Press Release:

“On June 22, 2016, due to liquidity constraints, Lumexis Corporation (“Lumexis”) suspended many aspects of its business operations and was forced to terminate the majority of its personnel. Over the past few weeks, the Lumexis Board, Company President (Lou Sharkey) and CFO (Marty Breen) have been actively engaged in a process to find an acquirer for the Company/Assets. Lumexis is currently in discussions with multiple groups regarding a potential transaction. The Company expects to conclude this process in the coming weeks.”

“During this period the Company has been in constant communication with its customers and suppliers. Lumexis management is grateful for all the support received from their customers, supply chain and industry partners during this transition. As more updates and clarification on the future of Lumexis become available, further updates will be openly communicated.”

“Questions to Lumexis may be addressed to ‘lsharkey@lumexis.com’. Please note that due to the volume of inquiries from various interested parties, Lumexis may not be in a position to respond to calls or messages in as timely a manner as we would like.”

Some Relevant History:

If you are new to the IFEC industry you may not know about the elegant fiber optic IFE solution that the Lumexis folks in Irvine developed starting in 2003. We thought you might find some of the highlights from the last decade. Here is a bit of background:

•  March 2009: US Airways trial of the next generation in inflight entertainment system FTTS (Fiber Optic to the Seat) by Lumexis. Link
• November 2009: Lumexis Corporation secures $15 million investment led by Perseus, LLC and wins large airline order. Read the full story.
• June 2010: Their first customer, flydubai… 44 B737-800’s will be post delivery modified in the US and that each seat will have a Lumexis display that acts as an entertainment portal with credit card swipe capability. Read the full story.
• April 2011: TRANSAERO Airlines of Russia, today joined Lumexis CEO Doug Cline in announcing the airline’s selection of Lumexis’s cutting-edge FTTS (Fiber-To-The-Screen[R]) technology, to begin immediately with full-cabin retrofit of four 373-seat Boeing 777-300s this year and three 522-seat B747-400s starting first quarter of 2012. The full story.
• February 2012: Pacific Royale Airways, today joined Lumexis® CEO Doug Cline in announcing the airline’s selection of Lumexis’ cutting‐edge FTTS® (Fiber‐To‐The‐Screen®) technology, to begin building out its fleet of A320 aircraft with five installations in 2012. Read More.
• April 2013: Leading international air carrier Turkish Airlines, winner of the coveted Best European Airline Award from Skytrax for two consecutive years, announced that it has selected Lumexis Corporation’s Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS) fiber optic IFEC system for installation into two of its existing A330 fleet aircraft. The full story.
• April 2013: Lumexis’s Second Screen concept, we contacted Rich Salter and asked about the product, but first, a few words about what it is. The concept is so simple, you are probably using a similar concept at home while watching TV or reading this email. Sitting in front of almost any work or household screen (TV, computer, whatever) you probably have another connectivity device for checking mail, tweets, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. In other words you are multitasking, because you can. The beauty of the Lumexis Second Screen feature is easy to see. The full Hot Topic.
• April 2014: Lumexis has taken a revolutionary step forward in terms of IFE touch screen aesthetics and functionality with the launch of its new Fast Adaptable Swipe and Touch (FAST) graphical user interface (GUI). The full story.
• April 2015: “Lumexis has taken another industry-leading step forward with the launch of its unprecedented new iPAX in-flight entertainment (IFE) product – a wireless-streaming in-seat system at the ultra-low price of $1,495 and weight of only 8.9 ounces per seat.” And lets face it, delivering a wireless connectivity cloud solution to seatback IFE is a lot cheaper than running cable bundles of wires to each seat via routers and division multiplexers. But, the really interesting story here is that Lumexis announced the price up front. We do not remember an IFE hardware provider ad that gave prices in our 22 years of publishing – so this is a first. Let’s read on “Some three-fourths of single-aisle aircraft fly on short-to-medium haul routes that could never before benefit from embedded IFEC,” said Lumexis CEO Doug Cline. “That paradigm is turned upside down with iPAX, truly the first cost-effective HD video tool for earning significant new ancillary revenue from offering a diversity of products and services.” Read the full story.
• May 2015: Lumexis Corporation today announce that their Lumexis Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) In-Flight Entertainment system has been made offerable for linefit on both the 737 NG and 737 MAX families of aircraft. Read the full story.
• September 2015: Lumexis Corporation today announced that their Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) In-Flight Entertainment system has been selected by Caribbean Airlines for installation on their fleet of B737 aircraft. Read the full story.

Additionally, we should note that the Lumexis Corporation has some of the best employees we have ever worked with. We would like to close this news piece by asking our readers who might have a requirement for some very good technical and business people to consider these folks as potential assets to your companies. If you need more information on how to contact Lumexis see the above press release; however, we will be happy to forward any contact information you require.

Lastly, one of the best parts of working in technology is the association of smart and innovative people who can think how a technology could eventually become a product. In the case of Lumexis, one meeting in the 2004 time-frame clearly remains in our memory. This was a meeting with Doug Cline, Rich Salter and IFExpress. They carried a dissected future IFE computer that interfaced with the fiber optic data network, it had all the participants giddy with a visualized future of inflight entertainment. At the time, this was the newest thing ‘with virtually unlimited’ IFE bandwidth and the discussion and vision of the future could almost be seen as the meeting drifted into the evening. Make no mistake, It is meetings like these in aviation and information technology that are a creative joy to participate in, and events like this that make this industry worthwhile. Stay Tuned!

“On June 22, 2016, due to liquidity constraints, Lumexis Corporation (“Lumexis”) suspended many aspects of its business operations and was forced to terminate the majority of its personnel. Over the past few weeks, the Lumexis Board, Company President (Lou Sharkey) and CFO (Marty Breen) have been actively engaged in a process to find an acquirer for the Company/Assets. Lumexis is currently in discussions with multiple groups regarding a potential transaction. The Company expects to conclude this process in the coming weeks.”

“During this period the Company has been in constant communication with its customers and suppliers. Lumexis management is grateful for all the support received from their customers, supply chain and industry partners during this transition. As more updates and clarification on the future of Lumexis become available, further updates will be openly communicated.”

“Questions to Lumexis may be addressed to ‘lsharkey@lumexis.com’. Please note that due to the volume of inquiries from various interested parties, Lumexis may not be in a position to respond to calls or messages in as timely a manner as we would like.”

Lumexis

“It’s been very busy lately,” noted Jon Norris, Lumexis VP, Sales & Marketing, “…because the Boeing 737NG, and the 737MAX have taken a lot of our recent attention!”  In case you didn’t know, the FTTS (fiber to the seat) system is a revolutionary high-bandwidth AVOD passenger entertainment, communication and retail platform having the lowest cost of ownership over the life of the system. FTTS is easily upgraded in capacity and functionality at unprecedentedly low cost to maintain ongoing ‘leading edge’ performance and is applicable to every aircraft type in an airline’s fleet. Last year, the Lumexis FTTS system received line-fit approval for Boeing single-aisle aircraft. Line-fit offerability from Boeing speaks for itself. The company is currently pursuing line-fit offerability at Airbus for their single-aisle aircraft as well. Perhaps the most important aspect of line-fit offerability is that airlines can order planes to be delivered with their choice of IFE, making the installation process a little bit faster. When asked about the benefits of linefit offerability Jon Norris said, “We have had a very positive response from airlines since Boeing line-fit offerability was announced which has led to a considerable number of invitations to bid on current and future 737 Next-Generation and MAX IFE RFPs.Achieving linefit on both the 737 NG and MAX is a significant step forward for Lumexis as it gives us access to a market of more than 500 new Boeing 737 aircraft a year at current production rates (with those build rates increasing year-on-year). In addition it reinforces our position as one of the major IFE system suppliers and increases our standing and credibility within the retrofit market as well as with other airframers. Linefit installations are very similar to retrofit installations. , e.g., the FTTS servers installed on the E8 rack in the electronics bay, 28 VDC power supply units installed in the sidewalls (each power supply drives 15 seat displays), fiber cables are run from the servers up to and behind the ceiling panels and then overhead along the cabin and dropped down to the seat groups. As per the retrofit installation FTTS VDUs are installed by the seat manufacturer and are supplied to Renton pre-installed in the seats.”  

FTTS uses IFE touch screen aesthetics and functionality with their Fast Adaptable Swipe and Touch (FAST) graphical user interface (GUI). The FAST GUI responds to tablet swipe gestures as well as soft-touch selection of all entertainment menu items providing an exciting and entertaining passenger experience.FAST provides an intuitive feature-rich user interface that makes significant use of images to ensure that passengers can quickly find the IFE content that they’re looking for. With FTTS’s massive 3 TB real-time server library airlines can offer several hundred, full-length, HD movies to every passenger accompanied by unlimited language, sub-titles and captions. FTTS provides exceptional flexibility and ease of GUI modification/customization. The system can feature local news, run e-reader applications, and has pinch and zoom capabilities.

Over the past 18 months Lumexis has also been addressing the need for an ultra-low cost IFE system for single-aisle aircraft. As a result, they launched iPAX in 2015.  “Lumexis has taken another industry-leading step forward with the launch of its unprecedented new iPAX™ in-flight entertainment (IFE) product – a wireless-streaming in-seat system at the ultra-low price of $1,495 and weight of only 8.9 ounces per seat.” And lets face it, delivering a wireless connectivity cloud solution to seatback IFE is a lot cheaper than running cable bundles of wires to each seat via routers and division multiplexers. We asked about the functionality of the system and Mr. Norris told IFExpress that iPAX is a wireless/seat-centric hybrid system blending local storage with wireless streaming to optimize available bandwidth and performance. The system even has built in capability to provide a passenger-to-crew ordering system. We also inquired about the wireless WAP efficiency and he told IFExpress that “between 40-50 passengers will be served by each WAP simultaneously which calls for approximately 3 to 4 per each single-aisle plane… obviously determined by the choice of WAP and type of content.” System price was another astounding feature of the iPAX seat display units and the inseat power (2.1A USB) is a Lumexis product that is available as an option.

Lumexis has made some adjustments since the launch of iPAX, e.g., the screen today is ultra HD and slightly larger than it’s predecessor. The iPAX inseat screen for viewing can have an optional 2.1A USB port and credit card swipe, all with standard GUI. The company clearly has the 12 thousand single-aisle retrofit aircraft market clearly in their sites with this product. Lumexis touts that iPAX is half the weight of a standard overhead system.

Currently, Lumexis is on its 4th generation of FTTS (the 3rd generation of which is flying on flydubai, Batik Air and Malindo Air (of the Lion Air Group) and Turkish Airlines. The 4th generation has exactly the same fit and form as its predecessor featuring either 10.1” or 12.1” screen (on single aisle aircraft) and additionally 15.4” and 23” screens for wide body aircraft, mobile processor (2.5 GHz quad-core processor), and uses Android Lollipop for the operating system. This generation of FTTS has increased processing power, offers multi-languages with subtitles, and the interface is absolutely instantaneous. “The beauty of Android is we can take any Android-based App and host it quickly on our system,” said Jon. “We believe this is the highest performance platform on the market today!” 

Lumexis is also offering a hybrid system. Airlines can offer FTTS inseat AVOD to their business/first class passengers and iPAX inseat AVOD content to their economy travelers. Lumexis foresees a large demand for this split offering, especially in the Asia-Pacific and China markets.

(We encourage our readers to check out the videos and accompanying data on the Lumexis site – PLWiseman/Publisher & Editor)

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IFEC News:

American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL)  has selected ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global broadband services and technology company, to outfit its new Boeing 737 MAX fleet with ViaSat’s in-flight internet service. The ViaSat in-flight internet service has been recognized with multiple industry awards for delivering the best performing, highest-quality and fastest in-flight internet experience. The service encourages higher passenger engagement per plane by offering an ‘at home’ internet experience when in-flight – with the ability to stream movies, videos, television and music, as well as surf the web, upload pictures to social media, email large files and more.  The new American planes will tap into the power of ViaSat’s advanced high capacity Ka-band satellite system, which will include ViaSat-1, ViaSat-2 and ViaSat-3 satellite platforms, and has more capacity in orbit than any other in-flight Wi-Fi provider. American will leverage ViaSat’s first two generation satellite platforms, which together provide more capacity than all of the commercial satellites over North America combined. When the first ViaSat-3 class satellite platform launches in 2019, it will more than double the capacity again. With its capacity-rich satellite platforms, ViaSat is able to deliver the fastest, highest quality in-flight internet service to each connected device on a plane.

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Other:

• We have been waiting for new BOSE wireless noise cancelling QuietComfort 35’s headphones and QuietControl QC 30 earbuds, and here they are – Bose’s Best Noise-Canceling Headphones Finally Go Wireless
• Satellite broadband hardware and service provider ViaSat Inc. on May 24 said it would accelerate investment in its terabit-per-second-throughput ViaSat 3 satellite program and continue to invest in licenses for its airline-connectivity business. – See more
• The folks at NOKIA are really on top of airport connectivity (even planes) and you might want to note how they see the value of LTE in airport communications (and possibly aircraft) future in the evolution to LTE.
• SITAONAIR sent IFExpress an interesting infographic outlining “What Passengers Want Infligh”t – you can find it here
• The following link is to US Underwriters Laboratories (UL) short outline for the future of there Internet of Things (IoT). While not data-rich, the seven-page outline gives the reader a quick and dirty view of the coming business and in their words, “a general introduction to the technologies and standards that are expected to support the continued widespread deployment of the IoT”. While aviation is largely not mentioned, transportation is – you be the judge. It is probably too early to talk of aviation impact but it will happen. Here is the link and here is a short example of the data inside: “Bluetooth and variants—The Bluetooth protocol (based on IEEE 802.15.1) also operates in LAN-based environments at distances typically up to 10 meters, although some Bluetooth-enabled devices will work at distances of up to 100 meters. Bluetooth’s principle advantages are its low rate of power consumption, the capacity to handle multiple devices simultaneously, and its ability to transmit wirelessly without visual line of sight contact. A Bluetooth variant, Bluetooth LE (also known as Bluetooth Smart) offers all of Bluetooth’s communications advantages at significantly reduced power consumption rates.”
• Drones will be at airports, as we noted some months ago, however, the un wanted ones may face issues soon. US airports to put drone-disabling system to the test
• We hesitate to title this read as the Bangalore Mirror did but five Georgia Tech students “have developed a system that helps long-haul passenger flights dispose of waste generated on board while simulating the functions of the human digestive system.”
• “AIRBUS has unveiled 4-meter-long electric-powered airplane manufactured via 3D printing; aircraft is comprised of around 50 3D printed parts and two electric motors.” SpeedNews
• Security Tips for International Travelers says it all – nine data travel tips! IT Security Tips for International Travel
• Think you have been “pwned” (Look it up!)? This site is really useful and we found one site hacked with a password to be changed! – Have I been pwned? Check if your email has been compromised in a data breach
• Staying up on cyber intelligence? There is an app for that – The Threat Brief on the App Store and in Android –  The Threat Brief – Android Apps on Google Play
• Ever heard of Ian Poole? He is the editor of a terrific technical website called Radio-Electronics.com. If you like EE stuff. Here are a couple good articles he penned – LED Technology: What is a LED? | Light Emitting Diode | Technology Tutorial and Radio Signal Path Loss: Radio Signal Path Loss :: Radio-Electronics.Com All stuff many of our readers like.

Perhaps the best flying motto ever was recently spotted on an editor’s desk: “Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.”

Irvine, CA | September 29, 2015– Lumexis Corporation today announce that their Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) In-Flight Entertainment system has been selected by Caribbean Airlines for installation on their fleet of B737 aircraft.

“We are delighted to be working with Lumexis to introduce their FTTS IFE system as part of the cabin upgrade project being rolled out across our B737 fleet” said George Reeleder, Caribbean Airlines Vice President Commercial and Customer Service. “FTTS will play a significant role in raising customer satisfaction by delivering our promises in providing the highest standards of service and reliability marked by genuine Caribbean hospitality, commitment to safety and consistent value delivered by passionate people.”

We are extremely pleased to welcome Caribbean Airlines as our latest airline customer,” said Jon Norris, Lumexis Vice President Sales. “In addition to continuing the in-service success of the FTTS system, Caribbean Airlines are the launch customer for FTTS Second Screen™ which enables passengers to use their own tablets and smartphones simultaneously at their seat without interrupting the entertainment running in the FTTS HD monitors.”

Lumexis President and Chief Operating Officer Lou Sharkey adds, “We are delighted to partner with Caribbean Airlines to bring to their passengers our award winning Inflight Entertainment system”.

First, you might want to read the announcement from Lumexis about their successful line-fit approval for Boeing single-aisle aircraft here.

Next, this is a big deal in the inflight entertainment business and it has been at least 15 years since we noted anything this important in IFEC! While Lumexis has completed some 70+ Boeing on-site retrofits for 5 airlines, this announcement will make the installation a bit faster and, we note, Boeing offerability speaks for itself. Most important though, airlines can order planes to be delivered with their choice of IFE. To get a better feeling for the internal impact of this announcement we asked a few employees at Lumexis about the deal. First, here is what Jon Norris (Lumexis Vice President Sales) told IFExpress:

IFExpress: Can you tell us a little about the process of becoming Boeing Approved for your Lumexis System, things like Boeing Requirements, installation requirements, where the installations will occur, what condition you folks will receive the planes in, and how long the process will take (roughly)?

Norris: Lumexis has been working closely with Boeing to keep them updated on the FTTS IFE system and our successful post-delivery modification programs on B737s since installations started back in 2010. Following the signing of a Technical Service Agreement Lumexis has worked with Boeing’s Cabin Systems Technology Center to agree and define system and installation requirements as well as evaluate the FTTS technology for compliance with FAA and Boeing regulations. The FTTS installation will be completed as part of the regular linefit flowline production process at the 737 production line in Renton, WA.

IFExpress: We have visited a couple of B737 installations in Everett, WA, and we assume the installation process will differ from that of a retrofit installation – can you describe in some detail the difference?

Norris: Boeing installations will be very similar to the retrofit installation, e.g., an additional shelf will be installed on the E8 rack in the electronics bay for the FTTS servers, 28 VDC power supply units will be installed in the sidewalls (each power supply drives 15 seat displays), fiber cables are run from the servers up to and behind the ceiling panels and then overhead along the cabin and dropped down to sidewall disconnects. As per the retrofit installation FTTS VDUs are installed by the seat manufacturer and are supplied to Renton pre-installed in the seats.

IFExpress: Please tell our readers what airlines have said about the Boeing approval and why do you think it will be a game changer?

Norris: We have had a very positive response from airlines since Boeing linefit offerability was announced which has led to a considerable number of invitations to bid on current and future 737 Next-Generation and MAX IFE RFPs. Achieving linefit on both the 737 NG and MAX is a significant step forward for Lumexis as it gives us access to a market of more than 500 new Boeing 737 aircraft a year at current production rates (with those build rates increasing year-on-year). In addition it reinforces our position as one of the major IFE system suppliers and increases our standing and credibility within the retrofit market as well as with other airframers.

IFExpress: Could we get a few team quotes from your people/management?

“Boeing qualification and approval of the IFE boxes (LRUs) differs from FAA STC retrofit approval, since Boeing is concerned about proper functional operation as well as all safety aspects of the boxes on their aircraft, so the demonstration of functionality and safety qualification for line-fit is extensive,” said Rich Salter Lumexis Chief Technical Officer.

“The Lumexis team is delighted with the significant achievement of having gained Boeing’s confidence in our company’s leading edge FTTS system and team,” said Doug Cline, Lumexis Chief Executive Officer.

Lumexis President and Chief Operating Officer Lou Sharkey adds, “This will make Lumexis the first new IFE company to be approved by Boeing in many years. We are immeasurably pleased and appreciative of this recognition.”

“The FTTS system is a revolutionary high-bandwidth AVOD passenger entertainment, communication and retail platform having the lowest cost of ownership over the life of the system. FTTS is easily upgraded in capacity and functionality at unprecedentedly low cost to maintain ongoing ‘leading edge’ performance and is applicable to every aircraft type in an airline’s fleet.”

IFExpress: Could you tell our readers about the time and effort that went into this effort?

Norris: Considerable airline interest is required before Boeing will consider entering a Technical Service Agreement (TSA) with a new IFE supplier. We are fortunate to have secured a couple of customers (flydubai and Lion Air) who between them have more than 350 737s on order.

IFExpress: Lastly, what will the benefit be to airlines and customers?

Norris: FTTS is the perfect system to both entertain airline passengers (featuring dynamic language and Closed Caption selections from dozens of available languages) and to maximize ancillary revenue for services and products. Only FTTS is proven in-service to support full cabin streaming of HD video content to 500+ passengers simultaneously.

“Boeing has worked closely with Lumexis through the offerability process to evaluate the FTTS technology on Boeing 737 platforms,” said Mike Murphy, chief project engineer for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

For more information, please contact Jon Norris, VP Sales; (+1) 949 486 7011; jnorris@lumexis.com

There you have it, a new Boeing offerable IFE vendor, and, you can bet this will change the marketplace. IFExpress will be there to keep our readers up to date on this industry happening. Stay Tuned!

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For those who eschew inflight telephony and use it outside the US, be advised that a relatively new, technology-based Utah company, Cypher may be on the trail of a software-based, background noise canceling technology for your phone. Basically, the technology isolates the speaker’s voice and eliminates the background totally. Cypher has partnered with CEVA,  for cellular platform IP and DSP licenses, that will help offer its technology to smartphones, tablets and the like. The combined solution adds Cypher’s voice-isolation software with the CEVA-TeakLite-4DSP for inclusion in devices. The Cypher product is not in any commercial devices today but is talking to chip-makers and OEM’s. What is amazing and potentially applicable to onboard aircraft use is the fact that Cypher’s patented voice isolation technology eliminates more than 99 percent of background noise and also improves user speech recognition and, as one report notes, “… it cuts the word error rate by 40 percent in noisy environments. Cypher showed as much as 17 times more background noise reduction than today’s most popular cell phones, according to the company. Overall, the results show a virtually complete elimination of background noise with accompanying improvement in audio quality.” Stay Tuned on this one…

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Looking for a predictive app that lets you in on potential aircraft seat fares and will alert you to deals, and acts as a way to get you a seat deal? Look no further. Hopper is sort of an app-based travel agent. You can find it in Android and iOS here. We liked that the app looks at various carriers and helps you to make the booking.

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PORTLAND PREVIEW

This update is booze related, so if you find yourself in Portland with the need for a gin & tonic, here is your chance to “do the West Coast Thing.” Look for Portland produced Aviation Gin for your G&T, and yes, we note it because it is named “Aviation.” The small batch product is reportedly made with interesting additives like sarsaparilla and lavender. Happy flying.

Irvine, CA | August 31, 2015– Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Lumexis Corporation today announce that the Lumexis Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) In-Flight Entertainment system is now offerable for linefit on both the Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX families of aircraft.

“The Lumexis team is delighted with the significant achievement of having gained Boeing’s confidence in our company’s leading edge FTTS system and team,” said Doug Cline, Lumexis Corporation Chief Executive Officer. “We are most appreciative of their supportive and collaborative offerability team, and we look forward to seeing the first FTTS system installed on the 737 production line in the very near future.”

“Boeing has worked closely with Lumexis through the offerability process to evaluate the FTTS technology on Boeing 737 platforms,” said Mike Murphy, chief project engineer for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “This is an offering which can be selected immediately by our worldwide airline customers.”

Lumexis President and Chief Operating Officer Lou Sharkey adds, “This will make Lumexis the first new IFE company to be approved by Boeing in many years. We are immeasurably pleased and appreciative of this recognition.”

Irvine, CA | June 29, 2015– The Lumexis Corporation today announced that Dubai-based airline flydubai will continue to use the award-winning Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) In-Flight Entertainment system for its follow-on order of 11 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft on order for 2016 and 2017. The announcement extends the strong partnership which began in 2010 as flydubai became Lumexis’s launch customer.

“flydubai continues to invest in the latest technology to ensure that our passengers are getting the best onboard experience,” said Daniel Kerrison, flydubai’s Vice President Inflight Product. “Being the launch customer for the FTTS system, we were very happy with what it had to offer and we look forward to rolling out the new 4th generation of the system which will enter service with flydubai from May 2016.”

The award-winning Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) In-Flight Entertainment system has been part of the flydubai experience since 2010, providing passengers with over 1,300 hours of television shows, audio, games and movie titles in Arabic, English, Hindi and Russian. Selected for its light weight and cutting-edge technology, the efficient HD system with the unique FTTS fiber optic network is half the cost and weight of earlier generation, copper-based systems. As a result, the airline could achieve lower fuel burn while generating ancillary revenue.

“The Lumexis team is delighted to be continuing our partnership with flydubai,” said Lou Sharkey, Lumexis President and Chief Operating Officer. “With their flexible service and revolutionary High Definition IFE system, flydubai has consistently set new benchmarks for inflight customer experience”.

Irvine, California | May 12, 2015– Lumexis Corporation today announce that their Lumexis Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) In-Flight Entertainment system has been made offerable for linefit on both the 737 NG and 737 MAX families of aircraft.

“The Lumexis team is delighted with the significant achievement of having gained Boeing’s confidence in our company’s leading edge FTTS system and team,” said Doug Cline, Lumexis Corporation Chief Executive Officer. “We are most appreciative of their supportive and collaborative offerability team, and we look forward to seeing the first FTTS system installed on the 737 production line in the very near future.”

“Lumexis has worked closely with Boeing through their Technical Services Agreement (TSA) process to develop and apply the FTTS technology on Boeing 737 platforms,” said Jon Norris, Lumexis Vice President Sales. “This is an offering which can be selected immediately by Boeing’s worldwide airline customers.”

Lumexis President and Chief Operating Officer Lou Sharkey adds, “After 5 years of numerous retrofit installations on both wide-body and narrow-body airframes, the Lumexis team is so proud to have achieved linefit offerable status on Boeing’s highest production 737 models.”

Irvine, CA | March 31, 2014– Lumexis has taken a revolutionary step forward in terms of IFE touch screen aesthetics and functionality with the launch of its new Fast Adaptable Swipe and Touch (FAST) graphical user interface (GUI).

The FAST GUI responds to tablet swipe gestures as well as soft-touch selection of all entertainment menu items providing an exciting and entertaining passenger experience.

FAST provides an intuitive feature-rich user interface that makes significant use of images to ensure that passengers can quickly find the IFE content that they’re looking for.

With FTTS’s massive 3 TB real-time server library airlines can offer several hundred, full-length, HD movies to every passenger accompanied by unlimited language, sub-titles and captions. FTTS provides exceptional flexibility and ease of GUI modification, unmatched by any competitor.

Come and see this new IFE industry benchmark at Aircraft Interiors EXPO stand 6E40 between the 8th and 10th April 2014 at the Hamburg Messe http://www.aircraftinteriorsexpo.com/

Singapore | February 27, 2014–  Lion Group’s Indonesian full-service carrier Batik Air and Malaysian affiliate Malindo Air have decided that their new aircraft are to have back-of-seat inflight entertainment systems from US company Lumexis Corporation.

“We have chosen to have Lumexis Corporation’s award-winning Fibre-To-The-Screen (FTTS) embedded IFE system for our Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 aircraft, starting with the aircraft due for delivery in this year’s second-half,” says Batik Air CEO, Capt. Achmad Luthfie.

“Batik Air will be the first airline in the world to have the Lumexis IFE system on board an Airbus A320-family aircraft,” he says, adding that to achieve this milestone Batik Air and Lumexis Corporation spent time and effort consulting with Airbus and industry regulators. “We feel it is worth the effort, because the Lumexis IFE system provides the airline and the travelling public with several key benefits,” says Luthfie.

Unlike some other IFE systems, this ultra-broadband fibre optic network completely eliminates bulky seat boxes that sometimes intrude into the passenger’s foot space. This weight saving, together with also eliminating large and very heavy copper data cables, reduces fuel burn, generating significant cost savings for the airline.

The Lumexis system uses touch screen technology which means passengers no longer need to use a separate remote control to change channels or adjust the volume. The IFE LED screen on Batik Air and Malindo Air’s 737s will be 10.1 in for economy and business-class passengers. For business-class passengers travelling on Batik Air’s A320s, the screen size will be 12.1 in and for economy-class it is 10.1 in.

Content provided on the IFE system includes video-on-demand in HDD1080. “The fact that Batik Air is a full-service carrier means we believe in providing passengers with the very best. That includes a top quality IFE system with a wide selection of top TV programs and movies from Hollywood and around the world,” says Luthfie.

Malindo CEO, Chandran Ramamurthy, says: “We chose the Lumexis IFE system because we could see that there are clear benefits. Malindo is positioned as a hybrid carrier, but we promise to provide the same level of service as a full-service carrier. Providing back-of-seat inflight entertainment, with a wide selection of TV programs and movies to choose from, is just one of the ways we deliver on our brand promise.”

Malindo Air will receive its first Lumexis equipped aircraft in August.

Lion Group president Director, Rusdi Kirana, says: “I can see that Lumexis is very much a challenger brand in the IFE market. The company is working to win airline customers by delivering a product that provides a number of key benefits. Batik Air is also a challenger brand. It is an airline that delivers a number of benefits to passengers, including a very high standard of inflight service. ”

Kirana adds: “I am very impressed with the user interface on the Lumexis IFE system and how passengers can access onboard services such as inflight catalogue shopping, using this interface. One of the key areas we are focusing on at Lion  Group is increasing auxiliary revenue.”

Lumexis CEO, Doug Cline, says: “The team at Lumexis is honored to have gained the trust of such a strong and growing organization as Lion Group. We are committed to assuring Lion Group’s continued success by providing an ultra-reliable, ultra-light weight system that outperforms even the most costly competitor. Because FTTS absolutely has the lightest installed weight-per-seat of any embedded IFE system flying today, Lion Group carriers and its affiliates will be able to operate over very long routes, while burning substantially less fuel.”

• Airline wins two awards for its IFE system at the Inflight Regional Awards 2014

Dubai, UAE | February 6, 2014– flydubai is proud to have won two awards for its IFE system at the Inflight Regional Awards 2014. The winners of the awards were announced on 05 February 2014 as part of the Aircraft Interiors Middle East exhibition. flydubai took home awards for “Middle East content innovation” and “Best airline IFEC provider for the Middle East”.

These awards were judged by an independent expert panel, who evaluated the award submissions based on a number of criteria, including relevance to the region, innovation and variety of choice.

Irvine, CA | August 26, 2013– Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Lumexis Corporation are working together under a Technical Services Agreement (TSA) to evaluate and qualify the Lumexis Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS®) system for potential installation on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-800/-900 production line.

“Boeing is working with Lumexis to develop and ultimately apply the FTTS technology on Boeing 737 platforms as an offering which can be selected and brought to market by our airline customers worldwide.”
— Scott Pelton, Vice President, Chief Project Engineer – 737 Program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

“The Lumexis team is obviously delighted to be working closely with the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM’s) highly capable engineering and production teams to qualify our truly leading-edge In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) product for installation on Boeing’s manufacturing line. I have been extremely proud of the accomplishments of our people in developing, delivering and supporting it for our 737-800 launch customer, and they are once again demonstrating exceptional competence during the TSA for this major OEM’s demanding qualification process. We look forward to successfully completing it as soon as possible.”
— Doug Cline, Lumexis Corporation Chief Executive Officer

Situation – Email between IFEXpress and Lumexis’s Rich Salter:

IFExpress: We just read about something called “Second Screen” and we understand it is a Lumexis development? What’s the story?

Rich Salter: We had a big coming out for it at AIX, and will feature it at APEX too… In fact it is a 2013 Finalists for the Passenger Choice Awards at APEX this year.

IFExpress: I guess we just missed it….

In an effort to catch up on Lumexis’s Second Screen (™) concept, we contacted Rich Salter and asked about the product, but first, a few words about what it is. The concept is so simple, you are probably using a similar concept at home while watching TV or reading this email. Sitting in front of almost any work or household screen (TV, computer, whatever) you probably have another connectivity device for checking mail, tweets, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. In other words you are multitasking, because you can. The beauty of the Lumexis Second Screen feature is easy to see. Along with using the installed IFE system like you normally would, a flier could be using an iPhone (or tablet, etc) checking weather, flight progress, just as if they were on the ground. We conjecture that what really happens when a flier screen multitasks during a flight, they pay less attention to the flight itself and a lot more attention to what they are watching on the IFE or doing on their PED’s because there is simply more going on while doing so. Gone are those ‘I wonder when this trip will be over’ moments. We like this idea a lot and it should be quite a boon to fliers… if the airline has a second screen feature installed.

Interestingly, there are two types of Second Screen content solutions proposed according to Lumexis – one is a display of traditional IFE content from the embedded IFE system, sent over wireless, to the passenger device, the other is new Second Screen content for passenger devices that is being developed for the at-home market. A combination of this one-two punch is what makes the second solution so effective. Below are some are some further Lumexis Second Screen content/operational possibilities that go beyond the two aforementioned information/entertainment categories:

• Remote control of the main screen

• Moving maps

• Food & drink menu/ordering

• Duty Free offerings/ordering

• 30+ Lumexis games

• Passenger surveys

• eBooks

• Five day weather forecast for airline destinations

• Daily news

• Daily comics

• In-seat yoga and meditation

• Airline informational webpages

• Advertising (changing daily)

• Custom downloadable apps

We understand that the offering can include information about movie scenes showing, Tweets from other passengers about the shown movie, and even advertising of products shown on the IFE movies. The beauty of the Lumexis solution is that it keeps content on the main screen at the same time, offering PEDs more on their second screen. Further, by not streaming movie videos to the PED, Lumexis Second Screen preserves precious PED power. Further, we suspect that the Wi-Fi WAP’s may be able to serve more passengers with lower data bandwidth requirements under the Second Screen no streaming situation. Lastly, the the passenger does not need to download a plug-in or app, their solution is browser based, it runs on html – nice!

Jon Norris, Lumexis VP Sales, told IFExpress, “We are very excited about this new development and we have not seen other IFE vendors offer such a feature and we will be gauging the feedback at the APEX event for airline interest.”

Be sure to check out second screen applications at APEX as we expect more to come.

– IFE manufacturer partners with Technicolor to provide secure, high-speed transmission via the Internet

Irvine, CA | June 18, 2013– Lumexis is raising the bar for speed of content delivery to airlines by using software tools and partnerships to transmit all data securely over the Internet. The monthly content load for the company’s ultra-high capacity Fiber-To-The-Screen (FTTS) IFE system (digitally encoded SD and HD movies, TV programs, music, etc.), can amount to well over a Terabyte of data each month. According to Justin Smith, Content Integration Specialist at Lumexis, “We can move a full or partial content set, anywhere in the world through high-speed Internet. Among many advantages, it’s more secure and eliminates costs from freight, damaged boxes, and customs delays.”

Lumexis is using Aspera’s software to transport the data across the Internet to its airline customers around the world. This tool moves the IFE data at maximum speed, regardless of file size, transfer distance or network conditions. Its transport technology achieves speeds that can be hundreds of times faster than conventional methods, while delivering end-to-end security, 100% reliability and exceptional bandwidth control.

In today’s fast-paced world, delays can upset advertisers, airlines and passengers. Lumexis offers the fastest integration times in the airline industry, where eliminating delays and speeding up delivery time is critical. As Lumexis brings this technology to market it ensures that they continue to help their customers save time and money. Lumexis is partnering with Technicolor to provide the data “pipe” to transport the content around the world.

Moscow, Russia & Irvine, CA | January 4, 2013– Transaero Airlines has created a unique seasonal user interface on its Fiber-To-The-Screen® (FTTS) Inflight Entertainment (IFE) System from Lumexis. The holiday themed modifications feature Ded Moroz, the fictional character also known as “Old Man Frost” who delivers presents to children on the Russian Orthodox Christmas, celebrated January 7th.

“Ded Moroz is seen boarding a Transaero 777-300 aircraft with his large red sack of presents, with the message ‘Season’s Greetings!’ throughout the Inflight Entertainment System Graphical User Interface (GUI)” explained Transaero Deputy Technical Director Sergey Popov. “He welcomes passengers as they board the aircraft, and appears over animated backgrounds at various times during the flight. This is another first for Transaero in bringing out a beautifully traditional, Russian-themed GUI solely for the Holiday period.”

“Seasonal GUI modifications are uncommon in legacy IFE systems, due to the lengthy development and testing cycles used,” added Lumexis CEO Doug Cline. “Other IFE systems require GUI modifications to be initiated months before they appear on an aircraft, and typically have high associated costs. However, the Lumexis FTTS IFE System has unprecedented capability to allow rapid prototyping, development and deployment of modifications. The Transaero Seasonal GUI was conceived, developed and deployed to aircraft in less than one week, at minimal cost to Transaero Airlines.”

Lumexis Corporation reports that US Airways trial of its Fiber-To-The-Screen™ (FTTS™), now in its tenth week is proving both extremely popular with users and exceptionally reliable during its highly anticipated airline operational evaluation. The system was installed on an Airbus A320 aircraft in January and approved for Part 121 operation under FAA STC. It has been flying since early March and has now accumulated some 275 flights and over 1,000 hours of operation during regular revenue service.

Lumexis ™ CEO Doug Cline reports that the aircraft has been flying between Orange County, Phoenix, Atlanta and back daily with no system failures. “I have been manufacturing major avionics systems for over thirty years and this is without a doubt the most impressive record for a sophisticated new system entering service. We have never delayed a single flight and have never even required a system reboot” he marvels. “That is truly unprecedented for any high performance, multi-user AVOD system. As a result of this achievement, a number of airlines have had key managers on the aircraft and we are currently in negotiations with several of them for future installations.”

Cline continued that “The Lumexis ™ system is built around an advanced Fiber Optic Technology which is far simpler than legacy AVOD systems offered by other IFE manufacturers. This extensive flight demonstration evidences that the architecture’s fewer boxes and much lower parts count yield an inherently more reliable system.”

Lumexis ™ is a manufacturer and marketer of Inflight Entertainment and eCommerce Systems located in Costa Mesa, California, adjacent to Orange County Airport. The company can be contacted through its website, www.lumexis.com , by email at sales@lumexis.com or by telephone at +1.714.641.4900.

FAA Long Beach Flight Standards District Office issues AA certificate to the Lumexis repair station 

Costa Mesa CA, March 19, 2009 The FAA FSDO has issued Air Agency certificate X7OR085B to the Lumexis Corporation Repair Station located at 3184-D Airway Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA. The company has been working to ensure readiness for the AA certification pending issuance of the first Supplemental Type Certificate (STC). The initial STC was issued on March 4, 2009 for the Lumexis Corporation FTTS™ system’s installation on Airbus A320-232 aircraft. 

Lumexis Corporation is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of advanced in-flight entertainment and communication systems built on a core competency in fiber optics technology. With headquarters adjacent to Orange County, California’s John Wayne Airport, the company can reached at +1.714.641.4900 or on the Web at www.lumexis.com

TEMPE, Ariz. and COSTA MESA, Calif., March 9, 2009– US Airways (NYSE: LCC) and Lumexis Corporation have partnered to test an innovative, next generation in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. On certain flights, US Airways customers will have access to hundreds of on-demand IFE options including movies, music, games and shopping.

What makes Lumexis Fiber-To-The-Screen™(FTTS™) the next generation system when compared to current IFE solutions is its advanced fiber optic technology, which requires less hardware and reduces the system’s weight by as much 50 percent. The Lumexis technology replaces traditional copper wire-based systems that were heavy, offered limited bandwidth and required under-seat boxes that reduced passenger leg room. The FTTS™ system substantially reduces the overall cost of ownership by lowering acquisition cost, minimizing spares provisioning, reducing fuel burn (from lower weight) and decreasing repair/maintenance costs (from simpler architecture). It also has the ability to provide HD quality content.

Customers can find themselves in the middle of a rock concert at 35,000 feet when they tune into Bon Jovi: Live from London (US Airways asks that passengers refrain from body surfing while the seat belt sign is illuminated) or young travelers (and those that are young at heart) can immerse themselves in an aquatic adventure with Finding Nemo.

Recently installed on a US Airways Airbus A320 and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for operation during regular revenue flights, the system will be available for passenger use on a flight trial that begins today. The installation was designed and overseen by Inflight Canada, and FAA certification was accomplished through Aero Certification & Engineering.

Lumexis’ robust IFE system will offer US Airways’ customers more than 250 hours of content with 227 entertainment options including: 30 movies ranging from family fun to action-packed, 86 entertaining and educational television programs, four audio books, 100 music CDs with musical programming available for even the most discerning fan and seven games. Customers can choose their on-demand entertainment through an intuitive seat-back touch screen and pay using a debit or credit card in the seat-back unit.

The aircraft will primarily fly between Santa Ana, Calif., Phoenix and Atlanta. Tray table liners with instructions on how to use the system, specially trained flight attendant product experts and a Lumexis representative will be available on all flights to assist customers and US Airways flight attendants working the flight. A survey is included in the system to allow customers to provide input on the types of entertainment they prefer and how the system can be enhanced.

US Airways’ Senior Vice President, Marketing and Planning, Andrew Nocella said, “US Airways is proud to have contributed to the development of the Lumexis system. During the flight trial we plan to learn more about the types of programming our customers want and how they want to pay for them. We’ll be testing bundled pay-per-use and a la carte pay-per-view options at different price points. Testing this system provides yet another option as we continue to expand our “pay for what you choose to use” business model. The data we’ll gather will also help us determine our long-term domestic in-flight entertainment plans.”

Douglas Cline, CEO of Lumexis added, “The IFE Industry was introduced to superior performance and ease of using FTTS™ at the World Airline Entertainment Association Convention in Long Beach, Calif. last year. As a result, airlines and aircraft manufacturers around the world will be closely following this first-ever deployment of a fully fiber optic-based network. The Lumexis team is delighted to be getting airborne with US Airways and to working with its cabin crews and passengers during the trial.”
About Lumexis

Lumexis Corporation is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of advanced In-Flight Entertainment and Communication Systems built on a core competency in fiber optic technology. With headquarters adjacent to Orange County, California’s John Wayne Airport, the company may be reached at +1.714.641.4900 or on the Web at www.lumexis.com.

About US Airways

US Airways was America’s number one on-time airline in 2008 among the “Big Six” hub-and-spoke airlines according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. US Airways, along with US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express, operates more than 3,100 flights per day and serves 200 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. The airline employs nearly 34,000 aviation professionals worldwide and is a member of the Star Alliance network, which offers our customers more than 16,500 daily flights to 912 destinations in 159 countries worldwide. And for the tenth consecutive year, the airline received a Diamond Award for maintenance training excellence from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its Charlotte, North Carolina hub line maintenance facility. For more company information, visit usairways.com. (LCCG)

Wow, the Internet has been buzzing about the Lumexis install on US Airways A320 demo plane. We have been getting unsolicited input from our spy network and we thought our readers would like to get up to speed. 

Firstly, the Lumexis fiber optic system has been installed on airplane T/N 680 in Rome, New York. With work beginning on Jan. 5, 2009 it took some 23 days to complete it. All seats have been equipped for a total of 150 stations. A FAA flight test was performed last week. Insiders state that installation supplier, Inflight Canada, exclaimed that Lumexis is the easiest retrofit of this level of system they have ever performed!  One source noted that one of the installers said that with a bit of pre-installation effort on “A” checks, planes like A330’s and A340’s could be retrofitted in 7 days! Think about it, cable placement has been made a lot easier because of the complete disregard for EMI/RFI issues – cable placement and noise are a thing of the past because of the under floor seat boxes and dedicated cable “tubes”.  

We also understand that Inflight Canada designed the iCache system, which uses a patented beam (stringer) grabber that greatly did away with the drilling, rivets and sealing used in normal mechanical installs, and yes, we asked our spies about the fiber optic cable installation in the seats. It seems Smallhorn went to the Canadian Military to get smart on these processes and we hear they got a real education. The military uses a lot of fiber and has developed a skill set with this technology. This probably contributed to the easy seat modification that ensued. The system needed no special ATE or test equipment… they plugged in cables and it worked! About the only note we feel should be made is with respect to weight. While the Lumexis system itself is probably the lightest installed, full capability in-flight entertainment system, the added boxes and tubes of the full installation package no doubt raised the final number. 

The Inflight Canada and Lumexis folks aren’t talking but we think there is another North American customer in the works. As soon as the final DCN’s are submitted and approved, the system will be certified to fly un-placarded and powered up with passengers. We hear the plane is in service today, flying out of Phoenix. Additionally, we understand a full offering is planned for each seat when in service. Specially trained flight attendants will explain and promote the system to passengers. Pax usage data is to be downloaded to the airline’s operations center after landing. The EV-DO, cellular-based Secure Data Bridge facility (cell phone network) that supports the data gathering was tested during the FAA-mandated verification flight. We understand it worked extremely well and may be the new standard of data IFE download (Yes, we know it is not new). 

Here is a great blog for more insider stuff:�
http://www.usaviation.com/forums/index.php?s=05b9be18f7bb021586142309f44e477a&showtopic=44898