Montreal | February 11, 2014– The fastest growing brain-exercising puzzle in the world will soon take to the skies! DTI, the software division of market leading inflight entertainment expert Advanced Inflight Alliance AG, and its parent company Global Eagle Entertainment (Nasdaq: ENT), announced today that it has signed a multi-year agreement with specialty toy and puzzle company Nextoy, LLC to license the highly popular logic and math puzzle game KenKen® to airlines around the world.

November 6, 2013– Content services and solutions experts IFP and DTI are delighted to announce that they have been selected by Turkmenistan’s flag carrier, Turkmenistan Airlines, to feature inflight entertainment for the first time on board short and long-haul flights.

From January 2014, Turkmenistan Airlines will feature local and international content on seat-back systems including movies, TV shows, audio and games, to passengers traveling from Ashgabat International Airport.

“Turkmenistan Airlines is very proud to feature a roster of content on key routes from Ashgabat,” commented Ovezov Yuriy Deputy Chief, Contract Department at Turkmenistan Airlines. “We’re delighted to have IFP and DTI’s support as we strive to provide a great entertainment experience to our passengers.”

“We’re thrilled to support Turkmenistan Airlines’ IFE objectives by providing value through our group offering of AVOD content and games,” added Walé Adepoju, COO of Advanced Inflight Alliance AG, Parent company of IFP and DTI.

• Combined connectivity and entertainment revolutionize the passenger experience

Geneva, Switzerland | September 4, 2013– OnAir Play is set to revolutionize the way airline passengers spend their time onboard by combining inflight connectivity with films, TV, live news, music, games, magazines and newspapers. Passengers will now have access to a full range of content including live news and sport, updated throughout the flight and can buy destination-based goods and services to ease their arrival.

Passengers simply need to connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot to enjoy a wide range of entertainment features. The passenger interface, which is fully customizable, is highly intuitive and is compatible with all device types, regardless of brand, screen size and operating system. OnAir’s onboard GSM and Wi-Fi networks mean passengers can tweet, email, send text messages, browse the Internet and make calls.

“OnAir Play marks the start of a new era in how we spend our time during the flight”, said Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir. “On the ground the way we watch TV and films or listen to music has changed to an on-demand mentality. We can even provide passengers with regularly refreshed, time-sensitive content, such as news and sport. We want to tell people about what we’re doing, through social media, email, text messages and even talking to them. Why should it be different when we fly?”

“We know the vast majority of airline passengers carry a smartphone or tablet, and often both”, Dawkins, added. “Passengers are familiar with their own device and have all the apps they are used to including a screen whose quality is often better than those on the back of seats. OnAir Play lets airlines provide passengers with the entertainment and connectivity options they want.”

OnAir Play gives airlines the freedom to provide extensive inflight entertainment (IFE) content directly to passengers’ own personal electronic devices through the onboard wireless network. Importantly, IFE is now a viable option for short-haul and regional operators, with a passenger service differentiation and revenue generating opportunities, such as the sale of content and advertising opportunities. Airlines opting to offer OnAir Play have the option to continue working with existing content providers, or work with OnAir to create content integrated packages.

The solution was developed in conjunction with inflight entertainment expert Advanced Inflight Alliance AG (AIA) and its software group DTI, through its Wireless Inflight Services and Entertainment. It provides full video-on demand capability with secured wireless Digital Rights Management (DRM) streaming approved by major studios through renowned AIA content specialist IFP.

“Our agreement with OnAir combines the expertise of key players in the fields of content and connectivity to provide an exceptional end-to-end wireless solution to the market. It will allow airlines to save on the overall cost of their inflight entertainment services and provide efficiencies when managing their onboard content,” said Walé Adepoju, Chief Operations Officer of AIA. “We are delighted to partner with OnAir to provide airlines with this innovative solution which includes technical facilities, content services and distribution, as well as inflight software features.”

For more information and a live demo of OnAir Play, visit our booths – OnAir booth 1041, AIA booth 1012 – at the APEX Expo in Anaheim, September 9-12, 2013.

This Hot Topic began as a review of a game that our crew just can’t get enough of, and it ends with the latest in wireless IFE. While it is not a stream of conciseness Hot Topic, it just morphed as we wrote. First, the game Bookworm.

Bookworm is one of those “find the words” casual games that we stumbled upon at a computer games show 5+ years ago. The problem is, it is an addictive solution for boredom in crowded, nervous environments (like flying) that requires no manual dexterity or game controllers. It is a modern day variation of a crossword puzzle. And you know crossword puzzles they have been around since 1873 – they have 140 years of staying power. While Bookworm will probably not garner that much time on the word game list, you probably should try it if you enjoy word games in English. We contacted the company and they said; ” Readers can go to PopCap.com and download the game for free, trial it for an hour at no cost, then decide if they want to purchase it. They can also play the free online edition, found here, for as long as they like; however, that online version won’t save their scores or be full screen or be playable offline or have lots of other bells and whistles that the deluxe, downloadable edition includes. Also, we don’t believe Bookworm is available for any languages beyond English.” We might also note that you can get a copy for $3 at Big Fish Games if you are a new customer.

We got curious about the inflight issues with games and OS differences so we contacted DTI’s Patrick Larocque, Sales VP and he told IFExpress: “We are in the process of bringing all our existing games, brands included, in Android format. This includes branded titles such as Bookworm, Bejeweled and Battleship and many others. We are able to do this because our tools used to build / adapt games allow an easy port to Android with minimal work – we only need to refresh the design and the game interface. Since we have the source code on most of our current games, we can do it easily and quickly. In addition to our current catalogue moving to Android, we have also acquired a number of studio native Android titles coming from the consumer market, and are ready to deploy them on Android based IFE systems. For example, we have a great collection of Sega Classic and new Android s games as well as games from other studios such as Big Fish.”

Patrick went on to say, “It is also important to point out that we have already sold games packages for Android systems to a few airlines, and that list is growing. Some packages sold by DTI contain over 70 of our most popular titles and new brands. These packages have already been delivered to the hardware vendors for these specific airlines, but at this time we can’t divulge which airline picked what until they announce the entry in service of their new Android systems themselves. The only thing I can say is that announcements should be made pretty soon. In addition, we are also finalizing package deals with other airlines that are still in the midst of selecting their hardware vendors for new Android IFE systems. These airlines are looking at entry in service mid to late 2014.”

“Although Android opens up new possibilities for airlines, all is not perfect. At this stage and for a foreseeable future, Android running IFE systems will still carry some of the limitations found on the “traditional” Linux or Windows IFE platforms:

1. Most Android native games and applications found in the consumer market are only available with a touch-only interface, and are not handset ready. This is an issue for aircraft with multiple seating classes: if an economy class IFE screen is within the reach of passengers, this is not the case for business or first class seats, where the screen could be as far as 1 meter from the passenger. This means the latest and greatest games could fly in economy, but are a no go in business or first class. An airline going straight to a studio to get games will have to find a fix to that hurdle, and the economics for any of the majors to do a fix for one airline are not enticing. Airlines would have to pay a huge sum of money for the fix and maintenance. This explains why aggregators such as DTI are an essential part of the process: we can spread that cost on many customers and on many years.

2. The current technology being deployed is already a few years old when compared to the current class of hardware shown in the consumer market: this means that whatever is popular today may not run on the current hardware – only older, discontinued versions would work, and would need to be supported. Things such as frame rates, graphic acceleration etc. limit what can run well.

3. The IFE market economics, game wise, are such that it does not make business sense for major studios to invest in that market. This is the reason why companies, such as ours, are needed to acquire IFE rights, adapt the product and support it for the duration of the system’s life (something the studio do not even do: nobody support old games that are only working on the iPhone 3. The market forces the consumer to upgrade its devices in order to play with the new stuff).”

The concept of game playing on aircraft naturally led to a discussion and the question of additional fee’s for doing so. To date, we have not heard of a tacked-on IFE fee, although some airlines charge for movies that help return some revenue to offset costs for entertainment offerings. Internationally, those fee’s don’t seem to exist except on a few low cost carriers.

Finally, we wondered if there were any new paradigms in the content world. More specifically, we wondered if there was a lower cost IFE system (probably wireless) that had figured out how to leverage all the free content available and offer it as part of the system. We did a story on Thompson last year but it was time to check out the market. We wanted to get an idea of what was going down in the Wi-Fi IFE world so we contacted Web Barth, CEO of StoreBox Inflight, an inflight start-up that has a novel approach to wireless IFE – free, or almost free, content. If the name sounds familiar, Web was one of the principals of digEplayer, the first onboard, airlines owned IFE (The product is still being manufactured today, we might add), He told IFExpress, “We think we have the lightest, least expensive, wireless IFE solution today,” he told IFExpress. After a complete rundown of the system’s capability, we asked him for one chart extolling the feature and benefits of their wireless solution so our readers can get a better idea of their offering. You be the judge:

You can contact Web at StoreBox Inflight or call the company at 425 462-4054 in Bellevue Washington, USA. And yes, they will be at APEX!

So, as you can see, this industry is changing fast. Please take you portable devices on your next flight, who knows, you might be in a wireless IFE environment after all.

Don’t forget THE US event for IFEC, APEX/IFSA in Anaheim CA, September 9 – 12, 2013.

Montreal, Canada | July 15, 2013– DTI, the world’s leading provider of in-flight games, has signed an agreement with entertainment giant SEGA® of America, Inc. to supply some of the world’s most well-known gaming titles to airlines, including several games from the global phenomenon Sonic the Hedgehog™ series, Golden Axe™ and Streets of Rage 3™. DTI is wholly owned by Advanced Inflight Alliance (AIA), a subsidiary of Global Eagle Entertainment Inc.

DTI, which serves over 90% of the in-flight gaming market and provides entertainment to more than 100 airlines around the world, has signed a licensing agreement for over a dozen of SEGA®’s games which can all be played on the industry’s latest Android-based seat-back and portable in-flight entertainment platforms, as well as legacy systems.

The games will be featured in DTI’s Elite Brands Collection, its new collection of premium branded games for airlines which will include some of the world’s most recognizable and sought-after brands, and adds to DTI’s existing catalog of over 70 Android games.

Alexis Steinman, Managing Director of DTI commented: “SEGA® video games are among the most recognized and best-loved games of all time and we’re very excited to add such an illustrious brand to our catalog. This partnership provides airlines with a unique way of engaging with their passengers by enhancing their in-flight entertainment programs with high quality and distinguishable brands.”

“We’re excited to bring our entertainment brand to airline passengers around the world,” added David Zemke, Director of Mobile Business Development, at SEGA® of America, Inc. “We take pride in making games for all platforms and this will enable a whole new audience to enjoy some of SEGA’s most well-known games during their flight.”

Montreal, Canada | July 3, 2013– DTI, the world’s leading provider of in-flight games and entertainment solutions, has signed a multi-year agreement with Air Madagascar to supply the airline with a suite of in-flight entertainment games.

The agreement is part of a broader strategy for Air Madagascar to bolster its service offering on long-haul flights. The airline will be offering passengers flying internationally a cabin-wide selection of strategy and puzzle games from DTI’s extensive catalog.

Montreal, Canada | March 25, 2013– DTI, the leading provider of in-flight digital reading solutions, has signed an exclusive agreement with Condé Nast Mexico & Latin America for the digital versions of the most popular magazines in Latin America including Glamour, Vogue, GQ and AD.

From March 2013, airlines equipped with DTI’s in-flight digital eReader solution will be able to select and add these monthly magazines to their in-flight entertainment programme. This agreement is part of a wider strategy for DTI to provide the most extensive catalog of regional and international digital publications to airlines and their passengers.

“We believe that digital reading solutions are a key component of the in-flight passenger experience,” explained Walé Adepoju, Executive Director of DTI. “As we push to make this product a standard feature on today’s IFE platforms, our strategy is to provide a strong content focus relevant to passengers around the world. We’re therefore delighted to partner with Condé Nast Mexico & Latin America on this exciting in-flight content opportunity.”

“We’re thrilled to offer added exposure of some of our most popular titles through the in-flight entertainment market,” explained Eva Hughes, CEO of Condé Nast Mexico & Latin America. “Airline passengers are a uniquely captive audience. Our agreement with DTI therefore provides our magazines with an opportunity to engage with readers in a different environment.”

Hong Kong | December 11, 2012– IMDC, the IFE industry’s leading independent consulting services provider, has held the first ever training course on wireless technologies. Organized in Hong Kong, the event specifically targeted Asian airlines and aimed to provide relevant and detailed information to those currently considering wireless solutions.

Sponsored by IFP, The Passenger Experience Provider™, and IFE solutions expert DTI Solutions, the two-day workshop attracted over 20 delegates from 9 airlines across Asia.

Training Course topics included understanding wireless connectivity trends and exploring the opportunities and challenges of implementing wireless solutions on both narrow and wide-body aircraft.

If you would like to take part in a future wireless training course or if you would like to find out more about wireless solutions, please contact: robert.smith@imdc.net

Santiago, Chile | November 6, 2012– DTI Solutions (DTI), the in-flight applications and solutions expert, announced today that it has provided TAM Airlines with the latest version of its popular digital reading solution eReader complete with a variety of customized South American content negotiated and supplied by DTI.

From today, passengers onboard TAM’s new 777-300 fleet will be able to enjoy an enhanced experience by looking through a full programme of local weekly and monthly titles including Paraguay’s monthly publication Chic, Venezuela’s leading women’s magazine Estampas and popular Brazilian news and business titles Istoe, Istoe Dinheiro and Carta Capital.

DTI provides full content services for its eReader solution, negotiating the supply of some of the largest magazine titles with publishers from ten different countries.

Patrick Préfontaine, DTI Solutions’ President, explains: “DTI’s expertise in software and content services and our acute understanding of airline content needs made this a natural transition towards providing fully customized content with our eReader solution. We are delighted that TAM have selected DTI as their content service provider of choice for the eReader application as we aim to expand our services to providing more airlines with customized content with our applications.”

Each passenger on board TAM’s new 777-300 fleet has a wide selection of reading material. DTI will be monitoring the publishing market to ensure new relevant publications are added in aircraft digital libraries.

December 6, 2010 — Following the success of the APEX partnership with ORBIS in 2010, Inflight Productions, Atlas, DTI and Fairdeal are delighted to also be supporting ORBIS in the UK. By replacing the traditional Seasonal Greetings card with an e-card, the group has donated the savings to ORBIS in support of the life-transforming work the charity carries out saving sight worldwide. Following this donation IFP London staff received a visit from Karen Jaques, ORBIS EMA and Heather Machin, Director of Nursing for the Flying Eye Hospital. Heather spends 42 weeks of the year travelling with the Flying Eye Hospital team and explained in detail the unique work that ORBIS does from surgery and training, to hospital based teaching programmes and community outreach work.

Leigh Mantle, IFP Technical Director and APEX Board member says ‘We’re really pleased to be supporting ORBIS and feel lucky that Heather was able to visit us and share the exceptional work they are doing with our staff. We will be looking at other ways we can support ORBIS over the next year.’

Dorling Kindersley, the world renowned publisher of illustrated non-fiction, has announced a contract with DTI Software to create in-flight entertainment software using DK digital content.

DTI is a leader in the In-Flight Entertainment market; with this deal, they have created in-flight applications from the DK list to sell into airlines. Initially, content has been taken from the DK Essential Managers business series – with interactive software available in English, French and German due to be launched on eleven SWISS aircraft from the end of April – as well as content from the world’s bestselling Children’s education series, Eyewitness, and the market leading DK Top 10 Travel series.

DK’s digital licensing department has previously worked with DTI on a deal to use Rough Guides content on Singapore Airlines, with travel content now available on the new fleet of A380 aircraft .
Tom Hall, Head of Digital Licensing – DK and Rough Guides, says “We are delighted with this new partnership with DTI Software, which really cements our position to extend content into the in-flight space. Travellers want a whole range of entertainment options, from movies, games and applications, and our trusted reference content can add real depth to the quality of applications on offer.”

The DTI deal is the latest success story in DK’s ambitious plan to convert its catalogue into digital formats, using XML technology and digital rights management. The digital content can then be translated into any language meaning that companies can offer, under license, some of the most authoritative content on the market to their customers and clients via books, desktop computers and mobile devices.

DK’s entire backlist, spanning three decades, is in the process of being digitally converted, including billions of words and millions of images. The resulting wealth of digital content can be tailored to individual requirements, with current clients including MSN, Promethean, and Motorola.

Following on from the Eyewitness Travel Guides series, which is the world’s bestselling travel guides, DTI in conjunction with DK now offers a series for shorter guides to IFE environment. DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides feature the 10 best of everything to see and do in cities and regions across the globe. Passengers can now have access to loads of information and plan their trip from the comfort of their seats. The rich content and amazing illustrations of DK Travel will captivate passengers of all ages (recommended age: 8 and older). DK Travel offers a wide selection of destinations in a user friendly and interactive multimedia experience. It’s also a good way for airlines to promote their destinations