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Customer service avatars coming to JFK, La Guardia, Newark airports (video)
When you're running late, you're weighed-down with DIY in-flight entertainment and your gate number gets switched at the last minute, the last thing you need is a real-life human trying to be helpful. The Port Authority knows that, which is why it's promising to install "computerized, hologram-like avatars" in La Guardia, Newark and JFK terminal buildings by early July. The virtual assistants aren't actually holographic -- judging from the video after the break (courtesy of Transportation Nation), they appear to consist of either projected or LCD video displayed on a vaguely human-shaped static board, although given their reported $250,000 price tag we might (hopefully) be missing something. Oh, and they aren't even interactive, unless you try to push them over. [Photo Credit: Jim O'Grady/WNYC]
The apps on Delta's iPads at LaGuardia airport in New York
A few weeks ago I got stuck for many hours at LaGuardia airport in New York (shocking, I realize, given how smooth air travel is these days). While at the Delta terminal I saw dozens of iPads installed next to small booths, designed for travelers to recharge and possibly play a game or order some food. We knew this was coming, but I was surprised to see them there nonetheless. While the iPads were physically locked down, iOS was pretty much just stock, with the apps Delta wants you to use on one screen, and all the stock iOS apps (Mail, Safari, etc.) on the other screen. I didn't see anyone swipe to the second screen while I was at the terminal. As you can see in the screenshot below, the apps Delta has added to the iPad are: Epicurious, Google Earth, SportsTap, Checkers Free HD, CNBC Real-Time for iPad, USA Today, Hangman Classic HD (the one I saw people playing the most, incidentally), Marketboard, Tic Tac Toe Free, The Weather Channel Max, WebMD, Delta's own app (of course), [it is a web shortcut to Delta.com, in fact. - Ed.] plus web shortcuts for a feedback form about the food and beverage company which runs the services at the terminal, and a pitch to have your apps on the iPads. Lastly, there's a simple menu app for Crust, which was at the Delta terminal. Have any of you tried these out? Let us know your reactions in the comments.
