Well, AIX 2018 is finally upon us and the next 4 days promise to be an innovative rich and technology filled environment. Lets get started with a few pre-show news highlights.

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Astronics

Astronics Corporation announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems (AES), has been selected by multiple Asia-Pacific airlines to install the EmPower in-seat power and flight deck power systems. Several major airlines in Asia will install the EmPower systems from 2018 to 2025, including two Chinese low-cost carriers. These recent awards will place in-seat power within 500 additional narrow-body aircraft serving the Asia-Pacific region. The installations are scheduled on both Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

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Panasonic Avionics

Interested in the latest technological developments from Panasonic at this year’s AIX Hamburg? You can find out about Panasonic’s show offering here –

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Rockwell Collins

The Crystal Cabin Award recognizes excellence in aircraft interior innovation—the only international award of its kind. It’s a unique honor and this year, Rockwell Collins is a finalist in four categories: Visionary Concepts, Cabin Systems, Material & Components and Passenger Comfort Hardware. The category winners will be announced on Apr. 10, 2018, at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany. The following aircraft interior solutions from Rockwell Collins are finalists:

Universal Passenger Seat interface (UPSi)

The cost to certify seats with differing advanced actuation and data sensing can be in the tens of millions of dollars in many sectors of transportation. The UPSi is a solution for autonomous transportation that transcends industries and provides a universal, standard seat interface applicable to aircraft, vehicles and trains. This Visionary Concept finalist aims to slash development costs and create synergies across the autonomous transportation industry.

Silhouette MOVE: A revolutionary cabin divider for all aircraft platforms, this Cabin Systems category finalist takes advantage of unused space between the divider and the seat in front of it. Bulkhead seated passengers get an additional one cubic foot of space, giving them more space to stretch their legs and place carry-on items.

Secant Luminous Panel: A finalist in the Materials & Components category, this micro LED lighting display is incorporated into the interior body and ceiling panels of the aircraft using flexible printed circuit boards. This solution enables airlines to adjust the lighting to improve sleep and the cabin’s appearance, and it provides the opportunity for airlines to uniquely brand their aircraft.

Valkyrie Bed:This is a new solution to an old problem—how to make a seat into a comfortable place to sleep. A Passenger Comfort Hardware finalist, business-class passengers get a more luxurious experience with a comfortable seat to work, eat and lounge. And when it is time to sleep, the seat folds away and a full-size mattress emerges from the console.

For more information about this year’s Crystal Cabin Award finalists, visit this site

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SkyLights/Emirates

The airline is providing an immersive cinematic experience in its lounges in Dubai International Airport by providing Skylights theater headsets (See above) to customers. The headsets are being trialed in the Business Class lounge in Concourse B for the month of April and in the First Class lounge in concourse B in May. The introduction of these innovative new headsets is part of Emirates’ continued commitment to improve the customer experience both on the ground and in flight. Offering a fixed-screen with a wide-angle field of view for 3D and 2D content, each Skylight theater headset weighs only 120g and offers a Full HD viewing experience. Its in-built sound and video allow customers to fully immerse themselves in what they are watching. The service is complimentary and Emirates plans to roll out the experience across all its lounges in Dubai if the trial is well received.

Dubai International Airport is home to seven Emirates lounges spread over three concourses – A, B and C. In each of the concourses there is a dedicated Emirates First Class and Business Class lounge. Entry is complimentary for those traveling in Business or First Class as well as Emirates Skywards Silver, Gold and Platinum members. Emirates Skywards Blue members can visit the lounge for a fee. Emirates has the largest network of airport lounges worldwide. In addition to the seven in Dubai, there are 34 other dedicated Emirates Lounges in major airports across the globe.

SkyLights/Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways has started trialing SkyLights Aero Virtual Reality (VR) entertainment technology at its flagship First Class Lounge and Spa and Business Class Premium Lounge, at Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Terminal 3. The aim of the month-long trial is to gather customer feedback to determine the airline’s future lounge entertainment offering at Abu Dhabi’s state-of-the-art Midfield Terminal. The SkyLights ALLOSKY VR headsets deliver an immersive, HD resolution, cinematic experience in 2D and 3D, featuring intuitive technology for ease of use and noise cancelling headphones. Each set has a battery life of over six hours which allows for uninterrupted enjoyment from a catalogue of recent blockbuster movies, selected 360° short films, TV series, documentaries and children’s programming. Throughout the trial, Etihad staff will assist interested guests at dedicated areas within both lounges. Each session will end with a short manual questionnaire.

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PXCom

With the rapid growth of w-IFE solutions, the IFE/C industry has rapidly moved to the digital era. Now, even the seatback screens provide personal-device-like experience and beyond the legacy video & audio sections, all the other IFE sections can be significantly revamped to deliver a full digital experience, including engagement, personalization, and many other exciting features.

Meals Menus, Corporate Content & Destination Section – These are the three pillars – the initial use cases of PXCom’s end-to-end solution. “All the digital sections that we create intend to elevate the onboard experience by providing passengers with compelling content and to generate additional revenues for our airlines customers”, says Cyril JEAN, PXCom’s CEO. “For example, the interactive meals menu section can display the right content according to the seat class and route and encompass buy-on-board snacking options, as well as the ‘click and deliver’ features. As an example, an airline that intends to treat its premium passengers with a hand-picked wines & champagnes selection can offer to have their guests’ selection delivered directly to their home.” Since PXCom is a French company filled with wine and foodie lovers, they have absolutely no choice but to provide only THE VERY BEST of food and beverage highlights!

XPlore by PXCom, the sponsored inflight microsite factory –  PXCom’s technical wizards have extended XPlore by PXCom’s capabilities to enable brands and their media agencies to create their inflight microsites in full autonomy. As a result, they can deliver a customized digital inflight experience regardless of the type of IFE/C platform available onboard. Thanks to PXCom’s partnerships with most of IFE manufacturers (both seatback, w- IFE and IFC) those microsites are automatically uploaded during the airline’s media content update slot and are seamlessly integrated into the GUI. “We have been setting up XPlore’s sponsored inflight microsites on behalf of various customers now. The creation of the microsite is self-explanatory and very easy, thanks to the PXCom solution.”, states Christian SZABO, CEO of LASKER a major Cross Media Agency in Europe. “The integration of the microsite within the destination guide section offers advertisers the possibility for destination targeting in the IFE. By adding transaction-related elements, like downloadable voucher codes, advertisers are able 

LATECOERE, the world leading provider of Airborne Entertainment Cameras has selected PXCom to enrich its live external camera which streams high quality video from the aircraft exterior to passengers’ seatback screens using landscape camera technology. This move ensures a truly innovative way to boost the live camera experience!

Live contextual movement information in-flight  – Thanks to PXCom’s technology, passengers can now enjoy a multitude of points of interest related to places they pass by in the air. In real time, a short description that includes HD pictures and text is added to the live video stream that comes from LATECOERE’s landscape cameras. The new generation cameras provide 360° video streaming which is enhanced with software applications such as augmented reality prove to be really exciting for airline passengers.

Ancillary generator –  It goes without saying – as it’s the case with all PXCom’s solutions – airlines will be able to integrate advertising spaces which will be automatically filled with partners’ brands advertising material. Airlines’ media sales agencies can access PXCom’s back office to upload their campaigns and have them rolled out during the flight. LATECOERE’s vision is to maximize the added value provided to all Airborne Video Systems users and to boost ancillary revenue generation for its airline clients. The rational is to bring further investment into passengers’ inflight experience.

Live demonstration at the LATECOERE’s stand  – This exciting new inflight entertainment feature can be tested by all interested parties during AIX Hamburg 2018 at the LATECOERE’s stand #2E30. For further information on PXCom’s range of IFE solutions, we invite you to visit #3C30A during AIX Hamburg 2018.

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Other Stuff

• We asked Geoff Underwood, CEO at IFPL to tell us a little bit about what they will be showing at AIX and he told IFExpress: “As your IFExpress readers know, IFPL leads the way when it comes to designing power outlets.  With new consumer devices adopting USB-C as standard, IFPL will demonstrate how airlines can easily transition from USB Type-A to USB Type-C. As always, IFPL’s established range of audio and IFEC solutions will be on display and the expert team from IFPL will be on hand to discuss any requirements that your readers or visitors to AIX 2018 may have”.  Thanks Geoff!
• On Friday Boeing posted on their website that American Airlines has ordered 47 Boeing 787 Dreamliners with options to purchase 28 more of the long-haul jets. However, over the weekend Boeing has removed the news  from their site. Check out this article for the full story.
• We love it when someone gets ahead of the crowd – and this time it is Rick Lundstrom, Editor-in-Chief, PAX International – and he did it by putting out the Aircraft Interiors Expo Hamburg issue, before the show. Its a winner and here it is – PAX International AIX March/April 2018 by Global Marketing Company Ltd – Issuu
• Want to know if you have been hacked? Read through this story on the global future of Blockchain markets – Global blockchain market size is expected to reach $13.96 billion by 2022 | Technology Startups News | Tech News