uWink's Touch-Screen Terminals at Chili's Too Margarita Bar at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Help Improve the Experience of International Travelers
BUFFALO, NY and LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 09/22/08 -- Delaware North Companies
has partnered with uWink (OTCBB: UWKI) to bring that company's unique
self-service and entertainment technology to the Chili's Too Margarita Bar
at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.
The global hospitality, food service and retail provider this week
completed the installation of four of uWink's touch-screen terminals at the
restaurant and bar. It is the first location to use the unique technology
in the airport hospitality sector.
The Fort Lauderdale Airport was an ideal location for Delaware North to
provide travelers with the uWink technology because of its selection in
April by the U.S. Customs and Border protection agency to be one of 18
"Model Ports of Entry" airports. The initiative seeks to improve the
experience of international visitors, of which the Fort Lauderdale airport
has many.
The uWink terminals will help this initiative as they offer menus and games
in both Spanish and English translations. In the near future, the
technology will also be available to those who speak German, Italian,
Japanese, Korean, Chinese and French.
"We're pushing very hard to bring cutting-edge brands to travelers across
the country, so our partnership with uWink represents an incredible
opportunity," said Matt King, president of Delaware North Travel
Hospitality Services. "I think people are going to be blown away by how
much fun they have at the uWink terminals and how convenient they are for
international visitors."
Since 2006, uWink has opened three self-operated restaurants in California.
The entertainment and hospitality software company was founded by Nolan
Bushnell, its CEO, who also launched video game pioneer Atari in the early
1970s and the Chuck E. Cheese family restaurant and entertainment center
chain.
The uWink concept features touch-screen terminals at tables that enable
guests to order customized food and drinks directly from the kitchen, play
dozens of different electronic games and pay the check when they are ready
directly at the table. Some of the games allow interaction and competition
among tables or even the entire restaurant.
"We are excited to have such a great partner as Delaware North bring our
technology and restaurant concept to the airport industry and the Fort
Lauderdale Airport," Bushnell said.
"uWink's hospitality self-service and entertainment software is a perfect
fit for the airport industry. Airport restaurant customers require
immediate service and immediate check out, both of which are available
through uWink's self-service technology.