The Surface is in the Lobby
Sheraton Hotels in five U.S. cities debut Microsoft Surface, putting a virtual concierge and unique entertainment experiences at guests’ fingertips.
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and Microsoft Corp. introduced an entirely new hotel guest experience with its debut of Microsoft Surface, Microsoft’s first commercially available surface computer. Featuring easy-to-use technology and a natural way of accessing information, Surface units will be placed in the lobbies of select Sheraton hotels in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Microsoft Surface breaks down the traditional barriers between people and technology, providing simple and instant access to information and entertainment. Sheraton will be the first hotel to offer Microsoft Surface, creating a new Sheraton brand experience that will bring interaction, connectivity and a social setting to the lobby, providing guests with an entirely new way to explore local tourist highlights and enhance their hotel stay.
Microsoft Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that several guests can use simultaneously. The intuitive user interface works without a traditional mouse or keyboard, allowing people to interact with content and information in a more natural and familiar way, by using their hands and gestures (WTSTT). Sheraton unveiled Surface at five hotels: Sheraton Boston Hotel, Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton Gateway San Francisco Airport Hotel and Sheraton Seattle Hotel.
With each unit, Sheraton is offering a customized version of the Microsoft Surface developed suite of applications to provide entertainment and information about local attractions. Surface, and these unique applications, are designed to serve the needs of the brand’s core guests who are social individuals seeking to share the travel experience with one another. The placement of the Surface units in Sheraton lobbies enables guests to leverage and experience the offerings in a social way.
Three highlighted applications are the following:
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Hands On with the Microsoft Surface
Posted by Chris Leckness on 04/20/08 in Microsoft, Previews
I was able to get some hands on with Microsoft Surface and let me tell you one thing right now. I want one for my living room bad. This is such a great idea. I can see hours in front of this in a home environment just looking through photos, interacting with music, playing games with company, and many more cool things. Ask AT&T though, they have found some really great uses for Microsoft Surface in the business environment too. Pardon the photos and video, they were shot with a camera phone…
Read on for some more…
