New York City is looking to replace all pay phones with internet connected touch tablets called "Smart Screens."
The city will start a pilot program next month where it will install 32-inch "smart screens" with broadband Internet connections in 250 old phone booths throughout the city.
The hope is that eventually the city will replace its 12,800 outdoor pay phones with these new tablet-booths. The franchise for the public pay phones in the city is expiring in October 2014. The new touch-screen tablets will be free to access and will generate revenue via local advertising.
People will be able to use the kiosks/tablets to get information on local restaurants, nearby stores, tourist attractions, and traffic updates. The booths will also provide access to the city's 311 complaint and information line. And it will offer safety alerts. All of this will be available in multiple languages.
Eventually these smart screens with be equip with Skype, the users will be able to check their e-mails, and they will also be a Wi-Fi hot-spot.
For those worried about the unsanitary nature of sharing such screens with millions of people, City24x7, the franchisee that will install and maintain the new technology, says the new touch screens will be even more sanitary than an ATM. The company said the devices will be dust-proof and waterproof and will be able to be cleaned with a jet hose.
-MF
Wow, that's really cool. I can't wait until they come up with this. It is gonna be weird thinking that in a couple of years from now people won't know what a payphone even looks like.
ReplyDelete-Rosalie
They are doing this with vending machines too! It is like we are moving into a futuristic world from the movies!
ReplyDelete-MC