Portland Oregon was a great place to hold the recent APEX annual IFEC soiree and IFExpress will deliver a few product summaries in this and the next IFExpress. We plan then to feature in-depth stories about what we saw… and we saw a lot. From a general observational note, the show looked to us as the beginning of an industry and technical turn-a-round. From a technology point of view, the inflight world is changing and new technology is partly responsible. Technology developed for products on the ground, and in the air, is very exciting to us and we will discuss and promote that change as best we can. The other part of the change we observed is you, our readers. The issue here is the attitude of the vendors and airlines. While the melding of ground-based and airborne technology is of great interest, the fact that a whole lot of people are now seeing the journey as a issue, not just the flight itself – the “experience”. How can you not be excited about that? We also want to be sure to say “Thank You” to our clients, advertisers, and all our industry associates – if it weren’t for you, we would not be in business. We apologize for asking so many questions and taking up your valuable time, but we have only one goal – technical truth. Stay Tuned!

First, the Show: “2750 Registrants from 51 Countries, and 207 exhibitors,” so noted new APEX CEO, Joe Leader. The IFEC event in Portland, Oregon this year clearly set out a new vision for the APEX team that now extensively focuses on the “experience” value of IFEC. This is a concept that is being heralded by more organizations as the new trip vision. The “Experience” tag line was noticed in print, on slides, and voiced by almost every show attendant. As noted by Mr. Leader, “We do not take a trip, the trip takes us.” – and there could just be some truth in this observation. Certainly, if travel gets difficult, as it often does, travelers do get an experience but it is frequently negative. When it does become a positive event, as many noted, it will result in a good experience. And, the APEX team see’s their job as helping to facilitate solutions throughout our industry.

Importantly, this positive experience includes a lot more than tickets, inflight movies, or food… a lot more. It includes the flight of course, but one can rationalize that the process of finding a destination, buying a ticket, waiting at the airport, interacting with airline personnel, getting one’s baggage… and so on, are all part of the trip; consequently, IFEC organizations and airlines are focusing on the “experience” moniker, and that is what this show is, and will be about, for some time to come. As a result, we detected a big change in the air this year and only time will tell if the IFEC crowd gets the message and forces change positively. Readers, this is a big deal so we hope you get on board with the concept. Last year alone, the airlines had $29.3B in profits, and that exceeds the previous year’s record of $16.4B. Many travelers say it could be that airline revenues are potentially inverse to joy of the experience… and thus there is a opportunity for the mechanics of change here. One way or another, experiences are being made for more and more customers and APEX now is in the thick of the change surrounding this growth. This ought to get interesting!

We should also say a few words about Joe Leader since we met and talked extensively with him. Joe is one of the most positive humans on the earth – that is a big deal. Why? Because if the new APEX mantra embraces positivism, the boss better be… and as far as we can tell, he is very positive. We asked a few show-goers what they thought and perhaps one discussion with a board member put it best. Michael Childers – APEX Board Member and Tech Committee Chair had this to say: “I think this APEX marks a new direction for this Association with the addition of Joe Leader as APEX CEO. With a full time executive working exclusively for APEX, and one who is technology savvy, we can do things we could not do before. I’m looking forward to working with Joe and with our Technical Director Bryan Rusenko to take technology to a new level of implementation.” So if you meet Joe, and you most certainly will, don’t be put off with the man’s ability to look at the good side of things. We had a few questions about the number of increasingly related meetings and groups that were overtly “experience” focused, and even some competitively so. His answers distanced his position from any competitive posture. Rather, he embraced the common focus and resultant teaming value as a beneficial result of multiple groups seeking a common goal or solution – a solution for a good trip “experience” and a future for many more of them.

With respect to this issue, we obviously, we can’t (and won’t) try to cover a show like APEX with one issue of IFExpress – it can’t be done. Rather, we will cover many of the speakers, vendors, products, meeting and general view of the next generation of IFEC with a lot more data. So, we chose to give you a rundown of tech teasers from many of the vendors we met with, and present a ton of teasers to wet your appetite for future Hot Topics, images, quotes, and product solutions with more to come next issue. And note here, this was a banner year for new stuff and while we did as much research and interviewing as we could, this is an intense and challenging communication job. Thus, we may be sending you a write-up for correction and updates about your products. Your help will produce a better IFExpress, and that is what we are all about. So, here are a number of tempting “bullets of information” or product teasers that impressed us early on:

GuestLogix: Craig Proud – SVP Platform of GuestLogix told us that purchase trends in consumer behavior included digital wallets, self-service retailing, and cashless & paperless payments. Further, he noted the global mobile payment forecast is growing some 30% per year. And if you don’t think some of that growth won’t happen on airplanes, ask yourself if you ever bought anything on a plane with a credit card and then note what you have done on the ground over wi-fi. This may also help generate drivers for inflight Wi-Fi. Hello Amazon Inflight!

The folks at Lumexis told us that they announced an order for 8 B737 FTTS + Screen systems from Caribbean Airlines. Also, they now are the first IFE company to implement the Android Lollipop OS. We think there a few more announcements coming soon too and we see more browser solutions in their future.

Panasonic, the Big Dog in the industry with over $2B in IFEC sales last year, had a ‘banner winning’ at the Pax Choice event. All 5 airline winners in the 13 “Best of..” award categories were using Panasonic hardware (Emirates won 7 of the 13 categories). Further, some 516 aircraft have Panasonic installed connectivity since April of this year with 400 more committed for wi-fi since the Hamburg IFEC show. This chart tells the story! We would love to talk about their industry party with the Portland food trucks but… More later!

BOSE is always a fun visit and we proved that the lightweight 20i portable headphones really make the world of inflight listening very similar to that with the fixed cups. Now, if they would just remove the wires and include a Bluetooth… sorry, we can’t say that!

Telephonix + PDT:  The company highlighted the Summit Product Line of (IFEC) equipment for the show and we finally got a hands-on session. The Telefonix Summit line is comprised of state-of-the-art system components designed to enable unique and innovative in-flight connectivity and entertainment solutions. Here are the hardware elements: Cabin ACe Wireless Access Point (WAP), Cabin Pinnacle general purpose airborne server, Cabin Peak pico cell, and Cabin Vista attendant display can be added to enhance existing in-flight entertainment systems or combined to create a unique IFEC solution. More on this later, but in the meantime you might want to read this link… the security stuff intrigued us!

SIE, the folks that know how to get electronic equipment installed and certified on jet aircraft achieved notoriety along with others who provided technology updates and VooDoo doughnuts…

Thales: During an interview with Duc Huy Tran, new VP of Strategy and Marketing, he told IFExpress: “If an airline doesn’t have streaming video, they will have disappointed passengers, and if they don’t have a big enough data pipe they can’t cover the needs… but it has to be cost effective,” he said. “Devices will grow tenfold in the 10 years and the passengers want to be there.” He also told IFExpress “There is a trend toward two-way engagement, not just entertainment,” but he noted, “The more you engage, the more you can monetize,” and that tells the story of the connected aircraft and where this is all going!

The folks at Gogo are pretty B to B focused and as you might guess, they mostly talk to airlines and partners and this accounts for their Crew Connect and Voice tech apps. “It has noise canceling capability in it,” noted Steve Nolan. IFExpress asked about the 2Ku status, and he said; “We are most excited about 2Ku based on the performance we we have seen to date – we are also excited about bringing more bandwidth to the aviation market.” We will have more on this as many folks were talking about their 2Ku system. Visiting Gogo is always a tech trip… and this year they were one of the 5 or so booths that featured some Beacon technology. Further, they also showed robots, 3D printing and the best airplane seats ever… just kidding, they were vibrating massage chairs… with screens.

Lufthansa Systems BoardConnect – What you will see in the link below is one of the early shots of one of the more amazing things to be taken aboard an airplane. Amazing because it delivers streaming Wi-Fi to 50 passengers in approximately 1 Mbps streams, and runs on batteries (or fixed power)! It is about the size of a large book and it works by just turning the device on and placing it in a baggage bin for operation. “Much like your own streaming server, it uses no outside access points and the system is a faction the cost of an installed IFE system,” noted Norbert Müller, Senior Vice President BoardConnect at Lufthansa Systems. “… and the SSD storage holds a lot of movie choices as well.” Here is a picture of the device and we will have more on this one later.

We will have a lot more hot gadgets and stories about them, and yes, more data in the coming months, so if we ran out of room for your story in this issue, be patient! Stay Tuned!

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.”