It was bound to happen eventually: July 2010 will be the first time any aircraft in the world will be fitted with Apple iPad devices for in-flight entertainment.
Bluebox Avionics is keeping details to itself for the time being – preparing for a big trade show launch at the Aircraft Interiors expo in Hamburg, Germany next week – but the concept is intriguing, and integration between Apple and PC-based systems has worked, most importantly.
The company says it has an airline ready to unveil the system in two months time, presumably with devices for business or first class.
Bluebox is perhaps better known for its portable and static in-flight entertainment devices used by the likes of Jet2, BMI and Iceland Express and a string of other airlines.
But the addition of the Apple iPad will be a major step-up for the company after working behind the scenes since the launch of the iPad earlier this year to transfer its existing PC-based operating system to the core Apple software on the iPad.
Such details will not bother passengers, inevitably, who will get the full iPad treatment from their aircraft seats on a portal created for the airline, streaming in films, music, games, destination information, in-flight services and other functionality.
If the airline has the kit, devices will also be fully web-enabled.
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I think this is a good idea for trapped passengers to try this while they can’t go anywhere else to be entertained. Hope it’s not a last-ditch effort from the I-PAD people. I have heard that it has an app for everything. At least that’s the way it was portrayed on SNL.That show isn’t always accurate, but almost always entertaining. Does anyone else have personal experience with the apps being useful on long trips?Just wondering, my sons are very much into the technology industry. I’m learning, but at a much slower pace. They were raised at the height of the then-called”technology instigation.”
Being that I’m crazy about them guys, I’ve always tried to encourage them in their quest for happiness. To me, it’s something else to learn, to them, old hat. Which is pretty cool, when your kids can teach you something fresh.
We flew back from Rome on a Delta flight a couple weeks ago (early May, 2010). We were surprised and delighted to find installed in the seat backs some kind of iPad-like device from which we could select from 20 or so recent full-length movies, a dozen or more games, several music channels, plus continuously updated flight information. Each seat came with a hand-held remote control device (wired) stored in a seat arm. The hours just melted away. Nine hours seemed more like half that. I don’t think it actually WAS an iPad but if not, iPad certainly has some competition already in use. I’m wondering how many planes already have such an updated system in use.