Restaurant operator OTG Management is projecting that it will deploy 7,000 iPads across four North American airports in the next 18 months, according to an article on macworld.com.au. The company already has spent $10 million putting some 600 tablets in passenger waiting areas and dining tables over the last two years.
Airline passengers can use the iPads to order food, surf the Web, check Facebook and play games, the article reported. The iPad keeps track of their flights and alerts them to boarding times, as well as changes in flight status and departure gates.
According to the article, Apple's recently launched iOS 6, which included "Guided Access" for the iPad, has enabled the broad expansion of the tablets into a kiosk-like role. The Guided Access feature allows deployers to restrict the iPad to specific apps, also allowing them to disable the Home button.
"We're marrying a world-class dining program with the best of technology," said OTG CTO Albert Lee. "It's never been done in this capacity before. It's not like tablets and kiosks haven't been tried before, but the iPad was the first widely accepted consumer tablet that had a lot of buzz around it. Apple put in a very attractive package that allowed us to put our own custom applications on them."
Read more kiosks in transportation.
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