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Pope flicks on electronic Christmas tree
08.12.2011
Pope flicks on electronic Christmas tree
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI has turned the lights on a huge Christmas tree in the town of Gubbio in Umbria, Italy, by tapping on a Sony Tablet S tablet computer from his apartment in the Vatican.
The pontiff made use of a wireless connection with the local electric grid to illuminate the electronic tree yesterday.
"He will touch the screen of a Sony tablet with the Android operating system which, via the internet, will transmit the command to switch on the electric current to the tree," said Vatican News.
The 'tree' is actually a lights display that is 450 metres wide and 750 metres tall, and has been deemed as the world's biggest Christmas tree.
Some 1,000 lights make up the tree, which sits on a mountainside, covering an area of 130,000 sq metres, or just less than 30 football pitches, the Associated Press reported.
