Today, users of mobile devices expect to be connected – always and everywhere – to work with, to communicate with, or just to be entertained. More and more, passengers bring and use their own devices onboard… and the aircraft industry is recognizing this need. To serve and provide power for personal electronic devices is becoming essential for every airline, but technology today is getting more complex, while the demand for portable device power increases constantly. So, in-seat power suppliers are faced with the challenge of scope and diversity, of multiple... [Read more]

SINGAPORE — Online shopping, real-time social-media updates, email access, dozens of ‘live’ TV channels in your preferred language and even tele-medicine — all these at 36,000 feet in the air, powered by high-speed Internet. Welcome to the world of next-generation in-flight entertainment — the new game changer in the commercial aviation market. hello Airlines around the globe are beefing up their in-flight entertainment offerings as the competition to lure passengers reach a fever pitch amid a capacity glut that has triggered fare wars across short-, medium- and... [Read more]

CarlisleIT: Feeling the demands for increased connectivity onboard your aircraft? Are you deterred by the costly equipment and lengthy installation times necessary to upgrade your fleet? Or perhaps you have already endured the restoration costs and logistics of retrofitting your leased aircraft? Thankfully, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies has the answer – a universal SATCOM solution that can be seamlessly installed on any aircraft and reaps significant time and cost savings in these and other technologies, and just for this also using companies like  Barrier Technologies,... [Read more]

YOURSpace: Bear with Holiday Travel This Year – A Better Experience is Nearly Here By Chris Smith, Founder and CEO, Area360 Today’s typical airport experience is at the very best, hit or miss. Travelers may be prepared and get to the airport on time, have a great meal while enjoying a book in a hushed terminal, and board a flight with no delays. But that’s a rare day, and the typical airport journey involves at least one complication that throws everything off. This year, Airlines for America projects that 38 million Americans will take to the skies over the... [Read more]

By Chris Smith, Founder and CEO, Area360 Today’s typical airport experience is at the very best, hit or miss. Travelers may be prepared and get to the airport on time, have a great meal while enjoying a book in a hushed terminal, and board a flight with no delays. But that’s a rare day, and the typical airport journey involves at least one complication that throws everything off. This year, Airlines for America projects that 38 million Americans will take to the skies over the 2015 holiday season, equaling 2.2 million travelers every day between December 18th and January... [Read more]

Imagine reaching your assigned seat to find your own personal welcome from the airline on the in seat display.  That’s lovely and there’s no doubt you’re in the right seat.  You can immerse yourself in the entertainment system straight away and escape a little from the strangers and ruckus around you.  You find that the airline has suggestions from this month’s content as to what to watch or listen to that match your tastes, the embedded system allows you to quickly control your search for other alternatives using your own preferences to drill down into... [Read more]

After a recent trip back to Australia, I was reminded why the IFE industry exists and how the terrestrial personal technology revolution is still so far ahead. This story begins with a 15 hour journey, in a place where time stands still* as you leave earth, captive in an aluminum tube, with your space defined by a personal 16G rated plastic and metal cage. “Have a nice flight,” said the gate agent. Hmmm? Firstly, I am not going to name names or critique the experience specifically. Suffice it to say, onboard the system was the latest generation of IFE and it worked... [Read more]

“Is that a connected device in your pocket, or…” Welcome to the special commentary edition of SymontySEZ, “SymontyCES.” In a far away time (last Sunday) in a mystical dessert city (Las Vegas) did the kings of consumer technology (aside from Apple) gather to decide your technical future. This year was once again like all others CES conferences of modern times (since the almost demise of the show in 1998) in it’s ability to predict what gets us excited but by no means what we will purchase. In the 1990’s I attended COMDEX and over a... [Read more]

Let’s start with some reminiscing… (Harp music, wavy dissolve) I remember quite well how when I accidentally got in this whole IFE business, and I do mean accidentally, my IFE greeted me with a blue screen of death and a little Windows logo. Flash Forward 10 years: The IFE industry is now dominated by Linux Operating Systems with Windows support relegated to a few minor players. Meanwhile the terrestrial world has, in the specialized personal device market, gone through a similar revolution, so perhaps it is time for these two activities to merge? Lets examine the... [Read more]

It is not the size but the way you use it. Last time in “Why Size Doesn’t Matter” I outlined the specific issues limiting timely connectivity communication due to satcom latency. Today, lets talk about some fixes, to make the most out of your pipe. In a world guided by the laws of physics you may feel a little trapped by the inevitable lack of comparable Internet service when flying over the pacific at 600mph, but I have good news. The Internet is a complex place filled with a lot more than just streaming media. The Internet world is really broken into... [Read more]

Welcome to the first edition of SymontySez. I am Symonty and I hope to be able to present some views and ideas about connectivity and the IFE industry (now strangely being renamed the Passenger Experience Industry) from my 12-year journey in this field. My company, SymonTek, is responsible for the software and servers that support inflight connectivity and we work anonymously with some of the biggest names in this industry. I am completely sure loads of you will disagree with me. That’s okay. The purpose of my commentary is to make you think and ask questions. Masticate... [Read more]

The opening salvos from the WAEA (Now APEX) were as expected with virtually every speaker mentioning or displaying iPad-isms. Marketing and futurist, Sarah Davanzo, as keynote speaker opened the conference with her separating the consumer into “eggs” and “snowflakes”. At odds, the two crowds are diametrically opposed, much like extraverts and introverts. At last I found out that I am an “egg flake” because energy drinks and coffee move me from the passive mood to an active one. Sarah may not agree. And speaking of mood, the next thing... [Read more]

The Long Beach Conference & Exhibition Center is the location of the 31st annual WAEA for the inflight entertainment crowd. If you are coming, here is a good place to start: the free Long Beach iPhone App: Downtown Long Beach, so if you want to go to the beach, prepare all your implements including a beach chair, a turkish beach towel and more. A waiter at the Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant sent us to it as a good source for the city and more information on the free red bus that covers a lot of the Conference vicinity and downtown dining hotspots. We got recommendations... [Read more]

Disembarking iceland air at Akureyri Airport OK, OK, let the “I-told-you-so’s” begin. The volcano got us. We left Seattle with assurances if we left 2 hours early, the airport would still be open – NOT! In fact, it seemed a bit suspicious that over half way thru the flight (beyond the turn back point) we got the bad news. Well, I say news, I mean the speakers on that B757 were so crappy that between them and the lilting Icelandic patois, we had no idea where were going to land. The answer was a small town airport at the end of a fjord. Actually,... [Read more]