Hasta La Gadget!

OTG, the restaurateur that made waves when it installed free access iPads in some of the world’s busiest international airport hubs last year, is improving its existing system with the deployment of a translation system that will allow it to provide translation of its restaurant menus in 13 different languages. The system is already live in test deployments at locations like Toronto’s Pearson airport, and CEO Rick Blatstein tells me it’s already having a positive impact on sales at OTG-run restaurants.

The effort will soon encompass 20 languages and see wider deployment in more of the airports where OTG is already operating in North America, including LaGuardia and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Blatstein said that his company quickly saw the value in offering multi-lingual support after realizing that at Pearson, for example, English is the first language of only around 40 percent of travelers at any given time on average.

“We have all of our menus and everything translated and tested ahead of time so that when you push the flag of your language, it automatically translates that for you,” Blatstein said. The idea is to make travelers feel more at ease, since they’re able to communicate in their own language. Ordering can happen right from the iPad kiosks, meaning there’s no chance of encountering language-barrier problems between travelers and serving staff.

OTG’s iPad deployment also provides travelers with access to Facebook, Twitter, flight status information, and more without charging them. The aim is to make air passengers feel less like a captive audience and more like treasured guests when spending time in the airports that frequent travelers likely know all too well. The translation service, applied at launch to restaurant offerings, is a first step, according to Blatstein, and one that will eventually make its way to the company’s offerings outside of its restaurateur endeavors, too. Customers could soon order commercial goods from iPads in the language of their choice, Blatstein suggests, or set up accommodations or ground transit at their destination ahead of time.

Airports can maintain multi-lingual staff, and cater to the most common languages spoken at their hubs, but you can’t cater to all the various people from every neck of the woods at every location all of the time. But with an iPad-supplemented customer-service model with built-in translation services, you actually might be able to be everything to everyone. OTG isn’t quite there yet, but it’s making big steps in that direction, and that could make air travel (or at least the parts in between) much more pleasant for all involved.

While consumer electronics revenues have been going down for the past few years, some companies are seeing in increase in market share when it comes to total revenues for consumer technology devices. Apple accounted for 20% of consumer electronics revenues in 2012, which is a roughly 3% boost from 2011. Samsung also saw a boost to 9.3% from 7% in 2011.

Rounding out the top five are HP with 8.2% (down from 8.9% in 2011), Sony at 4.4% (down from 5.7%), and Dell with 3% (down from 3.3%). So, essentially, out of the top five companies who made the most money, only Apple and Samsung saw a boost in the percentage of consumer tech revenue, which is surprisingly really, since both companies are doing quite well.

As for the top five categories of consumer electronics, tablets saw the most growth from 2011 to 2012, with a 45% increase in revenues. Smartphones had a 25% growth, while laptops, HDTVs, and desktops all suffered a loss, with desktops seeing the biggest loss of 11% — no surprise there, really.

Best Buy, Walmart, Apple, Amazon, and Staples were the top retailers, yet again, in 2012. Staples just recently became an official Apple reseller, where all Staples stores will begin selling Apple products. This is a huge deal for Staples, and due to the popularity of iPads and Macs, Staples should see quite a bit more traffic coming through its doors.

Apple grabs 20% of consumer electronics revenues in 2012 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple said it was working on a solution for the Exchange bug in iOS 6.1, and that’s what it delivered: iOS 6.1.2 has appeared for all devices to address the calendar flaw. The release is targeted and doesn’t appear to fix much if anything else, but we’ll keep our ears to the ground for more. For now, check for an update in iTunes or on-device to cure at least some of your iOS gear’s recent battery woes.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Tablets, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Apple

Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 has gotten amazing results with its one-on-one experimental program, so much so, they have decided to give 6000 to 7000 students their own fourth generation Apple iPads. The original plan had put second generation iPad’s in the hands of about 1500 students and the feedback has been very positive. “We believe the one-to-one program is changing our teachers, it’s changing our instruction, and most importantly it’s changing the way in which students interact with their world,” said Daniel Cates, associate superintendent for administrative services.

The iPads come at a cost of between $1.25 and $1.43 million for a three year lease.  The cost will be covered through the district’s technology budget. The administration is considering plans to include all students in the plan by 2014-2015, as it has brought positive change in the schools. Other schools have joined the bandwagon as well, or plan to do so.

Teachers have also had encouraging things to say, from cutting down on paper use within the classrooms, to better attendance and participation from students and to helping out students with special needs. The devices have helped students who could not afford to have computers in their homes.  They are even helping teachers keep better checks on absenteeism.  Such plans go a long way in reshaping lives. Would you be interested if your school gave you a new iPad?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft To Officially Launch Surface Pro Tablet On February 8th At Best Buy New York, Lenovo and NAF launches pilot program to teach app programming in high schools,

Today is 1st US president George Washington’s birthday, which also marks President’s Day in the US. To celebrate, Electronic Arts is discounting over 55 of its games, some of which you can grab for as much as 90% off their normal price. This means that every single one of their games on sale is only $0.99, even their iPad games.

Some workers have today off, since President’s Day is a national holiday, so if you’re one of those people, it seems like EA is giving you something to do on your day off. Games like Mass Effect Infiltrator, Dead Space 3, and a handful of Need for Speed titles are only $0.99 on the iPhone, while Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mirror’s Edge, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 are on sale as well on the iPad.

Other iPhone that are receiving heavy discounts include Madden NFL 12, Monopoly Millionaire, Risk, The Sims 3 series, Shift 2 Unleashed, and a couple of Yahtzee titles. As for the iPad, many of the iPhone games are also on sale for the iOS tablet, but there are also a few exclusives, including Battleship, Command & Conquer Red Alert, NBA Jam, and SimCity Deluxe.

The sale ends today, so if you’ve been thinking about getting one of these games, be sure to hurry your way home from work (if you don’t happen to have the day off) and take advantage of these deals while they last. Electronic Arts didn’t say exactly when the sale will end, but we’re guessing that when the clock strikes midnight tonight, the sale will vanish into thin air.

EA discounting iOS Games for up to 90% off during President’s Day sale is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.