Internet Technology
Continual and Vodafone Collaborate to Research and Improve Mobility Experience
Connected mobility initiative helps pave the way for 5G
Continual, a leading provider of Connected Car and subscriber Mobility Experience Analytics, today announced that it has been collaborating for the past two years with Vodafone Ireland (Ireland’s total communications provider), and Vodafone Group (Vodafone’s international division), in a far-reaching project to analyze and improve the experience of subscribers travelling on roads.
Vodafone Ireland identified road experience as one of the first areas where optimization solutions using big data and machine learning techniques would yield very noticeable improvements for its customers, and hence became an area of focus for Vodafone Ireland. Vodafone is also actively preparing for the launch of 5G services internationally, and this connected mobility intelligence is helping Vodafone to prove the feasibility of accurately controlling the quality of service for Connected Cars, a pre-requisite towards the journey of Autonomous Cars.
The research program has yielded a unique set of predictions relating to the numbers of customers using particular routes in Ireland, along with a measure of the data volumes and call minutes they consume, and accurate quality of experience metrics. The technology has been validated using extensive lab and field testing in Ireland with the backing of Vodafone Group internationally, and has proven the improvement in voice and data performance delivered in the roads where applied.
“Vodafone’s success has been built on its forward thinking and willingness to explore technology innovations,” said Max Gasparroni, Head of Networks, Vodafone Ireland. “Collaborating with Continual to exploit cutting-edge technologies such as AI, Big Data, and Machine Learning has enabled us to take a further step forward on the journey towards 5G and associated compelling use cases. In addition, it reinforces our market leadership in delivering high quality communication experience for driving- and passenger-subscribers.”
“Vodafone Ireland continuously invests and researches technologies to perfect the experiences of its subscribers under mobility conditions,” said Omer Geva, President of Continual. “We have been able to provide them with a powerful and innovative tool that not only measures network experiences and demonstrates real and dramatic improvements, but also predicts subscriber communication patterns in mobility.”
Sirved has launched an all new restaurant app that reimagines restaurant discovery and puts all the focus on helping people find menus from restaurants online. Sirved’s mission is to connect people to their ideal restaurant anywhere they go by providing a FREE menu app with over 400,000 restaurant listings across North America.
“The app had a strong backbone with regards to its functionality and menu search. When redesigning the platform, our goal was to elevate the user experience by adding photo driven features that allow users to discover restaurants and menus,” says Kyle Brown, Vice President and Co-Founder or Sirved.
When redesigning the new platform, Sirved wanted to make searching for restaurants and menus more visual. Starting with the discover screen, you can browse restaurants in a variety of ways. You can also search by keyword or by dietary needs, which makes Sirved unique amongst the restaurant menu app competition. Vegetarian? Vegan? Gluten-free? Sirved will find a restaurant that has options for everyone.
The feast for your eyes doesn’t stop there. While browsing restaurants in list view you’ll be able use ratings and photos to guide your decisions. Those looking for more perspective can browse the app to find restaurants near your location using the map view. Lastly if you’re feeling adventurous, you can browse restaurants specifically by a food photo itself – (no logos, no ratings, no distractions) – just let the food photo take you somewhere new and unexpected.
Sirved has added user reviews and ratings to each restaurant listing from trusted online platforms (Yelp, Yellowpages, Facebook, Foursquare and Google) to help users make educated decisions with no bias on where they spend their hard-earned money.
All these new features make Sirved the top iOS restaurant menu app for iPhone as well as one of the top Android restaurant apps. With all the changes Sirved has made to the new platform, one thing remains the same, it’s still all about restaurant menus. They’ve redesigned everything and refocused on what matters most, the user. With so many options it’s nice to know Sirved has taken the time and effort to satisfy your hunger for a food app with all the fixings.
SOURCE: Sirved
Research conducted by leading travel technology firm Criton reveals the importance of hotel technology to improve the experience of today’s travellers
Dependence on mobile phones when travelling is brought into sharp focus by a survey of more than 3,600 travellers which reveals a growing appreciation for bespoke travel apps. Research commissioned by Edinburgh-based hospitality firm Criton, highlights that loyalty programmes, self-check-in/out and accessing your hotel room via a digital door key are primary requirements of today’s guests.
Julie Grieve, Founder and CEO of Criton
If their favourite hotel was to have its own app, 74% of respondents overwhelmingly stated they would use this digital channel, with only 10% favouring an in-room device such as a hotel’s smartphone or tablet. This reinforces Criton’s core belief that the future of hotel technology is own device. Hoteliers no longer need to absorb the cost of installing in-room devices when their guests travel with their own smartphone and are more comfortable with the apps and content within it.
The opportunity to check-in via an app and access their hotel room via a digital door key was warmly received with 58% likely or very likely to want this technology. With 68% finding it unacceptable to queue at reception for longer than five minutes, offering guests access to a service which global chains already offer is fast becoming a core priority for independent operators.
Respondents prioritised loyalty programmes as their favoured element of hotel technology with 53% recognising it as their top requirement. In a competitive landscape, the opportunity to drive direct and repeat bookings through a personalised loyalty programme will ensure hoteliers save on OTA commission while creating their own closed marketing group to upsell onsite services and facilities.
Underlining modern travellers’ awareness of technology, the survey found an audience ready to talk about tech use and expectations while travelling. Reflecting on the results of the survey, Julie Grieve, founder and CEO of Criton, which developed the UK’s first intuitive app builder for the hospitality sector, said:
“Increasingly, today’s travellers are downloading apps that help them get around and stay connected with their hotel. That level of tech awareness or even dependency also raises expectations for information, guest services, such as check-in, digital key and offers and incentives to reward their loyalty.
“Respondents to the survey were people who travel regularly, with the majority opting for a mid-range hotel or accommodation. It is increasingly clear that adopting technology has to be seen as an imperative for all hospitality providers; it is not something purely for the major franchises.”
Criton lets independent operators compete with big chain technology through an easy to use platform. From digitising the traditional hotel room guest book to PMS, live chat, digital door key and in-room ordering integrations all contained within a fully-branded hotel app; Criton supports hospitality businesses with their digital transformation strategies and work with clients across the UK and overseas.
Research Methodology:
An online survey ran from Tuesday 26th March until Monday 1st April and received a total of 3,654 responses, of whom 1,311 were classed as business travellers.
Key Findings:
- 45% of travellers stated they travel for leisure 2-3 times a year
- 36% travel for business
- 39% use TripAdvisor as main source of research and inspiration before booking a hotel, followed by 29% of respondents relying on online search
- 40% of travellers said they regularly stay in a 4-star (boutique) hotel, with 6% in a 5-star (luxury) hotel. The majority (47%) stated they regularly stay in a 3-star (mid-range) hotel
- 53% have at least one hotel app on their phone
- 74% would use a hotel app if their favourite hotel had one
- 55% stated it is acceptable to wait at check-in 2-5 minutes
- 62% would be likely or very likely to check-in to a hotel via an app
- 58% would be likely or very likely to check-in to a hotel via an app and use digital key
App usage
- 62% use an accommodation app regularly (eg Airbnb)
- 57% use a transport app regularly
- 47% use an airline app regularly
- 36% uses a hotel app regularly
The hotel technology that respondents seek:
- 53% – loyalty programmes
- 35% – self check-in
- 10% – in-room mobile
- 18% – in-room tablet
Awards:
- Criton won the ‘Best Technology Provider’ award at the 2018 Travolution Awards and was Highly Commended for Best Use of Mobile
- Criton won the ‘Industry Breakthrough and Innovation Award’ at the ASAP Awards 2018
- Julie Grieve, Founder & CEO won the prestigious ‘HOSPACE 2017 Best Entrepreneur Award’
SOURCE: Criton
Computer Electronics
Defining the essence of future, DIGIX HUAWEI Global Smartphone Theme Design Competition Officially Launched
DIGIX HUAWEI Global Smartphone Theme Design Competition was formally launched on April 11th, inviting exceptional designers and art enthusiasts from all over the globe to send in their thematic interface designs, including illustrations, animations, and 3D graphics. With the theme of ‘Hello, New Art’, this competition aims to create a fusion of art and technology, sharing the cutting-edge design and aesthetic trends with global users.
Global Authoritative judges facilitate to forge an international professional design arena
An impressive panel of judges has been appointed including Xiaokang Liu(KL&K Creative Strategics Founder), Jun Fei (Professor of School of Design, Central Academy of Fine Arts), Bai Cha (One of China’s Most Popular Cartoonists), María José Pérez-Luque (Head of the Multimedia and Graphic Design program, ESNE, Madrid), Alejandro Magallenes (Member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale), Jun Liang (Huawei UCD Chief User Experience Design Director), Alexandre Plicque Gurlitt (Senior Visual Designer, Paris Aesthetic Research Center), and other prominent design masters so as to forge the most influential design arena in the mobile phone industry.
Special guest designers to create conceptual works, interpreting the essence of new art
For the warming-up of this competition, an influential panel of design masters had been invited to create a set of stylish and imaginative masterpieces, showing audiences the new definition of art. The panel list is as follow:
Ye Luying, illustrator named in the Forbes Under 30 Asia List
Wu Sijun, young artist
LOST7, popular illustrator
Paulo Villagrán, One of Mexico’s Most Prominent Illustrators
Wang Yunfei, popular illustrator
FIREYE, popular illustrator
Free to show your strengths in four major categories
This year’s Global Theme Design competition is divided into four separate categories, including illustrations, animations, 2D graphics, and 3D graphics. Designers can choose to submit work into any category to compete for the prize and demonstrate their uniqueness in the specific art field.
In this world-class design competition, designers from all over the world will compete on the same stage and interpret new art with extraordinary creativity. Art design will be revitalized by those talented designers in the process of exploring the futuristic aesthetics.
Generous rewards to your design talent
Eight major awards were set up for 134 winners, with a total prize of more than $330,000 US dollars, and will include the Global Winner Grand Prize, Stars of Tomorrow Award, Most Popular Award etc. In addition to cash rewards, as part of the designer support program, a special Creative Fund is established to incentivize the art work creation and guarantee artists the corresponding income. At the same time, this competition will be launched in more than 170 countries and regions. All entries are able to receive exposure from billions through online and offline channels worldwide, bringing an extraordinary experience to hundreds of millions of Huawei smartphone users.
Easy to create themes by employing Huawei Themes Development Tool 9.0
In line with this competition, Huawei officially launched the Theme Development Tool 9.0. The newly upgraded theme development tool supports theme visualization editing, multi-effect online preview, and materials one-click packaging, enabling designers to get rid of complex lock screen script development etc., generating a designer friendly environment and leaving more time for the creation.
Event information not to be missed: Your participation will affect the future of smartphone theme design aesthetics
The theme is one of the key artistic measure of smartphones and the theme designer is the master of making the fusion of art and technology possible. And hundreds of millions of users will be influenced by every detail of the theme design.
A great number of designers from all over the world will participate this competition enthusiastically!
For more information, please visit the official website: https://themes.cloud.huawei.com/contest/index.html or open the Huawei Themes application to enter the competition registration page and sign up to participate!
SOURCE: Huawei
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