The days of over-priced in-room hotel programming accessed via a clunky, frustrating interface may soon be over: Aloft Cupertino has installed Apple TVs in each of the hotel's rooms.
Cupertino is basically the beating heart of Appledom, and the Aloft hotel there is taking a leap that will surely make both the powers-that-be at Apple and the visiting Appleistas extremely happy.
The Aloft brand is clearly relishing their tech-forward position - especially as this is on-message with the types of design-forward techno-geeks that they're targeting with the Aloft brand.
For Aloft, offering Apple TV is the latest in a series of industry firsts around tech and pop culture. Aloft pioneered the industry’s keyless check-in program, continues to be social media savvy and was one of the first hotel brands to roll out a tablet-based concierge program.
In order to facilitate guest use of the technology, each room will be fitted with a Jack Pack where guests can connect their laptop or mobile device to the in-room 42" screen. While this is a common feature in many rooms these days, the addition of Apple TV promises seamless integration of all iTunes content, Netflix, Hulu and other Apple TV services directly within the TV.
So rather than having to plug a laptop into the Jack Pack, and login to Netflix, the guest can simply do it direct from the TV. While offering up the nearly unlimited content choices on Apple TV will certainly cannibalize some of the lucrative ancillary revenues seen by hotels with extensive in-room entertainment systems, more importantly, this technology deployment will attract the guests most likely to be watching Netflix on their laptops in their rooms anyhow.
Next steps will be to ensure a healthy, thriving wireless network that can handle all of this streaming content.