Melbourne Australia March 5, 2010 — ASiQ limited announced today the release of the world’s first aircraft Bluetooth Access Point.

Ron Chapman ASiQ’s CEO stated “up until now passengers have only had very expensive options for in flight mobile phone communications however, with the evolution of our SafeCell App, combined with our new Bluetooth Access Point, airlines will now be able to offer their passengers affordable SMS, MMS, voice messaging and text email on the popular device of choice, the mobile phone. Better still SafeCell eliminates GSM roaming charges, as it does not require a GSM Picocell connection to deliver its services.”

Bluetooth access points are more efficient, as they operate as a Personal Area Network (PAN) and unlike Wi-Fi do not have the expensive and cumbersome process of connecting to the internet, in order to establish a link. The SafeCell App is unique in that file sizes are so small, even a narrow band satellite link can accommodate the basic texting needs of every passenger. Plus, Bluetooth can transmit at up to 3 megabits per second, which means it can accommodate any data or media requirement.

With ASiQ’s proprietary PAN design, two access points can cover a narrow body aircraft such as a Boeing 737 or Airbus 320. Up to 192 mobiles can be logged on to an Access Point, which more than covers every passenger onboard the aircraft.

Ron believes Bluetooth has an enormous future, which is justified by the latest ABI research.

First News Briefs for December 8, 2009 extract states “ABI Research reports that nearly 2 billion Bluetooth chipsets are forecast to ship in 2014 alone. More than half will be found in wireless handsets. In 2014, Bluetooth will be found in 70 percent of all handsets and 83 percent of all netbooks.” Compare this to the fact that less than 10% of mobiles have Wi-Fi and it’s clear to see why Bluetooth is the best solution.

When you consider that SafeCell systems will costs as little as $10k per aircraft, compared to GSM based systems costing around $500k per aircraft and a Wi-Fi system costing around $100K per aircraft for a US domestic airline and up to $350k for an intentional airline, there is no comparison.

Several airlines have been following the progress of SafeCell which was patented in January this year and Ron expects to announce the first installation of the new access point in the second quarter of 2010.

Melbourne Australia 19th February 2010
Ron Chapman CEO of ASiQ Limited announced today that SafeCell will change the rules for in-flight messaging.

Ron stated “When we created SafeCell, the initial App was designed as a low cost Mobile phone platform for corporate jets. Refer ifexpress article

We have now tested our App on every available aircraft satellite network and recently received the latest Inmarsat swift broadband aircraft system.

We activated the SafeCell App on multiple mobile phones and were simultaneously sending SMS, MMS and Voice messages in both directions. As such, we are now confident we could accommodate the messaging requirements of 400+ passengers on a jumbo.

Not only that, unlike existing systems, SafeCell does not incur GSM roaming charges and we see no reason messaging in an aircraft should be more expensive than on the ground and its time someone did something about it.

As such, for the first time in aviation communications history, the price of SafeCell in-flight messaging can actually be cheaper than on the ground. We are talking of providing an SMS service that could be as low as 5 cents per message and MMS for under 25 cents, plus Instant Messaging for free.

We know from our competitor’s flight test on QANTAS and Air France that hundreds of messages are being sent on flights, despite their high roaming charges. We believe that SafeCell’s lower cost will make it affordable for all passengers, not just the business traveller.

The SafeCell App achieves this, as it makes the Bluetooth connection on the mobile the primary link and connects to a Bluetooth hotspot in the aircraft. SafeCell delivers its service via low cost satellites through the Internet, avoiding the GSM roaming charges.

The App makes a Bluetooth dumb phone smart and a smartphone even smarter and as Bluetooth is up to 3 Mbps, speed is not an issue.

We now see SafeCell as a real option for all airlines.”

Later this month ASiQ will release the worlds first certifiable Bluetooth Hotspot

Today’s Hot Topic should really be titled “Bluetooth v3.0″ but, to put the ongoing hardware convergence into perspective, we need to look at one concept driving PEDS, or in other terminology, Mobile Phones and Mobile Internet Devices (MID’s). And don’t worry, we have Inflight Entertainment impact…but we will get to that later.

The CS-LL concept can be described as the next movement in the mobile chip world who’s goal is to increase the “gozinta’s” and “gozouta’s” of mobile devices. As we rely more on portable electronics as our go-to device, the ability to interface with new sources such as cameras, Internet, DVD Players, iPODs, keyboards, mice, etc. and new output devices and locations like LCD screens, MP3 players, Internet, etc, your mobile device needs new connections at higher speeds, utilizing less power. Frankly, so does anything working with, talking to, and generally involved with IFE.

Remember the concept of hardware convergence in the first paragraph? Well the latest specification divulged by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group meeting, v3.0, really ramps up the possibility of much higher data rates…up to 24 Mbps! The new Protocol Adaption Layer mimics the 802.11 specifications and with 2 radios (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), the latest Broadcom devices allow bifurcated data channels that let the low speed information move thru Bluetooth connections and the high bandwidth content fly down the Wi-Fi highway. What once was 3 Mbps (v2.1) is now 24 Mbps, and by using the Wi-Fi protocols, better battery efficiency is an additional benefit.

Now, the IFE connection! Bluetooth v3.0 at 24 Mbps would have some potential for data loading. Assume that a 2-hour movie in H.264 or WMV might require 1.2 to 1.5GB of storage, so you can calculate the loading time based on the Bluetooth 3.0 level of deployment. With built in Wi-Fi protocols, one can imagine the flexibility of offering a data loader that operated in wired and/or wireless modes that could be offered as “one size fits all”…it adapts itself to the loading interface.

But the real interesting application is the one using your Bluetooth v3.0 MID on an airplane. That story has already been written and you can view that application in our premier edition of the IFExpress Special Edition – link below. Further, we really got interested in the cabin potential for this new version of Bluetooth after we wrote the story. So, we contacted Ron Chapman, the Australian IFE developer featured in the Special Edition about his expectations and view of Bluetooth in the cabin.

Ron told IFExpress, “The next generation 3.0 phone becomes your inflight video screen, particularly for those regional airlines that cannot afford to install the inseat or overhead IFE. Think of the weight, power, fuel, and cost savings! Safecell airlines will provide the very first step in this direction with some content capability. Both broadcast and individual download. Yes I know it’s a small screen but look at the Nintendo DS, where will it go with Bluetooth v3.0? When we created the Safecell concept in July 2006, I was of the opinion that if your cell phone can replace your camera and MP3, player then it will replace your DVD player – you don’t need to be Einstien to work that one out. So now, it looks like it can happen. With the amount content today’s generation handles and the integration of Bluetooth v3.0 into TV’s, all the IFE manufacturer needs to do is implement a short range low power chip in each screen/seat. Passenegers could then carry on thier own content and watch on the inseat screen (or vise versa) and no more cables to plug in. Obviously battery life is key, but at the moment phones are as good a DVD player and better than laptops on battery.”

• Kevin Kahn on Redefining Mobility: Carry Small, Live Large
• New Bluetooth 3.0 specification approved
• Bluetooth 3.0 arrives with promise of eightfold speed increase
• Wikipedia: Bluetooth
• IFExpress Special Edition: ASI SafeCell