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Starwood Hotels now lets you use your iPhone to completely bypass the desk
If you hate carrying around -- or perhaps losing -- a hotel room key when you're on a business or leisure trip, Starwood Hotels has you covered. The popular lodging company which includes the Sharaton, W Hotels, and Westin brands among others, has updated its Starwood Preferred Guest app which now allows you to not only ditch that plastic room key, but also check in up to 24 hours ahead of time and receive your room number. In short, it eliminates the need for you to stop at the front desk whatsoever. Upon checking in via your iPhone, the device will then function as your room key. The app uses Bluetooth connectivity to unlock your specific room door with a tap of the touchscreen. Apple already revealed that similar functionality will also be supported on the Apple Watch, though we'll of course have to wait until its early 2015 launch before we get too excited about that.
Starwood's app for Google Glass will let you search and book hotels
Imagine walking into a hotel lobby and telling the wearable on your face to pull up your reservation details. Starwood, the company behind properties from the Aloft to the W to the St. Regis, is hoping to up its hospitality game with an app tailor-made for Google Glass. Currently in beta, the upcoming SPG app for Glass will let guests search Starwood properties around the world, get turn-by-turn directions to a particular hotel and explore room photos, amenities, dining options and more. It looks like you'll also be able to book a reservation directly from the Glass app and -- importantly -- call a hotel if you get lost.
World of Tanks 8.5 adds new stuff, offers premium features to free players
Not surprisingly, updates in World of Tanks usually feature a tank or two to bolster the already impressive roster of available war machines. With new Soviet and German vehicles, update 8.5 is no different. The unexpected, however, comes in the form of changes to premium services: As of 8.5, non-paying players will be able to access some of the premium features previously only available to those who paid. In addition to three new Soviet light tanks (the small-sized T-60, T-70 and the T-80), a new line of German medium tanks (headed by Tier X Leopard 1), and a fast-firing American SPG joining the battlefield, free players will be able to create three-member platoons and companies as well as purchase all premium consumables with silver credits. On top of these changes, players will also see revamped visuals for the Siegfried Line, South Coast and Malinovka maps as well as a brand new map called Pear River. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
