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EVALUATION TEAM TESTS CONCIERGE 2012 PDA; REAL-TIME INFORMATION AT THEIR FINGERTIPS
Houston, Texas (July 11, 2002) -
The city of Houston will welcome the
United States Olympic Committee's (USOC) Site Evaluation Team (SET) to town
this weekend with a "high tech handshake." USOC team members will be guided
through their two-day inspection of Houston's Olympic Games plan by a
prototype of the Concierge 2012 that was developed for their use during their
stay in Houston. The Concierge 2012 is a personal data assistant (PDA)
specially-developed to make navigating the Olympic and Paralympic Games easier
for athletes, coaches and Olympic sponsors.
"Houston is a well-known hub of innovation. Our people put man on the
moon, after all," said Susan Bandy, President of the Houston 2012 Foundation.
"Every component of our Olympic and Paralympic proposal demonstrates our
city's dedication to the absolute optimal experience for athletes, spectators
and the rest of the Olympic family. The Concierge 2012 is our technological
partner in this endeavor."
The handheld devices will be provided to every athlete, coach, and sponsor
for the 2012 Games, giving them up-to-date, personalized scheduling, real-time
results and transportation information as well as internet access, information
about Houston and entertainment offerings. The devices will communicate in
any chosen language and will include Global Positioning System (GPS) to ensure
ease of transportation and allow users to track real-time distances, maps, and
travel time while moving from venue to venue. Phone technology may also be
included in 2012 to allow users to reach each other while in Houston.
"We are committed to making Houston's the most high-tech Games ever
staged," said Lee Zieben, Director of Houston 2012 Foundation's Technology
Initiative and CEO of Voyagen, a Houston-based private company. "With these
devices, Texas once again pushes the frontier."
The prototype of Concierge 2012 is built on the Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC
platform. (Compaq is a donor to the Houston 2012 Foundation.) These
instruments boast many unique features, including:
- Concierge 2012 will automatically run short film clips introducing
some of the Houston venues and bid components, these clips will
include testimonials, greetings and introductions by famous Olympians
and Houstonians, including former President George H. W. Bush, track
and field legend Carl Lewis and Paralympian Randy Snow, among others.
- Built on Compaq's newest and most state-of-the-art iPAQ platform, the
prototype handheld will provide:
- A GPS jacket will allow for some of the USOC team members to track
their progress as they tour the Houston venue plan and navigate
Houston during various parts of their stay.
- Some of the prototypes will include an 802.11 wireless internet
jacket that will hook team members to a 2012 network in venues
giving them access to venue-specific information and features as
well as a live web-cam shot of themselves. This same technology
will allow users to utilize the wireless internet in 2012. This
feature will also allow some of the prototypes to send and receive
emails.
- A customized Houston portal to include links to arts, museums,
entertainment, site-seeing and hotel/lodging information
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