Going to APEX EXPO in Portland Oregon, USA, September 28 – October 1, 2015? Here is a link to the Early Bird Rates – APEX 2015 EXPO. See you there!

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Chris Fallon sent IFExpress this: “Today, Virgin America announced it will deploy ViaSat’s satellite-based in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity service, Exede In The Air, for its next 10 aircraft – offering ‘home-like’ broadband experiences with full streaming media capabilities in the air – to passengers. This is a major move for the airline, as they will now offer significantly faster WiFi service in the skies – all backed by a service level agreement to every connected passenger.”

Announcement highlights include:

• Virgin America/ViaSat partnership will bring the fastest, highest quality Wi-Fi in the skies to Virgin America’s next 10 A320 aircraft deliveries – beginning this September.
• ViaSat’s satellite system will deliver internet speeds that are 8 to 10 times faster than any other in-flight Wi-Fi system – allowing travelers to experience internet speeds similar to what they have at home.
• Virgin America will be the first commercial airline to give guests continuous connectivity access to the best available network by operating in both Ku and Ka-band satellite networks on the same aircraft.
• With the unique bandwidth economics of ViaSat-1 and the forthcoming ViaSat-2 satellite networks, only ViaSat can enable airlines to engage ALL of their guests in an in-flight, online experience just like they’d get on the ground – including streaming high quality video.

Check out the YouTube Video

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IFExpress got a peek at Tim Farrar’s (TMF Associates) presentation at the June 8 Global Connected Aircraft Summit in Washington DC and thought our readers might like to see what a connectivity expert had to say and how he views the inflight connectivity market – don’t miss this one, it’s free. Tim is a “big picture” expert and you will learn something from almost every chart.

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Aircraft security is now in the forefront for the FAA – Check out (US DOT), DOT OpSpec D301, Aircraft Network Security Program (ANSP) to support the Next Generation, e-Enabled aircraft. We contacted Mark Thompson and the quote that stuck with us is as follows; “Hardware security is the only secure way to protect your key,” obviously referring to the potential of eliminating hacking solutions to on-aircraft data communication. “I am concerned that without some positive actions, we could have an incident. I worked at McDonnell Douglas, and the worst possible thing that can happen is an incident. They happen, and when they do, we all ask ourselves, could I have done more to stop it. I like that the FAA has chosen to create an AC, we need to make sure people understand security will not increase costs at all. The FAA is going to require all operators to create a security system like what is provided by the OEMs on new aircraft.” He mentioned an article that you might want to review if aircraft security is your thing. Further here is another news source that might be of interest.

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We just discovered BOSE Quiet Comfort 20i Acoustic Noise Canceling Headset (ear plug-in’s) and since most of our readers travel with phones and audio reproduction devices, we had to pass on what we have learned and in summary:

• Firstly, they sound incredible, almost as good as the BOSE QC 25 headphones.
• Second, they are comfortable for long periods of time to listen or block out noise. While 13 -to15 hours of comfortable wear have been reported – we believe it, and they stay in your ear…
• Third, the noise reduction is almost as complete as the BOSE QC 25’s.
• Fourth, they all allow device phone calls (if using an iPhone) with volume controls, answer switch… and a neat side button that toggles noise cancellation for listening to outside sounds. (On the plane, there is the continual issue with headsets that involves answering a question from the cabin crew or a passenger seated near you. Not so with the BOSE QC 20I’s, there is an Aware Button on the side of the control case that allows external sounds to come right thru – push once and the music level drops a bit but the external sound is clear, push again and you are back into music.)

And last, at retail, they are expensive, but more on that in a minute.
You can find lots of Internet /YouTube reviews so if you are seriously considering a pair, please review there too. But make no mistake, these earphones were designed to be used with Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod… and they do seem to work with all perfectly… thus the “i” in their name. The BOSE QC 20’s are for the non Apple devices as you might have guessed.

Headsets (cups) on a plane are usually the audio connection of choice because they, by their nature, limit the outside noise intrusion. With noise cancellation, they even work better. The issues that work against them, however, are “ear heat” in the confined space and ear drum pressure that seems to result from an unbalance of ear drum pressure in the cabin vs in the headphone cup/ear cavity… especially when there is a change of altitude. Further, lugging around headphones is a bit more bothersome that earphones, and we note, until we tried the advantage of earphones for convenience, we will never go back… never. While I love my BOSE Noise Canceling Headphones, for travel, the QC 20i is the new travel mate… and this doesn’t even include consideration for the zipper headphone case.

Now, price…ugh! the market demands $250 (US) if you search out retail. We checked on eBay, and a new pair went from $169 – $200. If you don’t mind “used” and have a little denatured alcohol, we have seen deals under $100.

BOSE QC 20iCompatibility –
The following Apple® products are compatible with the audio cable that has an inline remote and microphone on the QC 20i:

• iPhone®: 3GS, 4, 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6, 6 Plus
• iPod touch®: second, third, fourth and fifth generations
• iPod classic®: 2009 (120GB and 160GB)
• iPod nano®: fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh generations
• iPad®: all models
• MacBook®: unibody and Pro
• iPod shuffle®: 3rd and fourth generation

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Finally, from the hackerspace (Facecrooks): Delta Air Lines, Facebook Users Hit With Viral Giveaway Hoax. “A Facebook promotion from ‘Delta Airways’ has gone viral on the site, getting shared nearly 65,000 times in 24 hours. The only issue: the promotion is a hoax, and it’s from an imposter Facebook page.”