Tablets for hire!

The multimedia tablet rests on the brink of omnipresence with the October launch of the all-new Login Tablets, the world’s first content based prepaid tablet rental solution. Devised by Dubai-based innovative web and mobile application development company Fam-Tech, in partnership with innovative hospitality technology providers Fingi, this service is all set for an industry launch in Gitex later this year. And if the success of the recent Samsung Electronics-Fingi joint venture is anything to go by, tablets will revolutionise the hospitality industry.

Samsung recently partnered with Fingi and Holiday Inn London Stratford City to provide a hospitality solution in time for London 2012. Residents were offered a fully customisable app that provided easy access to a range of hotel services, remote control for room settings and the latest updates from the Olympics — all on the new Galaxy S III Smartphone. Login Tablets offers a similarly customised proposition in partnership with Fingi in the Middle East, aiming to reach select five-star hotels such as Emirates Grand Hotel, Tamani Hotel, Desert Palm Dubai and others, followed by a gradual roll out in the region’s cafes, airports and hospitals. The project plans to deploy 15,000 tablets within its first year in the UAE market and start in Oman and Jordan in the last quarter of this year.

The system enables end-users to unlock software restrictions with time and content credit codes and gain access to premium content from the server. When credit is depleted, access to the systems content and connectivity are restricted, and can be made accessible via an additional top up. Once a package has expired, the device will automatically wipe all the data, leaving no room for breach of data security.

Prepaid access code cards will be sold at about Dh20, awarding one-hour connectivity for internet browsing and usage of free applications on Samsung’s latest tablets. Every hour will earn you five special credits to access premium content, which can be carried over to the next visit if not utilised.

“There are two business models in which we propose to operate,” says Hydar Al Bedaery, Project Manager, Fam-Tech, in an interview with GN Focus. “In the first one, devices are available in all rooms and the tablet rental service is part of the basic package offered by the hotel. The hotel does not incur any additional costs for the Samsung tablets, but pays us for the service. The second model is where the hotel does not provide our tablets as a standard service, but takes on a set number of tablets and provides them on request to patrons at a fee, which is set at a premium.”

Apart from the expected range of social networking, gaming and browsing software, the Login Tablets environment is slated to have more than 500 special applications that can be categorised under Air, Action, Arcade, Kids, Puzzle, Simulator, Space, and Sport. “The content we provide is dynamic and can be customised by us according to demographic requirements, regional sensibilities and nature of the venue,” says Al Bedaery. “Login Tablets for the hotel, for instance, will have preloaded travel guides, local deals and room functions for operating lights, drapes or TV, while for a café we would consider using imaginative applications to place the order with.”

Not only is this a great opportunity for Samsung to try out its latest tablets on customers in a relaxing hotel environment, it is also a platform for possibly converting first-time users into buyers. The venue itself benefits from a young, modern and technologically forward image by providing top-of-the-line services to its patrons. “What we provide is an ecosystem for content providers to penetrate the Middle East. Rather than selling the game, we rent it out and a royalty goes to the developer. It is a win-win situation,” says Dr Faisal Ali Mousa, Chairman, Fam-Tech. The Middle East is at the forefront of providing innovative technologies in their hospitality industry and is a great market for Fingi to try its service on. “This is why we selected Fam-Tech as one of our distributors. Fam-Tech has rolled out a fantastic mobile product, which together with Fingi will now deliver a complete hospitality solution,” Jahan Hakimi, VP of Corporate Development, Fingi, tells GN Focus.

It remains a unique product in the market as the upfront cost is very high. “As we see it, we will only be able to break even in the first three or four months,” says Al Bedaery.