Swisscom Hospitality has announced the delivery of its award-winning Connected TV solution through wireless broadband technologies. This means that hoteliers can now upgrade to the next-generation of guest entertainment, fully interactive and content-rich, without network re-cabling, an additional TV server or extra in-room equipment.
Fusion Connected TV is to be unveiled at this week’s Integrated Systems Europe (ISE 2015), together with Samsung Electronics.
As online content becomes more and more mobile, guests demand more robust Wi-Fi connectivity wherever they go and stay. Many hotel operators are about to invest, or already have invested, in their Wi-Fi networks. Swisscom Hospitality is now enabling them to use their best-in-class wireless networks not only to connect their guests but also their own devices and above all their internet-enabled TV screens.
Fusion Connected TV, as the new product is called, is being launched this week for the latest series of Samsung Hospitality TVs, the Samsung HD 590. This new series of direct LED hospitality TVs is being offered at an attractive cost in 32in and 40in diagonal screen sizes across Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
Leverage wireless for a new TV experience
In the age of pervasive digital technologies, wireless capability continues to be a game changer, especially for hotels, where retrofitting entire floors and rooms with new cabling is often not possible. This is why Fusion Connected TV has been developed for the needs of hoteliers and their guests. The new solution builds on Swisscom Hospitality’s Connected TV technology, which was awarded the TopHotel Star Award in 2011.
Swisscom Hospitality Services chief technology officer Thomas Di Giacomo said: "We have been working very closely with both our hotel partners and key industry partners to widen the scope of our wireless broadband technologies.
"Together with Samsung, we have now achieved the first breakthrough for the hotel industry. Imagine guests navigating the universe of web-based contents on their guest room TV with the same ease as on their mobile devices. There is a huge potential for differentiation in this space. With Fusion Connected TV, hoteliers can now deliver this experience with possibly no Capex investment at all."
Beyond over-the-top (OTT), web-based programme offerings, Fusion Connected TV enables content mirroring from the guest’s own devices, as well as all main features known from conventional, more cost-intensive, IPTV systems. These include a fully interactive programme guide, RSS feeds and real-time information services such as flight information and weather forecasts, as well as a fully branded graphical user interface that dynamically adapts to the guest profile as stored in the hotel’s property management system.
Samsung Electronics head of the European display organization James Kim said: "We are proud to deliver this technology innovation together with Swisscom Hospitality.
"In addition to being compatible with Swisscom’s connected TV technology, our HD 590 series will be offered at a very reasonable cost, providing those same outstanding smart functionalities known from our consumer screens for the hotel guest."
See the Fusion Connected TV at the Samsung booth 1-H20 at ISE 2015, which will be held in Amsterdam on 10-12 February.