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Hawaiian Airlines to offer iPad minis for in-flight entertainment on 14 planes
Starting September 1st, people flying Hawaiian Airlines will get the chance to spend some R&R time with an iPad mini thousands of feet in the air. It's all thanks to the company contracting Blue Avionics to switch its existing in-flight entertainment systems (IES) with 1,500 miniature iPads on 14 Boeing 767-300 planes. Business class passengers can stream movies and shows for free, but unlike American Airlines' Galaxy Tab program available only to premium seats, anyone onboard can rent a teensy tablet. Sure, it'll cost them $15 for the perk -- $17, if they decided to do so on a whim while already on the plane -- but the existing system will cost them the same amount anyway. iPads on planes aren't anything new -- AA and Alaska Airlines have both ditched flight manuals for their digital counterparts, while Qantas and Jetstar Airways have been renting them out for years. However, HA is the first U.S. airline to offer iPads for in-flight entertainment, and some patrons might see that as a welcome change.
In-flight iPads for under $10 on Australian low-cost airline
A couple of weeks ago we told you about a company, Bluebox Avionics, that was prepping iPads for use as inflight entertainment on airliners. Today we've heard that a low-cost airline down under, Jetstar, is launching a two-week trial at the end of this month, on flights longer than 90 minutes, to determine how iPads fare when trying to keep passengers entertained. Available for AUD$10 (around US$8.40), passengers can rent an iPad for the duration of the flight. Each iPad is loaded with movies, TV programs, books, games, music, and music videos, so passengers are going to have an excellent choice of entertainment. Bluebox created custom apps for the service, and partnered with content provider Stellar Inflight for the trial. Although the airline and providers have not disclosed the technical details, we imagine that the Jetstar iPads will be specially marked in order to keep flight attendants from grabbing iPads that are owned by passengers. During the trial, Jetstar is equipping some domestic aircraft with 30 iPads to gauge passenger interest and demand. Data collected will be evaluated to see if the airline wants to roll this out fleet-wide later this year. [via Engadget]
Jetstar Airways first to rent out iPads, only $8.40 a flight
The world's first iPad inflight entertainment system definitely came sooner than we thought; though Bluebox just announced the idea two weeks ago, it's slated to hit Australia at the end of the month. Qantas budget carrier Jetstar Airways will hold a trial of the service in the last two weeks of June, doling out iPads to passengers on flights 90 minutes or greater for AUD $10 (approximately $8.40) a pop, and will extend the service to their entire network if the business... well, you know. Since Jetstar CIO Stephen Tame famously predicted the iPad would kill the inflight movie business earlier this year, it seems we're looking at a classic case of if-you-can't-beat-em syndrome. Call us biased, but that sounds a good sight better than what Microsoft's up to.
iPads as in-flight entertainment systems? There's a market for that
Following the earlier post today about iPads in the cockpit comes news about a company that wants to provide iPads for personal in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems for airline passengers. Most airlines use built-in IFEs to keep the passengers entertained and occupied during long flights. These systems require special distribution cabling and equipment to route games and video content to each seat, all of which means extra weight in the aircraft as well as maintenance costs. For airlines, every pound saved can mean fuel savings that translate into extra revenues. There are some portable IFE solutions in the field, which add convenience and can adapt to circumstances (a broken screen, etc.) with relative ease. Now UK-based BlueBox Avionics has announced the bluebox Ai, a portable IFE solution that combines the iPad with the company's proprietary security technology. This allows BlueBox to protect "early-window" content, such as movies that have been cleared for in-flight showings but not yet for pay-per-view, DVD or digital sales. The company is impressed with the iPad's 10 hour battery life as well as the fact that it can be loaded with games, magazines, ebooks, custom apps, and video for each airline. Since iPads are wireless, new content can be loaded to the devices at any time. Individual iPads would also weigh less than the built-in IFE units. The bluebox Ai is to be formally launched at the Aircraft Interiors Expo this week in Hamburg, Germany. BlueBox has announced that at least one international air carrier will begin distributing the iPads to passengers in July. [via FlightGlobal]
iPad takes to the skies with Bluebox Ai this July
In-flight entertainment might not be high on everyone's list of priorities, but from this July, it might become a new point of differentiation between airlines. Bluebox Avionics has announced its new Ai IFE system, which seems to mostly involve just giving travelers an iPad to play around with while gliding through the atmosphere. It "leverages the power, flexibility and quality of the most advanced consumer device ever produced" (they have an Evo 4G? Zing!) and offers Bluebox's proprietary security solution and tailor-made apps for each airline. One international carrier has already signed up and more are expected to follow.
