Skip to main content

Samsung has booked the Gear S3 into this flash hotel, and it’ll never leave

Samsung Gear S3 Frontier review
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Wearable technology isn’t only about tracking steps and buzzing notifications, it’s also a very effective way to increase productivity, and the Viceroy Hotel Group is about to make the most of its potential. If you’re lucky enough to visit one of Viceroy’s upmarket hotels in the near future, staff around you may be wearing a Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch; but it won’t be for personal messages, it will be for messages that help the hotel run faster and more smoothly.

Viceroy will be the first hotel to use a combination of the Gear S3 smartwatch and hotel management platform Alice as a way to connect staff with guest requests. It’s a subtler, quieter, and quicker system than the well-established walkie-talkies that many hotel workers carry around all day. Hotels are generally big places, and keeping everyone connected is a serious challenge.

How will it affect you as the guest? Imagine you’ve just arrived and are headed up to your room, with baggage left in the lobby ready to follow. The reception desk can instantly send a message to a colleague, which appears on their watch as a notification. If they’re not available, it’s a single tap to let reception know, or another tap to confirm they’ll be along to take the baggage up in a moment. It’s possible alerts could then be automatically placed on the TV screen in your room to tell you the bags are on the way up. Everyone in the process is kept informed, with the minimum of intrusion for all concerned, and the service is completed quickly.

The hotel group will use Gear S3 smartwatches with an LTE connection, ensuring that even if a staff member is out of Wi-Fi range the watch will still operate, and negate the need to carry around a connected smartphone, too. The usefulness goes well beyond carrying bags around. It’s an essentially hands-free system, and because it’s attached to your wrist it’s harder to lose, plus it’s expected to speed up attentiveness, too.

Working with Samsung, the Alice software group will demonstrate the system at a conference on hotel technology later this month, and the Viceroy Hotel Group will be the first to use the final product. For the rest of us, we’re looking forward to the Samsung Gear S4, Samsung’s follow-up to the Gear S3, which we expect to launch after the summer, potentially alongside the Galaxy Note 9.

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
The best Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 screen protectors
Person holding skateboard while wearing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

A new, sleek design and digital bezel help the Galaxy Watch 4 stand out in the crowd and set it apart from the traditional style of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. Whether you've picked up a 40mm model with a 1.2-inch Super AMOLED screen or opted for more screen real estate with the 44mm model, that stand-out design needs protecting from scratches and knocks. That means it's time for our picks of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 screen protectors, with something to suit all budgets.

These screen protectors will all fit the 40mm or 44mm models of the Galaxy Watch 4. If you've got a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, these won't fit.
Spigen Glas.tR EZ Fit Screen Protector

Read more
How to remove watch links from the strap on your new watch
how to remove watch links fossil q explorist

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all smartwatch. If your wrists are on the smaller size, then you may find that your new smartwatch is dangling from your wrist and sliding up your forearm. No need to worry — it's a common problem. Chances are there are at least one too many chain links on the strap, but adjusting a metal-link smartwatch band isn't as difficult as you might think — and doesn't usually require a trip to the jewelers.

We'll take you through everything you need to know and the tools you'll need handy to remove links from your smartwatch so it fits snugly on your wrist.

Read more
Best Cyber Monday Deals 2022: Laptops, TVs, AirPods, and more
Best Cyber Monday Deals 2022

Cyber Week is here! With some truly epic deals out there, this is the best time of year to buy a new tech gadget. If you slept through the Black Friday sales, then the Cyber Monday sales, you better grab what you need during this week of slowly diminishing deals. From tablets to air fryers, laptops to smartwatches, we've rounded up the best Cyber Monday deals across a range of categories, and you'll find them all below.
Cyber Monday sales: Quick links

Amazon: Huge discounts on laptops, Echo devices, and tablets
Best Buy: Your destination for sales on super-sized TVs
Dell: Unbeatable discounts on gaming laptops, monitors, and more
Gamestop: Cheap video games, console accessories and monitors
HP: Gaming PCs, laptops, monitors, and printers from $129
Kohl's: Home decor, clothing and kitchen appliance steals
Lowe’s: Up to 60% off appliances like refrigerators and decor
Staples: Save big on laptops, home office hardware and supplies
Target: Tons of cheap kitchen appliances and stocking-fillers
Walmart: Great for laptops, and is restocking PS5 and Xbox Series X

Read more