Touchpanel the way of the future for NBA?
Chris Lee, manager, special projects for TheMarketingArm (left) and Steve Hellmuth of the NBA (right) with the HP panel with Touchsmart technology.
Fans visiting the NBA All-Star Jam Session will be able to play with a new 22-inch flatpanel from HP that could be a mainstay in NBA suites, concourses, and even restaurants and bars. With a built-in computer processor and touchscreen control the screen will get rid of a major stumbling block in bringing next-generation networking and distribution technologies into places like luxury suites: keyboards. “Keyboards are work,” says Steve Hellmuth, NBA EVP, Operations and Technology. “But a touchscreen interface overcomes those problems.”
The All-Star Jam Session application allows fans to take a quiz that inludes video clips and more. But for a suite application Hellmuth envisions it as a control center that allows fans to do everything from order food to watching clips. It also could become a platform for delivering NBA League Pass Broadband to bars and restaurants across the country. “You can set this up and fans can watch any of the games from around the league,” says Hellmuth.
The panel currently is priced at about $1,800.
