Pentium 2) it is not for the general market but is aimed at the educational market to encourage children of 16 and 17 to get interested in computer science. The developers are a charity based in Cambridge University, England who have been working on this project for three to four years. The developers are aiming to go into production in early 2012. See the video explanation below:
Earlier this year, I along with three other colleagues explored possible ways of bringing IT skills like computer programming and hardware development skills to Irish Transition Year schools. We found from our research that there is tremendous demand from all stakeholders but in this climate nobody is willing to cough up money to support such a scheme and because there is such a shortage of skilled practicioners it is dificult to find volunteers with time on there hands to teach kids or too expensive too employ professionals to teach to secondary school persons. The Computer Dojo Club in Limerick and Dublin will begin to fill that gap and some sterling work is being done in the technology in education sections of colleges like Tallight Institute of Technology and The College of Ireland but there is still room for other players to get involved in nurturing IT skills in schools and among the unemployed pool. The Rasberry Pi PC may go someway to bringing computers to everybody in the cash strapped environment of today
Although it’s a while since I worked full time in
the hotel industry and even longer since it dominated my career goals, I have
nevertheless kept my proverbial toes in the waters of the hospitality industry
here in Ireland in one capacity or another since 1997 which is when I returned to Ireland after a ten year absence. Indeed there have been occasions
over the last ten years or so, when I worked full time, initially after the
foot and mouth disease decimated the tourist industry and consequently my
tourism research business and latterly as an addition to freelance work and/or
periods of third level study.
Since 2003 I have been dipping my toes and quite
often allot more, in my work for the Conrad Hilton Hotel, Dublin. After a refurbishment of the hotel in 2004
and 2005 I noticed that for a hotel of that size and stature it was way behind
the curve in the technology arena and about as far away from “Eco Friendly” as
old mother Russia after the fall of communism.
Indeed the refurbishment of the public rooms in 2005 had probably
managed to increase rather than decrease the electricity bill, going by the
number of extra spot lights to be seen. Back then I did my best to pack the suggestion box
full of ideas to save on water and electricity bills even pointing out how
other hotels in Dublin had saved thousands of Euro on similar measures. If you
could invest thousands of Euro in a refurbishment project on the assumption
that it would lead to increased sales, could you not so too invest thousands of
Euro in technology knowing for certain, depending on best and worst case
scenario’s for energy and water costs, that you’d get your money back over
three to five years I asked? “Well, it depends on cash flow”, I was told, “…if
you can come back to us with a proposal which has a payback period of one year
we’ll take a serious look at it”! I wonder what a refurbishment of the hotel
would look like if it required a payback period of one year? But hey, maybe I’m missing something here
after all I'm not much more than a casual observer and not immersed in the day to day management of the hotel.
I am pleased to
say now though that I get the very real sense that the hotel has moved on from that view
point and in 2006 after merging with the Hilton parent company, (don’t ask me
to explain), everybody woke up from wherever they were and began to think ‘Eco’
and to realise that guests will actually hold you [the hotel] in good stead if
you leave a note on the bed asking if you REALLY need your linens and towels
changed EVERY morning? Unfortunately
this epiphany came too late to take any real advantage of the 'War Chest' that every good business had back in the roaring naughties and before we could say boo to a goose all those lovely tourists and business types stopped coming. We [the Irish Tourist Industry] have recovered somewhat from the low ebb of 2008 / 2009 but the world is still in a precarious position and we must stay on our toes if we are to keep ahead of the curve.
Despite the budgetary
constraints, however, the present general manager has a very pragmatic view on
using technology to improve the competitive edge for the [Conrad] hotel, introducing flat-screen televisions, by now an expectation in any five star hotel worth its salt, (no pun intended), energy saving and other technologies. In the last two
to three years the Dublin Conrad Hotel has had very high ‘SALT’ (Standards and
Loyalty Test) scores among its guests, second only to, I believe, Conrad
Maldives and is among the top five for guest satisfaction among Hilton brands
in the UK and Ireland.
However despite my recent experiences I have always
been a firm believer in using technology to gain competitive advantage and
every refurbishment should be looking at ways to cut costs and not to increase
them while accepting little or no compromise on creating a better impact, both
visually and in making the guest’s stay more memorable.
And so it came to my attention that this week in Berlin, leading IT managers came
together for the sixth European Hotel Technology Next Generation Conference.
Among the topics that this organisation has been involved in is putting
together a model for IT vendors for ‘Shared Services. In an earlier report following a survey among
senior IT managers among eighteen of the world’s top hotel companies it found
that, “Hotels were least interested in sharing marketing and customer
information applications. On the other hand, 80% or more were willing to share
such applications as guest-room device management, concierge, point of sale,
housekeeping, facilities management, and applications for six back-office and
human resource functions”. Earlier in
June Adjunct Associate Professor at Hotel Icon, the world’s first teaching
hotel based in Hong Kong, said, at the Hotel Technology Conference at the
Marina Bay in Singapore that, “…the use of technology has not merely been
solely for the use of guests, but that the hotel had made use of it to go
paperless and help drive bookings”. “We
make extensive use of IT,” Hatter said, “From using things like cloud computing
for printing, to having almost 40% of our bookings coming from the
Internet.” Despite my relatively recent introduction to all
things IT, I think I can say with some intuition if not authority that the
Apple iPad, iPhone and other tablet and Smartphone equivalents will have a big
impact on hotels, especially business hotels such as the Conrad Hotel, Dublin
both for the guests and back of house. I was recently pondering on what sort of
iPad / iPhone Apps might be introduced into the hotel and rather than producing
an Application [App] to complete one task my inclination was, if I were the
software vendor or IT manager requesting a bespoke App, to produce an App
suitable for all guest needs rather than just check-in / check-out, in-room
dining or mini-bar ordering. Another App with different access controls might
be useful for back of house functions such as mini-bar stock control, room
maintenance and housekeeping etc for employees. However in my recent research
into the HTNG organisation I came across a software vendor from Orlando in
Florida called Intelity who won the 2010 HTNG organisation’s 2010 award for
“Most Innovative Hospitality Technology”. These award winners are a telling
example of what’s in store for guests’ convenience and hotels’ competitive
advantages in the future. The following
excerpt is quoted here:
“The winning technology, ICE (Interactive Customer
Experience™) Touch on iPads, presents the hotel guest with the full array of
hotel services (thirty or more depending on the hotel). An iPad is assigned to
each guestroom where it is mounted on special stands or cases. With the touch
of their finger, guests can order in-room dining, turn downs and wake-ups,
request restaurant reservations, book transportation, make housekeeping
requests and other services. In 2010, following the introduction of the iPad
tablet, Intelity developed a guest interface that was deployed in September at
the Royalton Hotel in New York City. Since then, it has been deployed at New
York's Plaza Hotel. Others, including the Hilton Inn at Penn in Philadelphia,
will be premiering soon. This is Intelity's second year on the award stand:
last year, their ICE software product was runner-up”.
Check out the following: Intelity's ICE Touch Premiers at
The Plaza Hotel from Intelity on Vimeo. Guests can use their own hardware device or request
to borrow one from the ‘Desk’. The system is already in use with two of the
American Conrad Hotels and Resorts and a few American Hilton
properties.
“This year's first runner-up technology, from Corning
MobileAccess, focuses on personalizing the guest experience by providing guests
with high quality access to their mobile content and services such as streaming
video and gaming. The MobileAccessVE architecture enhances hotels' cellular
coverage by leveraging existing LAN cabling for cellular signal distribution
while maintaining full Ethernet and wireless LAN capabilities. MobileAccessVE
allows hotels to address 2G/3G as well as 4G services. With this technology,
hotels have a cost effective, quickly deployable, non-disruptive path to
migrate to premium LTE service, with smart MIMO antenna technology, and the
ability to support migration to enterprise femtocell solutions as guest
bandwidth demands increase.” Another area which will become an expected norm in
the future will be the ability to by-pass the check in desk with push
notifications telling the guest that their room is ready and being able to
access their room using their hardware device. Security would be an issue but
one can only assume that this has been ironed out since the third place in this
year’s awards went to, Allegro Online-Mobile-Kiosk Check-in/out Solution from
Ariane Systems. “Allegro's self-service technology allows guests
to check in/out, pay, and manage their reservation from any web-enabled device,
including cell phone, PC, laptop, PDA, iPad or even the lobby kiosk. Leveraging
the power of a fully-featured "cloud-based" platform Allegro
automatically detects the device used during check-in and sends notifications
and instructions to the guest via "push mode." Through integration
with OpenWays mobile key technology, it is possible to bypass the traditional
"front desk" completely, as guests can use their mobile phone as a
securely encrypted room key.” In summary I think we can say with some certainty that the best chance for business hotels to get ahead of the curve is through sharing out IT costs on 'Cloud Systems' among numerous hotels for
common hotel functions. The other major push should be in mobile devices to enhance the guest experience while
simultaneously improving sales revenues, yield management and stock control. Saving
energy and water remain important investments however and should, in my opinion
be given the same level of importance as investment in refurbishment, indeed
the two should go hand in hand.
Finally, although a bit out dated one should download and read the following PDF from HTNG @: http://www.htng.org/white-papers, which reminds us that we need to think about how the current younger generation thinks and what their technological expectations will be in five to ten years from now. "
“ 'The Guest of the Future: In-Room
Technology Preferences Today and Tomorrow' represents an amazing view into the
needs of tomorrow’s guests, and what it will take to satisfy them. Hotel rooms
being built today will, over the course of their lifetime, be occupied mostly by
people who are still under 30, or even 20. Their expectations will not be the
same as today’s travelers, and if the hospitality industry is to succeed at
meeting those expectations, it needs to understand how the expectations of
younger generations differ from those of older ones – and how they are likely to
continue to evolve over time." Alternatively I can highly recommend reading, 'Grown Up Digital' by Don Tapscot, see: http://www.grownupdigital.com/archive/.
And most importantly, PLEASE take a few minutes to join up and comment on my blog.
Thankyou.
