Apple teams up with airlines for iPod integration

After selling your car, television, computer, house and children, you thought you were finally safe from this nasty epidemic of "iPod integration" -- think again. Now the nasty little buggers are going to start showing up in airplanes, since Apple is teaming up Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to add charging, audio and video integration for airline passengers. Is nothing sacred? Such seat-based connectivity should be available by mid-2007, and Apple is working with Panasonic Avionics to spread such integration to even more airlines. Five bucks to the first guy who figures out how to get such ubiquitous charging jacks to juice up our laptops.

[Thanks, Zep]

[Rohit Kapur @ Nov 14th 2006 11:00AM]

HEY!!! I SUGGESTED THAT STORY!!! :-( :-( :-( :-(

[Herman @ Nov 14th 2006 11:05AM]

Air France and KLM have commented that they never decided anything about this and that they'll probably won't do it.

[James Whited @ Nov 14th 2006 11:12AM]

We got motherf*cking iPods on a motherf*cking planes! Oh well, at least it ain't Zunes, cause then I'd be woried, espcially if they started running windows on the plane.

[Bryan @ Nov 14th 2006 11:13AM]

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=MA598Z/A

[Rick Lyon @ Nov 14th 2006 11:13AM]

Goodbye Zune. Sorry you don't have an iPod dock connector.

[Mike Davis @ Nov 14th 2006 11:20AM]

No need to figure out how to get it to charge laptops, Apple already makes it possible. They have yet another adapter for us to drop $60 on. It plugs into the airline seat power plug thing.

Check it out
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=F830CEED&nplm=MA598Z%2FA

[anonymous @ Nov 14th 2006 11:26AM]

well, it aint all sugar and spice as this adapter is only for mac products. Is there one for PC types?

[bbydon @ Nov 14th 2006 11:39AM]

that adapter is laptops not the Ipod.
i believe the article says the seats will have iPod seat connection.
So either a dock connector or a usb port for the ipod

[Electro Info @ Nov 14th 2006 11:40AM]

This will change next year when the Universal Docking Connector standard is published. All of the consumer electronics makers are finishing the standard with CEA (Consumer Electronics Association).

This will be one universal connector for all PMP (Audio & Video) that will become standard in trains, planes and automobiles. So then we will have the choice of our media devices. Thanks

[TVGenius @ Nov 14th 2006 11:56AM]

Yeah... just what we need. For those of us who don't see the need for a $400 MP3 player (I'll admit, I do have a Shuffle) we're still stuck with bad NBC sitcom reruns and ET segments, instead of actually improving the experience for everyone.

[Pete @ Nov 14th 2006 12:06PM]

What $400 MP3 player? The 80GB Video iPod goes for $349 (I've seen some street prices at $328).

[Dave @ Nov 14th 2006 12:01PM]

Having just gotten off of an international flight, I can envision a time in the not so distant future (if Apple actually pulls this off) that you will start being able to access the iTunes store right from the plane...A lot of the pieces are in place already (especially on the higher end carriers and longer-distance flights), personal viewing screens, etc. so it's not out of the realm of what is possible.

I can imagine the tagline now Apple Airlines...We don't crash like Windows.

[Chad @ Nov 14th 2006 12:04PM]

...you thought you were finally safe from this nasty epidemic of "iPod integration" -- think again. Now the nasty little buggers are going to start showing up in airplanes...

Wow sounds a little bit negative (i know, its a joke). Now if this was ZUNE news on engadget... this would read: forget about ipod integration - look how cool Zune can connect music/video with airplanes!

[Eduardo @ Nov 14th 2006 12:12PM]

Great move for the airlines, now is BYOE (bring your own entertainment), next BYOF (bring your own food).

As for the zune, wait until Ipod to zune conversor.

[Eduardo @ Nov 14th 2006 12:13PM]

(just saving the password)

[kartman @ Nov 14th 2006 12:18PM]

Forget snakes on a plane. What about pr0n on a plane?? How are they going to restrict content so that little Jimmy's mom in the next seat doesn't throw a fit?

[Bob @ Nov 14th 2006 1:11PM]

Were you born yesterday? Have you ever seen these things called laptops? They can have screens up to 17" and speakers too. OMG we better go ahead and start confiscating these as people board the plane. God knows that you can't trust people to behave in public.

Stupid liberals and their "Government knows what�s best for you better than you do little man," mentality.

-Bob

[shinyhat @ Nov 14th 2006 12:50PM]

Thankfully at least some company is out there talking to airlines to come up with some standards for gadget power on flights. Seriously this is a great thing and something that honestly would never happen in the PC world.

Oh yeah, iPod integration is really nasty, Engadget. What a poor job Apple has done with their design and ease of use. Just wait for the really bang up job MS will never do.

[morty salt @ Nov 14th 2006 12:56PM]

the UDC standard will not force Apple to use this spec. Heck, Apple never forced anyone to use firewire or ADB though they wish they could have. I'm waiting for the new FireWireless standard next year on the new ipods... forget about wifi.

[morty salt @ Nov 14th 2006 1:10PM]

http://media.delta.com/photo_display.cfm?photo_id=170&view=low_res Direct from Delta's site... I guess you have to hold the ipod next to the LCD the entire time to access the ipod... Hopefully they'll have a classier set up like some industrial strength double sided velcro tape.

[MichaelWright @ Nov 14th 2006 8:14PM]

For your consideration:In a theoretical opposition of liberalism vs.
conservatism (esp. SOCIAL liberalism / conservatism), you can't
honestly believe that it would be mostly "stupid liberals" trying to
pull the plug on "indecent" things, can you?

I mean, many of the "stupid liberals," at least in a America, advocate the very opposite of what you suggest: that is, for government to stop encroaching on free speech and privacy rights, for the government to stop discriminating against and
restricting oppressed masses of people, and for a separation of church
and state, for the protection not only of the protection of the State
from "I know better than [thou]" religious influence, but to protect
religious groups from the undue influence of the state on their
beliefs. Granted, there are some differences of opinion on whether or not people should be able to purchase assault rifles, but that issue is completely irrelevant to one of censorship. That being said... yes, people on planes have laptops. People can
watch porn on laptops... though they might cause a stir, and perhaps
attract the attention of flight attendants. However (and I'm going to
make a giant leap of assumption here), I'd bet that most reasonable
people can determine what is appropriate for viewing on a laptop,
iPod dock display, etc. Maybe. I might have too much faith in reason.

So, I agree that this is a non-issue. And I am quite a liberal person. In most senses of the "liberal" word (esp. freedom) so I support your claims, and hope that other stop being complete idiots about how best to "restrict content." All this, from a liberal.

[Sean D. @ Nov 14th 2006 1:14PM]

I predict a future where Apple's proprietary dock connector is licensed and featured in other, non-Apple, MP3 players.

[pirco @ Nov 14th 2006 1:52PM]

don't know how many of you fly international business/first class but for the rest of us losers, this iPod deal won't even be available in the wooden class: "... the deal is part of its broader plan to upgrade international first- and business-class travel."

[tjhanley @ Nov 14th 2006 1:53PM]

Hopefully the planes won't stop working mid flight.

[Jason @ Nov 14th 2006 1:57PM]

The only snake on the plane is crappy ipod

[steve @ Nov 14th 2006 3:19PM]

y cant they ever just make it a simple usb hub
that way everyone can plug in their device with a cord that they bring
(if your going on a trip and dont have a cord for your mp3 player, well somethings wrong with you)
i wish the mp3 player market wasnt driven by apple...

[Big Al @ Nov 14th 2006 4:51PM]

Actuallt, most Apple products, such as their laptops, have the same charger as the iPod.

[b00da @ Nov 14th 2006 5:01PM]

Hmmmm....I don't think that's true.

It has been awhile since I sold my 15-inch Al Powerbook, but I distinctly remember trying to do what you suggest with my 3G 40GB iPod and having no luck.

While the converters are all white, square, and have the Apple logo, that doesn't mean they're interchangeable.

Has this changed with recent Apple products? I only have a Mac mini and a 1G nano, so can't test.

[Electro Info @ Nov 14th 2006 5:06PM]

Here is the link to a press release on the CEA standard that is coming soon. This will be standard for almost all pmp and ce devices.

http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=10882