14 DAY TRIAL // Hotpot, though it's evolving quickly, is still in the early stages. While the development team is working on fleshing out and improving the product, it's also getting better promotion and support in more cities. Third on the list of cities in the US where Google is promoting the product locally, along with Google Places, with businesses and regular users.
"As anyone who has been here knows, Las Vegas and “sensory overload” are nearly synonymous," Lior Ron, from the Hotpot team, wrote.
"We want to make this a bit easier for you with the Google Places app, your own personalized pocket guide to Vegas. When you rate places and share recommendations with friends and family, you’ll be able to quickly see exactly which places they recommend, making it easier than ever to decide where to go," he explained.
"And now that you have the ability to share reviews with friends and family via Twitter, it’s even easier to share your favorite places in Vegas and see what others like too," he added.
In order to make more people aware that all the information and opinions they want are just a Google search away, Google handed out 10,000 free tickets for the Las Vegas Monorail.
Google is also connecting with the local businesses and is distributing "Recommended on Google" window stickers, like it has done in other places. Interestingly, the decals contain a NFC chip so phones featuring the technology, the Google Nexus S for now, can simply 'bump' the decals to get all the information they need about the place.
NFC is not used by a great many phones now, in fact the Nexus S is the only widely available device with the technology built in, but Google has big plans for it and it seems that the industry is also moving in this direction. Earlier versions of the decals contained QR codes, another technology promoted by Google. NFC however is easier to use and has more applications.