Remember BAE Systems? They were the folks that introduced a new in-seat power system at a previous IFE show. Well, that device has seen further development with boxes that supply 4 USB 5 VDC and 4 110 AC, 2 Amp, outlets… sort of a smart power junction box. But this story is not about inseat power, it’s about their new IntelliCabin, next-gen cabin control system that is the cabin crew interface to in-seat power, IFE, LED lighting, dim-able windows, seat diagnostics, and cabin management. Jared Schoemaker, BAE Systems Director of Cabin Systems told IFExpress that he felt that IntelliCabin was not only their future vision for the cabin system, it integrates with Samsung devices! More on that in a minute. The IntelliCabin solution provides, power to passengers, delivers enhanced passenger experience via tablets, integrates the latest lighting technology, centralizes and simplifies crew control through mobile devices, improves diagnostics (implements prognostics – we need to find out more about this), and reduces acquisition and operating costs. If the IntelliCabin product sounds familiar, it was the BEA System folks who brought about the Attendant Control Panel that is the heart of the interior lighting control for the Boeing B737 Sky Interior. Now, back to Samsung – BAE Systems has an MOU with none other than Samsung… whose name is cropping up everywhere in the aviation – now space – business. BAE plans to integrate the Samsung device world into the IntellicCabin architecture with their latest devices (tablets, phones, whatever), and they will integrate that model into crew management. Lastly, they plan to integrate these efforts into BAE systems global support network. We will keep you posted as this all develops. The BAE system demonstrated operation with a 12.2” Galaxy NotePro, a Galaxy Tab 10.1”, a Galaxy Note 3, a Galaxy S5 and the great Gear 2 Smartwatch.

A recent trade pub (FierceWirelessTech) noted that industry associations are taking the side of inflight telephony in the US: “The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) said in a joint FCC filing that they support the commission’s proposal to remove what they called ‘outdated regulatory barriers for access to in-flight mobile connectivity.’ The commission’s plan has the potential to make in-flight mobile connectivity (IMC), “including data, text, and even voice connectivity,” available to consumers aboard airborne aircraft, the three trade groups noted. Despite public outcry over the FCC proposal, the groups contend that various stakeholders, “including IMC providers, off-board communications link providers, airlines and aircraft manufacturers, and industry associations, are generally supportive of enabling IMC in the United States.” Get ready to write your Congressperson.

We have been following Geoff Underwood’s Cashless Retail System (CRS) and we understand a trial is in work. When we asked him about an update, he cautiously responded; “We have been talking to Airlines about the system and are expecting a trial within the next month or so. That’s as much as I have today!”

While the Gogo – AT&T saga continues, we wanted to give our readers another couple inputs on the debate. Firstly, Gogo has countered the AT&T announcement with their own view of next-gen solution for US connectivity that should make competitors a bit nervous – read it here.

Next, we discovered another article about one of the Big Dogs in the telephony business and it got us thinking: It seems Ericsson has been testing moving cellular connectivity in an article referring to cellular testing on/for trains: ”First up is Ericsson, the world’s largest network equipment provider, which said it is testing two new features–Dynamic On/Off and Dual Connectivity–that are being considered for LTE Release 12. Ericsson said the functions are both geared toward lowering the power requirements of wireless network base stations. Ericsson said Dynamic On/Off is a feature that mutes a base station when it is not transmitting data. The benefit is two-fold: inter-cell interference reduction and the possibility for the base station to go in a lower power consumption state,” Ericsson said. As for Dual Connectivity, Ericsson said the technology would allow a user to receive data from two base stations simultaneously rather than only from one. “In some cases, users will be able to download a file twice as fast as today due to the dual connectivity to the LTE network. Because users are served faster, base stations are more often inactive and thus can go more frequently in a lower power consumption state,” the company said. Then we discovered how they were testing… in a jet plane! Draw your own conclusions but it looks like they could build AT&T’s hardware.

Ever heard of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra? One reader, Robert Bogash is the kind of a guy who does. His retired-Boeing-other-job is with Seattle’s Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. Bob’s vision was to get one of the twin prop workhorses into the museum and his website has documented the story of doing it… in pictures. Very nice restoration, Bob is a genius with vision. Check it out here – you won’t be disappointed!

And speaking of Oldies But Goodies – The Dash 80 rolled out 60 years ago last week – May 14, 1954. The Seattle P.I. had a nice photo spread.

This weeks SECRET HOT TOPIC: At AIX we were privileged to be let in on something that will forever change the world of onboard Wi-Fi “Hotspot” technology, by a company you know well! Stay Tuned on this one and before you buy an airborne Wi-Fi router, keep your eyes peeled for equipment that delivers the highest QUALITY service to airline passengers! More later!

We love AIX because your IFExpress team gets to meet the best people and because the folks who sell used equipment are always associated with, well, used equipment. The team at aviationscouts GmbH are the perfect example why that is not true. Dimitrios and Thomas are two guys who are cabin experts. As you may guess from their website, they are multitalented representatives, consultants and online marketeers, and as we found out, nice folks to match. While in their booth at the AIX in Hamburg we found a very new idea in buying and selling used cabin interior equipment over the Internet. And, they have access to a lot of pre-loved IFE and a multitude of other equipment. Did we mention that we were really impressed with their used seat sales approach… and it’s on your computer today. It’s pretty much a bid operation where you get a very good, rotatable image of worldwide available stock that airlines, resellers, MROs or leasing companies can list with all related details. You must visit their website – www.aviationgate.com. The cool part is that you can rotate the product to check out features of the hardware in real time to see if they fit your airline (or whatever) needs. You can next met the principles (Dimitrios Tsirangelos and Thomas Bulirsch) at this week’s ap&m (Global Procurement Expo) in London. We have it on a very good reference that these people know their business, and why not, their company reputation, experience, and even employee photo’s on their website, are the best in their industry as far as we know.

And speaking of meeting people, we ran into Paul Mees (COO) and Martijn Moret part of the team at Dutch IFE company, MI Airline. You might remember MI Airline. Here’s what they say about their product, AirFi: “Airlines without on-board WiFi capabilities have a new, low cost and flexible alternative to offer their passengers a ’connected’ experience with chat, games and ancillary sales. MI Airline is proud to announce the AirFi Box and AirFi Platform. It is a compact, portable, battery-powered and self-scaling WiFi network, not in any way connected to the aircraft. The AirFi Box is designed to be integrated into existing airline logistics and suitable to create an alternative Inflight Entertainment for all flights.” Remember? AirFi is, in short, classified as a T-PED (Transmitting Personal Electronic Device), offers lightweight multiplayer games, product catalogs, inflight ordering, (miles) payment capabilities using ‘Connected Crew’, digital magazines and newspapers, surveys, (group) chat, high value targeted advertising, destination information and basic flight information. AirFi is scalable and flexible without any modification to the aircraft. Now, wanna see a picture of a early demo unit used for testing? It’s about the size of a book and we were stunned when we saw it. Consider yourself lucky as not many people have see it!

Meet Armstrong Aerospace and Armstrong AeroMod. With over 130 total employees, Armstrong Aerospace and Armstrong AeroMod are industry “big dogs” in aero design, certification, manufacturing and installation. With over 125,000 square feet of facilities in the US, they will be a familiar name in IFEC. We like the idea that they look at design and certification work from concept to completion and, as Armstrong Aerospace’s Director of Programs Kevin Weppner told us, “time to market” is their mantra. As we understand it, Armstrong relies on 4 pillars of strength – Engineering, Analysis & Certification, Manufacturing; and in their own words, ‘Rapid Installation’. Rapid is very important when a fleet needs fast turnaround so the airline can provide new passenger services, particularly when these services will be delivering ancillary revenue. We understand they have the necessary space needed to manufacture, assemble and also install items like installation kits. This is a big deal and another reason why we like their approach to this type of business. Just as important is their sister company Armstrong AeroMod. AeroMod is a stand-alone entity that handles kit installations, and as a result, they influence Armstrong Aerospace’s designs and then “man-up” to perform the rapid installations. With over 20 years in the business, we asked what model aircraft Armstrong has worked on: “Let’s see,” said Kevin, “the Airbus A300/A320 family/A330/A340, and the Boeing B707/B727/B737/B747/B757/B767/B777/B787, not to mention a host of smaller commercial and business aircraft!” That about covers it. These folks know radomes too as they have had experience with the big ones. (As a side note, they developed BirdStriker, designed to deflect birds and completely protect radomes). We asked Kevin what kind of equipment Armstrong had in their design & installation portfolio and he rattled off a list that we had to keep up with (and we hope we got them all), “Inflight telephony and connectivity, Sat TV, Gatelink, Off-seat power, ELTs, TCAS, Autopilot, SATCOM, Wireless IFE, Pico-cell systems, Control panels, Rack & Pallets (pre-wired) and large radomes.” He noted that competitive MROs average 6+ days to complete a basic Wi-Fi retrofit installation and are not structured to perform this work quickly. Armstrong Aerospace and Armstrong AeroMod, on the other hand, do not use a dedicated crew for a particular install – their design flow is tailored with military precision to the install, not the crew! “Armstrong AeroMod workers are full-time and specialized, quite like Formula 1 teams, and we use multiple teams simultaneously. This approach proves itself out in the pace of installs AeroMod accomplishes. For instance: right now AeroMod is installing a satellite streaming and wireless IFE system with a large radome on 747s in less than four days.” And, we understand, they perform this feat worldwide. Check them out and ask Kevin for a presentation or a quote. IFExpress has been very impressed with their follow through.

Have you made arrangements to attend the next APEX TEC – the next one may be the best one yet? May 13-14 in Universal City, CA. Among the not-to-be-missed topics will be sessions on PED’s Inflight (including panelists from the FCC Wireless Bureau talking about FCC rule changes proposed for voice for cellphones onboard), Onboard Payment Technologies (featuring a presentation from the banking industry perspective by Chase Paymentech), and Closed Captions (including discussion of the DOT’s proposed rule change requiring captioning of all entertainment content). There’s more, click here.

Could this be the way that AT&T is heading for their aircraft connectivity beginning in 2015? Packet switched LTE radios/routers and VoIP apps may be their solution for higher bandwidth for fliers!

Finally, if you like kids and airplanes, you will love this Turkish Airways video advert!