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Apple Teams with Airlines for In-flight iPod Support

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 9:20 AM - by

Apple Computer announced on Tuesday that it is teaming with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to add in-flight iPod entertainment systems to airplanes. Starting in mid 2007, passengers will be able to take advantage of built-in iPod chargers at their seats and connectors that let them view iPod video on seat back displays.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing commented "We're excited to work with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to offer iPod users an even better in-flight experience."

Apple is working with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to add iPod in-flight connectivity to additional airlines.

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Biff said:

member since 08 Apr 2004 with 1479 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:46 am

MSFT will give each airline a cut of every Zune that is sold.

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jpfreeman said:

member since 12 Jan 2005 with 48 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:04 am

The iPod continues to become more indespensible.

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mshoaf said:

member since 02 Dec 2002 with 112 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:40 am

Something like this would make me give serious consideration to flying one of these airlines instead of their competitors... great way to add value to their product.

Of course, it wouldn't be available on every aircraft instantly (they would have to rotate throught the maintenance schedules that would be set up to include the additional electronics.)

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:41 am

LOLOL@Biff

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Edison Carter said:

member since 10 Aug 2006 with 228 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:53 am

I would rather have a little more leg and elbow room in coach.

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vasic said:

member since 09 Aug 2005 with 279 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Nov 14, 2006 12:11 pm

Two words: Jugger Naut! Almost every other week, we see more iPod integration with the world. Can anyone compete? Even Microsoft?

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:19 pm

mshoaf wrote:
Something like this would make me give serious consideration to flying one of these airlines instead of their competitors... great way to add value to their product.

You can already charge an iPod on many airlines that have power to the seats--just use a USB-dock connector cable and the appropriate adaptor with USB output. Boxwave's VersaCharger Pro is a great choice: it can plug into the wall (US or European models), a car "auxiliary power connector" (what we used to call a "cigarette lighter"), or, with an adaptor, the older standard airline power connector. (Newer aircraft can provide "regular" AC power) This one device will charge/power most PDAs, a lot of music players, including the iPod, some cell phones, and more.

You can also get Boxwave's miniSync, a retractable USB-dock connector cable. (Don't let the Boxwave website fool you--they list separate items for each model iPod, but there really are only two--one with a FireWire connector, the other with an USB connector.) The entire bit (VersaCharger Pro and miniSync, plus airline adapter, if desired) is available as a bundle. WARNING! The original VersaCharger will not work with the iPod. (One way to tell them apart: the original VersaCharger was green, the VersaCharger Pro is blue.)

There are devices like the miniSync for iPod available from Pacific Rim and Brando in Hong Kong. The Pacific Rim model is a lot cheaper.

It will depend a lot upon what sort of connector they use, as well. Will you have to supply your own cable?

It's also not clear which class(es) will get this capability. Often, the airlines blow their horns about such capabilities, but it's only in First or Business Class on "selected" flights. (Of course, MY flight is never "selected.")

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