Microsoft brings Santa to airports for free photo shoots

By Aemon Malone Published December 1, 2010

Nothing says “successful holiday promotion” like a Santa Claus photo op in a busy international airport during peak travel season. Microsoft is well aware of this. The company recently announced a partnership with Southwest Airlines that will bring real, live Santa Clauses to 26 airports across the country this holiday season. It’s all part of Microsoft’s “Photos on the Fly” promotion pushing the latest version of its Windows Live service.

Starting tomorrow and running from Thursdays to Sundays until Dec. 20, the Micro-Santas will be appearing in major airports including Philadelphia International, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Denver International, and Chicago’s Midway.

Recommended Videos

Travelers who are interested — or maybe just looking to relieve the stress brought on by a TSA security pat-down — will have the opportunity to have their photo taken with Santa. A group of Microsoft-sponsored elves will then assist with photo editing, printing, and sharing conducted through Microsoft Live. And for those who would rather not been seen with Santa, there will also be an alternative winter wonderland backdrop. Photos will be uploaded to a website for later retrieval or for editing using Photo Fuse. The “Photos on the Fly” website will also allow users to turn photos into traditional holiday cards.

If a Santa photo shoot sounds like something you would rather avoid during your travels, then you might want to check out Google’s holiday gift to air travelers. The Internet giant has partnered with airlines Virgin, Delta, and AirTrans to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi service aboard domestic flights throughout the holiday season. And as with Microsoft, it’s not strictly goodwill and charity that’s driving the generosity: Google has planned the offer as a promotion for its Chrome Web browser. The complimentary Wi-Fi will be offered aboard flights until January 2, 2011.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Computing

This all-in-one PC is $400 off at Dell for Cyber Week

Dell Inspiron 27 7720 all-in-one PC.

Looking for great desktop computer deals? If you’re short on space or simply want something more stylish looking than the average PC, check out the Dell Inspiron 27 All-in-One PC, which is on sale at Dell right now. Normally priced at $1,600, it’s down to $1,200 as part of Cyber Week deals, and it’s going to look great in your living room. The $400 discount won’t stick around for long, so let’s take a quick look at what it has to offer.

Why you should buy the Dell Inspiron 27 All-in-One PC
Buying one of the best all-in-one PCs is a good move if you’re short on space at home and you want something stylish as well as practical. With the Dell Inspiron 27 All-in-One PC, you’re getting everything you need to work well from home or simply relax. It has an Intel Core 7 150U processor along with a massive 32GB of RAM, so you’re all set for the future. It also has 1TB of SSD storage so there’s plenty of room for all your files. It even has an Nvidia GeForce MX570A graphics card, although we wouldn’t consider the Dell Inspiron 27 All-in-One PC for anything more than the most casual of gaming.

Computing

Samsung DeX for Windows is dead

Samsung DeX mode.

Samsung appears to have plans to retire support of its DeX Windows app upon releasing the OneUI 7 software update.

Android Authority recently observed updates on Samsung’s DeX page on its UK website that sais the DeX for Windows feature will be discontinued as of OneUI 7, which will be available in 2025. The company detailed that DeX for Windows users can transition to the Phone Link feature as an alternative.

Computing

The last major game of 2024 is going to wreck your PC

Indiana Jones drags a Nazi down a staircase with his whip in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

We're getting close to the end of 2024, but there's one more major game release in the pipeline -- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Unfortunately for a lot of PC players, the system requirements might be too steep, even if your rig is packing one of the best graphics cards.

You can see the list of requirements below, and there's a lot to dig into. For starters, this is the first time I've ever seen the RTX 4090 listed in system requirements. There's no doubt that the RTX 4090 is the cream of the crop for gaming performance, but it's so powerful that even demanding games like Alan Wake 2 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard don't need to recommend it. Here, you'll need the RTX 4090 to max everything out at 4K.