airlines

Wireless email coming to planes?

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:01:38 -0400

You can't make cell phone calls from commercial airline flights, but keeping up with your email could be just around the corner. Rockwell Collins and Arinc have joined forces to develop a system initially targeted at the private jet market. The 3.5 Mbps service is available in the skies over North America and Europe, and Arinc says that rolling it out over other continents shouldn't be difficult in any technical sense. According to some reports there have already been inquiries about moving the technology to commercial flights. At 70 pounds, the equipment is light enough to make the fuel-conscious airlines comfortable. It won't bring back meal service, but broadband might just make that long flight just a little more productive.

For more on air-borne broadband:
- read the article at InformationWeek

Editor's Corner

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 20:01:40 -0400

There's been a big push on in the past year of so to provide wireless connectivity, specifically WiFi, during airplane flights. Initial much-hyped projects are now being scuttled, and the only company currently running such a service is talking about shutting it down. But others are jumping up to take their place, and as a USA Today article points out, you won't be accessing such services until next year at the earliest and you'll likely have to pay top dollar just as current users do on the 10 airlines that Internet access is offered.

While I guess it'd be a great thing to have if needed, I think most of us are slightly relieved that we aren't connected during flight travel time. While productivity would be boosted if we could email and make calls during travel, there's nothing wrong with shutting everything down for a few hours and rejuvenating your mind with some music or even actual conversation with a fellow traveler. So, I guess I'm hoping this technology rush continues to slow down a bit.

QUICKLINKS: Broadband over powerline gaining ground; Wi-Fi Alliance developments; Much more...

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 20:00:50 -0400

The reasons broadband over powerline is gaining ground. Article

What the Wi-Fi Alliance is up to these days. Article

WiFi Internet may fly over wireless cell service on airlines. Article

Telecom protest not stopping public sector wireless efforts. Article

Most corporate phone lines will be IP-based by the end of the decade. Article