How many of you chose Betamax over VHS? Sorry to hear it. I'm sure it felt like a good idea at the time, but ultimately the better technology did not prevail and VHS won the day, and our shelf space. Being an early adopter has its risks in the consumer environment and the same can be said in the hospitality guest room.

I was invited to speak at a hotel conference on the impact of 3D TV in the guest environment. Clearly this is exciting stuff and everybody wants to hear more about it, but how many of you actually don those 3D glasses at home? If you do, where do you find the content to watch?

Despite the hype, 3D content remains limited and traditional broadcasters are battling the lack of penetration as well as the total lack of broadcast standards. We are even seeing some of the major PayTV providers such as Canal Plus in France abandon its 3D trials until a day when the barriers to roll out are removed, and more importantly, when content is available. This is a pragmatic approach when one considers that HD is still not mainstream in Europe. So while we play with 3D and it is fun to think about, we suggest that as hoteliers you concentrate first on the basics which are still the migration to digital and HD. You don't want to be stuck with a shelf full of Beta in a VHS future.

I do quite a bit of travelling in my role at Acentic and in turn I get to explore many varied cultures. It is naive to think that all cultures work the same, and an important part of doing business in today’s global market is learning to adapt to the strengths of different cultures and find common ground where it exists. I’ve spoken to hoteliers across the world, and in my experience there is one point of emphasis that remains consistent. Whether meeting with heads of I.T., marketing, finance, maintenance, front of house or general managers, everyone in the hotel industry cares about the guest experience first and foremost. And this is true whether you are in the UK, Norway, France or Hong Kong -- speaking in English, Norwegian, French, Italian, German or Chinese. All differences in culture and methodology add up to one thing: improving guest experience.

Since our industry has its roots so firmly based in technology, it can sometimes be easy to forget about the human focus. As technology advances in the home environment and Moore’s Law (the law which states that computer processors double in power every two years) continues to prove itself out, our industry often looks to solve every issue by throwing the latest, greatest tech at the guest. While this is often helpful, it is very much only part of any good solution.

In basic terms, people stay in hotels for business or leisure. Regardless, the target for any hotelier is for the guest to leave happier than when they arrived. And this is often an uphill battle. Among all the magazine and TV ads, special offers and discount deals, it seems that hotels sometimes forget that the path to the dream hotel room sold in the brochure or website is a complicated one, full of potential annoyances over which nobody has any control. Before they even get to the front door of the hotel, guests often have to endure traffic jams, parking bays too small their car doors to open, overloaded public transport systems, luggage racks too small for their cases, delayed flights, cancellations, layovers the require an Olympic medal in spiriting and so on.

After all of this, the guest just wants things to work, without complication. If new technology can help this, great. If it makes things more complicated and the guest has to jump through hoops to get basic services, failure. On check-in, the guest is simply not interested in HDMI ports, Network Balancing, Guest User Interface etc., they simply want to get to their room, grab a shower, unpack and feel loved again.

Making the guest feel loved again is a core philosophy behind all Acentic products. No matter how tough the journey to the hotel, things will be better once you get through the doors. Whether the guest wants to use the latest on-screen app (such as the restaurant reservation app), buy the latest must-see movie, or catch up on some TV, the experience will be hassle free.

And ultimately, that is the world any hotelier is striving for, a world where hassle and annoyance ends at the front door. The challenges are different for every guest and every culture, but the goal is universal. As a guest, no matter what the trip entailed, no matter where in the world you are or where you came from, you should be able to expect to be taken care of once you arrive at your hotel. It is our job to ensure that all around the world, guests leave hotels in a better state of mind than when they arrived. Now isn’t that a great industry to be in?

We are thrilled to be offering our latest technology services to the newly-opened InterContinental Moscow Tverskaya. With its official opening at the end of November 2011, InterContinental Moscow now counts as one of the most upscale and luxury hotels in Moscow, and we are pleased to be providing them an iTV platform commensurate to that luxury. To Moscow we go!

Take a walk around a landfill sometime. Okay, admittedly, this is not your average Sunday afternoon stroll, but were it to be, I am pretty certain you would come across a few cast aside pieces of technology that used to function as in-room hotel technology.

Today you would find CRT TVs by the ton, but not so long ago they were all operating in hotels and hoteliers had no choice but to use them. You would also find other, more obscure, pieces of hardware you wouldn’t imagine placing in the living room of your worst enemy. You might even find one of my favorite bizarre technology choices for hotels, the in-room keyboard.

In hotels, you would find the in-room keyboard in all sorts of places: by the side of the TV, in the drawer of a desk covered in dust, sitting on the minibar with scratches earned during its tenure as an improvised bottle-opener. What you rarely ever see are signs of use. People just don't need it. If interactive TV is to satisfy guests, it should be easy enough to use with a simple remote control, just like at home.

How many of you have a keyboard at home to drive your TV experience? Probably none of you. The typical TV experience is one of relaxation -- you are a "viewer" more than a "user," and are so by choice. But what about the Internet on TV experience? To get the full value out of the Internet, you obviously benefit from the use of a keyboard. This is where the experience is getting confused. There is a place for a "viewer" and a place for a "user" and they should not be treated as the same experience. Being a "user" effectively rules out the TV as a device for the provision of Internet -- it is a device best suited for viewing. There are a whole host devices better suited for Internet use: the laptop, the tablet or even the smart phone. So why shoehorn everything together?

Ultimately, few of you access the Internet via the TV at home. Possibly, you access simple TV-centric applications, but not the Internet as we know on a keyboard powered device. So why would you want to change your approach when you get to a hotel? Guest satisfaction is gained by the intelligent implementation of technology, and generally if a device is used in a certain manner at home it will be used in the same manner at the hotel. Intelligent technology implementation means spending money wisely to avoid having your new investment soon end up in the landfill.

In case you missed the first of our fall webinar series, "What's possible in the Hotel Room of the Future," you can check out the recording here:

https://acentic.webex.com/acentic/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=42625212&rKey=0F4CFAD05B96F861

In the webinar, we talked about the future of The Cloud and how it is influencing the way the hospitality industry operates. We outlined some of the challenges of The Cloud, and how Acentic is overcoming those challenges to bring better service and savings to hotels across the world. We also answered many questions on topics like network links and security around P2P distribution. So, if you want to be up to date on The Cloud, you should check out our webinar now https://acentic.webex.com/acentic/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=42625212&rKey=0F4CFAD05B96F861 and keep an eye open for the next in our series, scheduled for Q1-2012.

Our fall webinar series, "What's possible in the Hotel Room of the Future" starts today at 4:00 pm, Europe Time! Join us as we talk about content in the cloud and what it means to the hospitality industry. As you can see from our preview slide here, we are going to cover a lot, so you don't want to miss it.

Sign in to participate in our webinar! www.acentic.com/cloud-webinar

Recently, one of our customers decided against placing an interactive TV system in their four star hotel. The reason? They thought that including a flashy LED TV with a traditional channel package would be enough. It has been in the past, right? Well, in-room entertainment is changing and for a four star hotel, that LED TV is no longer enough to separate them from the budget brand competition.

Many budget brand hotels are now providing guests flashy LED TVs of their own, and on top of that are offering free Internet, something many four-stars do not provide. The result is that the in-room guest experience, with the exception of the bed and room size, is remarkably similar between the budget brand and our four star customer (well nearly, since internet in the four star hotel still costs 20 euros).

So, what can higher-end hotels do to differentiate themselves from the competition? They should embrace iTV, and soon. These days, most customers have HD iTVs with movies on demand in their homes and are expecting the same entertainment experience when they travel. We know this because we have seen an increase in guest comment cards requesting the implementation of an in-room entertainment system to complement the flashy new LED screens.

By moving away from iTV, higher-end hotels risk a failure to differentiate themselves from budget brands and a failure to keep up with the entertainment standards of their customers.  That is not a good mix.

Our fall webinar series is going to focus on the exciting future of the hotel industry and how technology is shaping the hotel of the future.

For our first webinar in this series, taking place in October, 2011, we will talk about Content in The Cloud. Join us for an insider’s view of what it takes to deliver content from the cloud for more reliable HD movie distribution in hotel rooms.

We will show you how content transmission via Acentic Cloud Services provides key benefits for hoteliers such as:

● Simplified distribution of thousands of HD movies and content compared to transmission via satellite
● Faster transmission with no negative effects on HD picture quality
● No geographical transmission boundaries as with satellite—Acentic can easily transmit movies to additional continents, including the United States and Asia
● Cost-effective decentralised movie distribution and virtual storage space that enables hotels to share content with each other, significantly reducing transmission costs

Exact date and time will be communicated shortly. Be sure not to miss it!

Next up, join us  for our perspectives on  further hot subjects for the hospitality industry such as high speed internet access in the hotel room, Smart TV and hospitality focussed Mobile Apps. More to come soon!

Starring: Danielle Radcliffe, Emma Watson & Ruppert Grint

When reviewing a movie, a number of things have to be taken into account—the performances of the actors, the quality of script, the cinematography and of course the director’s touch that brings the whole story together. In the case of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 however, things are a bit different, as different as muggles compared to wizards, half-blood or otherwise.

This review is unique not only because the movie is a continuation of the massively successful adaptation of the first half of its corresponding book (Deathly Hallows: Part 1, which is enjoying the largest viewing figures to date both at the cinema and on the Acentic iTV platform), but because we are witnessing, something through teary eyes, the end of the much-loved and incredibly successful Harry Potter series. And what an ending.

While some found that Part 1 lacked pace and energy, Part 2 more than picks up the pace. Throughout the movie, we join Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore’s Army as they fend off Lord Voldemort’s attempts to take hold of Hogwarts and the action is non-stop. The movie excels at huge set-pieces and battle scenes, and the effects are often gasp-inducing. However, Part 2 also strikes the perfect balance between large-scale theatrics, and delicate emotion; there are many stand-out scenes of tenderness, with Snape and Harry, between all three of the kids, etc.

What stands out most in Part 2 is Ralph Fienne’s performance as Voldemort. He brings an interested humanity to the part as he negotiates the scenario which I shall describe as the “Voldemort tragedy.” As he gets tantalisingly close to realising his dream of killing Harry Potter and taking full control of Hogwarts, in parallel so Harry continues to destroy the Horcruxes containing Voldemort’s very soul. Never before has someone been so close to death as their lifetime quest is so closely realised.

Fienne’s performance aside, fans of the series will revel in being reunited with characters from all previous movies – I challenge anyone not to shed a tear as a series of well handled flashbacks remind us of just how far our heroes have came in their time at Hogwarts. Fans of the books will also be relieved to witness flashbacks covering more historical events at Hogwarts which really bring home how special ‘the boy who lived’ is, and the great sacrifices one key character has made to ensure his continued safety.

As a second half to the Deathly Hallows, this movie works beautifully. As the finale to the series it is a complete success and in turn guarantees the Harry Potter series a legion of fans both for this and future generations. 100 points to Gryffindor!

TV technology is on the fast track these days. It seems like not a month passes when a TV manufacturer doesn’t announce a new smart TV. With all this buzz about smart TVs, it was just a matter of time before hotels picked up the topic, discussed and predicted the end of system integrators and Pay TV. Smart TVs are arriving in earnest.

However, what most decision makers do not realize is that smart TVs are only as smart as the applications that are developed for them. The purchase of a smart TV also requires hoteliers to think about which applications they require and more specifically, which applications are best suited for the hotel environment.

As system integrators, we are working closely with the TV manufacturers  to develop application suites that fully leverage the capabilities of the TV and meet the needs of the hotel guests whilst at the same time providing hoteliers with a return on investment. In other words, it’s the applications that make the TV smart.

For example, Acentic launched our brand new CoreUI and due to its system architecture we were able to retro-fit over 500 hotels with this brand new Guest User Interface. The new CoreUI enables the hotel to choose from a variety of what we call "On-Screen Apps" which enable the hotel to offer a lot of new services beyond simple payTV and hotel information.

We at Acentic are focused on providing services that fall into two kinds of applications, the ones bringing the hotel services to guests and the neat little helper apps that allow guests to get flight information, find out about the weather at their next stop, or simply order a sandwich. Both types of applications are needed for a truly smart TV environment and need to be integrated within a wider interactive strategy that also entertains guests and provides the property with a return on investment today but also tomorrow.

Today’s technology is rapidly evolving and the software applications that make devices smart are evolving even faster. In such an environment a system integrator  that can deliver the latest smart technology but also ensure that your platform is upgraded through the years is key for both the property, the property's finance director and impotantly the guests.