GeekSugar

Tons of Geeky Amenities on the Airbus A380 - Even in Coach

GeekSugar — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:00:11 -0700

My pal Savvy mentioned what $14,635 can get you on an Airbus A380 flight from JFK to Dubai on Emirates Airlines (in first class, of course). But I'm more interested in the amenities I can get for only $1,500 in coach! A drop in the bucket, I know. Coach passengers on the 14-hour flight get to enjoy their own personal 10.4-digital widescreen display with over 500 channels to choose from, plus each seat has its own power source and USB connection. A gyroscopic cup holder keeps your drink level at all times, and in-cabin lighting simulates the time of day at your destination, so jet lag will be less of a problem when you land.

But the coolest feature I found in coach on the Airbus A380 is their ICE system. No, I'm not talking about chilling your drink; this ICE stands for Information, Communication, and Entertainment. To see more details on this cool system, read more.

The best part about the ICE system has to be the "I" for information. At each seat, you can pinpoint your location on a map, and even take in the sights from the plane's external cameras. Yup, I said external cameras! So when you're at cruising altitude, take in a little tour of what the world looks like from 30,000 feet!

Plus, you can call, text, or email your pals on the ground, or even call someone seated elsewhere on the plane with your in-flight device. And entertainment? Well, let's just say they have that covered - Emirates Airlines is already playing films like Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda that you can pause, rewind, and fast-forward. Anyone have a spare $1,500 lying around?

Source

Would You Use Your Cell Phone as a Boarding Pass?

GeekSugar — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:00:49 -0800

Continental Airlines has launched a test program in Houston that allows travelers to board flights using their cell phone or personal-digital assistant instead of the usual boarding pass. If it works, the program could expand to airlines and airports nationwide. How will it work? According to USA Today, instead of a traditional pass, Continental Airlines (CAL) and the Transportation Security Administration will let passengers show a code the airline has sent to their cell phone or PDA. Here's more:

The two-dimensional bar code, a jumble of squares and rectangles, stores the passenger's name and flight information. A TSA screener will confirm the bar code's authenticity with a handheld scanner. Passengers still need to show photo identification. The electronic boarding pass also works at airport gates.

I always email myself flight information so I can open up my email on my BlackBerry when I get up to the check-in window, so I love the idea of being able to use my cell as a boarding pass. It means one less step, right?
Source

Virgin America Takes Broadband Internet to the Skies

GeekSugar — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:00:54 -0700

Virgin America, a new airline that began service on August 8th and is quickly gaining a reputation for its techie features, has announced that it is partnering with AirCell in an effort aimed at offering air-to-ground broadband internet service on Virgin America flights sometime in 2008.

Guests onboard the airline will be able to access the internet either through their wifi-enabled personal devices or through the RedInflight Entertainment system at every seat. According to a press release, the system is anticipated to allow guests to connect to the internet with the AirCell Broadband Service, using either their Red seatback video screens or their own wifi enabled portable gaming devices, laptops, PDAs or Smartphones.

Guests will also be able to check and send web-email from their seatbacks through Red's TALK - the airline's onboard chat system - using popular instant messaging services such as MSN, Google talk, Yahoo! Skype, and AIM.

Source

Daily Tech: The Pogoplug Shares Content Via Four USB Drives

GeekSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:40:33 -0800

The Pogoplug is a neat gizmo that allows you to share movies, music, or photos using four USB drives - Gizmodo
The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is now available from Verizon - RIMarkable
American Airlines has just launched a widget that will let you know if your plane has WiFi - Engadget
Check out the ultimate holiday smartphone buying guide - CrunchGear
Vive la France! Twitter is now available in French - TechCrunch
Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom for the Wii is a great game for kids ages 3 to 6 - USA Today

Do You Use In-Flight Airline Entertainment?

GeekSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:34:50 -0700

You already know that I'm a big fan of Virgin America's in-flight entertainment system, and have been known to tune in to JetBlue's DirectTV programming a time or two. But for a lot of you, an airline's in-flight goodies may not be a reason to book a seat.

On a recent flight to LA, I noticed how few people actually use their seat-back TV sets to watch the tube, a movie, or play games, instead choosing to sleep or use their own gadgets to keep them busy.

I found a very handy chart on one of my favorite travel sites the other day that lists how airlines stack up against one another when it comes to entertaining their passengers. I was pretty happy with the results: most airlines are now offering some sort of in-flight WiFi, as well as music and movies via personal viewing sets on the seat backs. So what gives? Are you totally into your favorite airline's in-flight entertainment, or do you completely tune out when flying?

Singapore Airlines Gets Way More Tech Treats

GeekSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:30:40 -0700

On my recent trip to London, I overheard some people debating about which airline they considered to be the best. And most of them agreed that Singapore Airlines is where it's at. Unfortunately, I've never flown with them, so I couldn't agree or disagree. But after hearing this piece of news, I'm looking forward to the day I'll have a good excuse to fly to Asia.

Singapore Airlines is now offering, not only iPod/iPhone docks to business class airbus flights between New York, Los Angeles and Singapore, but widescreen LCD televisions as well. Geesh, if only economy got half of the geeky perks that business class got, the world would be a much better place!

Source

Paper Airline Tickets On The Brink Of Extinction

GeekSugar — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:00:31 -0700

Luddite travelers may need to start making geek friends because the paper airline ticket will be all but extinct by the end of May.

Replacing paper tickets, and the elaborate global system that processed them, with electronic ticketing will save airlines $3 billion annually on the roughly 400 million tickets sold outside of the United States alone, according to the New York Times.

Apparently, 96.86 percent of tickets sold in the United States, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands last month were electronic, so it does appear that most people are able and willing to travel the digital way. Do you use electronic or paper tickets when you travel?

Source

United Airlines Charges For Bags, But Will Charge Your iPod

GeekSugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:30:26 -0700

This makes me a little less bitter at United for charging $15 per checked bag: the airline is installing iPod and iPhone docks on its airplanes. Not only will you be able to charge your battery at your seat, you'll be able to scroll through your music and videos from the seat back's screen! Don't watch from that silly little screen, watch from behind somebody's head!

The first few flights to boast the Apple connectivity will be transatlantic, and will sadly be for first-and business-class passengers. That had better not last, or my forgiveness for the checked-bag fee will quickly depart.

Source

Will Southwest's WiFi Make You Fly Their Friendly Skies?

GeekSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:11:35 -0800

In a bid for total domestic domination, Southwest Airlines raised the bar with today's announcement that they will be bringing their passengers the fastest WiFi in the skies! Woot! Dave Ridley, Southwest's marketing guru, says that their satellite technology will set the standard for in flight connectivity: "Southwest is looking for the best solution for our Customers not only for Internet e-mail access, but for additional inflight entertainment as well," Ridley said. "We look forward to exploring this cutting-edge technology and hope this will keep our Customers productive and entertained inflight." No word yet if they will charge a fee for the WiFi service, or offer seat side charging ports for your trusty laptop. Although it will still be in testing phase this summer, does this news make the geek in you want to choose Southwest for your future flights?

Source

American Airlines Wants You To Log On In-Flight

GeekSugar — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 03:00:58 -0700

While American car rental service Avis has been offering WiFi for their customers for some time, logging on in-flight isn't an amenity most American travelers have been able to savor - until now. Just days after Virgin America showed off its new, tech-infused planes, AirCell, a provider of aviation communications systems, announced it will join forces with American to test its new system for providing on-board Internet access.

According to Reuters, American will test the service on its 767-200 aircraft, which mainly flies transcontinental routes. Apparently Boeing has halted the use of its Connexion unit, which allowed airlines to provide high-speed Internet service to passengers, because it was too expensive and customers didn't want to pay for the usage. According to AirCell, its system will be less expensive - likely $100,000 per plane or $10 per flight.

Source