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500 of NYC's free WiFi kiosks will be installed by July
LinkNYC's ambitious plan to convert some 7,500 Gotham payphones into kiosks featuring free domestic phone calls, USB charging points, gigabit WiFi and tablet-based internet access is well under way. But if you're having trouble finding them so far (it's only been about a week since installations started) that's understandable. The company promises that some 510 of them will be up and running in beta phase across two sections of Manhattan, the South Bronx, Jamaica Queens, Staten Island and Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn by this July.
NYFi wins NYC's Reinvent Payphones 'Popular Choice' award, would serve free WiFi (update)
Although six designs were awarded in New York City's Reinvent Payphones competition, it remained to be seen which of the six would be the people's favorite. After about a week's worth of voting on NYC's Facebook page, the people have made their choice: NYFi will serve is their favorite concept for street-side payphone overhauls. It's not hard to see why, as the proposal would theoretically solve several urban hassles at once. Each NYFi hub would dish out free WiFi, taking the load off of the cellular network. It would also use open, smartphone-like software and easily adaptable touchscreen hardware to consolidate many of the boxes that clutter the sidewalks, such as ticket machines and bike sharing stations. We'll admit that most of the concepts sound a little optimistic to us -- we wouldn't be surprised if any finished city project fell short of the ideas. Even if we don't get a WiFi hotspot on every corner, though, the reinvented payphone will likely be a welcome replacement for landline phones that have mostly collected dust in recent years. Update: We've adjusted the post to clarify that NYfi is not, per se, the overall winner. During the initial demo event five awards were up for grabs from the city, and a sixth award, Popular Choice, was to be chosen by the public. Whether NYC ends up using one of these designs as a direct inspiration will remain to be seen. The awards are more or less a way for the city to see what the public would propose and potentially use those ideas when it comes time to request for designs within a mandated set of specifications. Check out our post about the event for more details.
NYC awards six Reinvent Payphones finalists, asks public to select favorite via Facebook
The payphone. Despite how connected our world has gotten in the last decade or so, the majority of the 11,000 payphones in NYC stem from a 1999 contract. Due to expire and renew in October 2014, the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) has been actively figuring out how and what type of modern solution it wants to replace roughly all 11,000 of them with. You've heard about a small number being retrofitted with WiFi hotspots and SmartScreen information portals, but those have essentially been tests. Last night at Quirky's offices, the city picked out finalists for five categories that could possibly help "Reinvent Payphones" here in the Big Apple: "connectivity, creativity, visual design, functionality and community impact." Well over 120 entries were submitted since this design challenge kicked off last December at the NY Tech Meetup, with a total of 11 semifinalists having gotten the chance to present their ideas last night for judging. As it turns out, there was a tie for community impact, leaving six finalists overall. Better yet, out of those six, the public can take to Facebook from now until March 14th to select a "popular vote" winner. Curious for more insight? We got to chat with the city's Director of External Affairs at the Department of Information, Nicholas Sbordone, about the project and he talked about how it went down and what it means for the future of payphones in NYC.
NYC phone booths to get second lives as slate stalls
Believe it or not, but there are still hundreds, nay, thousands of phone booths out there on the streets of New York City. Obviously, in the age of the ubiquitous smartphone, most of them go untouched -- though, usually that has more to do with some mysterious substance covering the handset. The city is preparing to update this urban staple by replacing the touch tone quarter eaters with 32-inch touchscreens. The giant slates will offer a quick connection to 311 for requesting info and filing complaints, as well as interactive guides to the neighborhood. Instead of being a place to prank call 1-800 numbers, the phone booth will now become your one stop shop for restaurant suggestions and local landmark locations. 250 of the devices are being provided free of charge by City24x7 for a pilot program and, if all goes well, the company and the city will split revenue generate from ad sales following an expanded roll out. You can bet we'll be some of the first people on the street to put these through their paces when they make their expected debut in May.
BT rolls out new ad-heavy payphones
It looks like the streets of London will soon be getting an extra dash of advertising courtesy of BT, which has begun the roll-out of some fresh new payphones, marking the first redesign the company's done in more than 20 years. Designed in partnership with advertising firm JCDecaux, the so-called Street Talk 6 kiosks boast illuminated scrolling advertisements on the rear and no walls or doors, with only a small plastic hood provided to protect the cellphone-less among you from the elements. Apparently, the payphone's cost BT about £2,000 (or close to $4,000) apiece, although we somehow doubt they'll have much trouble making that back a few times over. Look for the first of the new payphones to hit the Richmond and Ealing boroughs of London this week, with the roll-out presumably set to slowly expand throughout the rest of the U.K. shortly thereafter.[Via Channel 4]
