AT&T has announced that it will be the first to launch Microsoft’s Surface in its stores, beating out T-Mobile, Harrah’s, and Starwood Hotels, all of which announced their intention to roll them out in their establishments.
The Surface device will be available in select AT&T wireless stores (22 in all) April 17 and will initially work with eight of AT&T’s wireless phones. When a customer places one of these eight phones on the Surface, they will be able to interact with a coverage map, learn about calling plans, and even the features of the phone that’s placed on the Surface.
AT&T says that their intention with the Surface is to help salespeople, not replace them.
Read more at the AP.
Joel’s Opinion
The latest from AT&T is that the iphone is not included. Interesting that what is probably one of their hottest phones won’t be showcased with this device. Not surprising, since the Surface is from Microsoft, but still a strange situation.
I definitely had my doubts as to whether or not the Surface would ever “Surface”, forgive the pun. It’s a cool idea but I have to wonder how affective it will be at helping close the deal on a mobile phone sale. Then again, I know all I need to know before going to get a mobile, so I’m not the target market here.
The Surface, in this instance, still seems a bit gimmicky to me, but we’ll see how it works for AT&T. It’s definitely a differentiator and if the goal is to help the salespeople, it should drive more people into the store at least, leaving the sales people to try to close them on a new phone purchase.
Tags: ipod, hi fi, video game, wi-fi
