Hilton Adds MP3 Jack to Room Alarm Clocks
Hilton Adds MP3 Jack to Room Alarm Clocks
by , 2:00 AM EST, March 30th, 2005
Nearly 250,000 new clocks with mini jacks to use an iPod or other music device will be phased in to all existing and newly opened Hilton hotel properties this spring, the company announced Tuesday.
The Hilton Family Alarm Clock (see photo below) features what the company describes as an easy-to-set alarm, four pre-set music selection buttons.
To celebrate the rollout of the new clock, Hilton has launched an contest and created the Hilton Family Virtual Clock, a Mac and Windows software replica of the hotel clock that can be used as a desktop alarm.
The company is giving away 100 US$10 iTunes gift certificate, 100 Hilton Family Alarm Clocks, 250 iPod mini's, and 10 winners of a two night stay at a hilton hotel. The grand prize is a four-night stay at a participating Hilton hotel, a clock, an iPod mini and a $10 iTunes gift certificate.
Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations Club, and Homewood Suites by Hilton guest rooms will add the new clock between now and July 15, 2005. Hampton Hotels led the way by installing its version of the new clock in 2004 within more than 130,000 hotel rooms.
In addition to the MP3 jack, the new clocks are meant to alleviate a commonly held frustration by consumers about hotel clocks, the company said. According to a recent survey, 57% of business travelers have worried about sleeping past their alarm, and only one in five respondents actually trusted a hotel alarm clock to wake them up in the morning.
As a result, the company designed a new clock with fewer buttons, an easier to read display, and an automatic daily alarm time reset.
Observer Comments
Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:19 pm Subject: Sound the Alarm!
What the heck is an "MP3 jack?" I know what the article means, but calling it an "MP3 jack" implies that:
* It's not a standard minijack.
* It won't work if you plug in a device that doesn't play back MP3s, like my travel cassette walkman/radio or travel CD player.
* And finally, you make it sound like it won't work if you try to play iPod files that aren't MP3s (like from the Music Store).
Let's not be misleading, OK?
Wow. I'm glad they got rid of all the buttons!
Seriously, what an ugly clock. Why does it need instructions all over it? If they've managed to build a clock that doesn't need to be set by the user (one common case of failure) then there really isn't all that you need: an ability to set the alarm time, alarm volume, and alarm type. Why is it that an iPod has five buttons and this thing has, what, 16?
I thought it would be simpler, like the clock I had in "college", which had an hour knob, you set to one of 24 positions, a minutes knob, which you set to one of 12 positions, in 5 minutes, a buttion you could add upto 4 minutes to the knob setting, and a function knob to select set time, set alarm, alaem on, alarm off. The knobs would dynamically set the alarm time in the alarm on position.
I stayed in Chicago recently at a Hilton property and got the chance to try out this new unit. The sound was great. When I inquired about purchasing one to place at my beside at home I was dissapointed to find out that even a Hilton Honor Gold VIP couldn't buy one. I hope they become available soon.
My current hotel has this radio, but the buttons on top for tuning cannot be adjusted to other channels. And the alarm function only works with these buttons if you want the radio. Most of the time, these radios have a little unlock symbol (open padlock) on the lcd display which means you can change the channels. How I can change the presets if there is no unlock symbol? What the hack? where's the switch?
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