Airlines try in-flight Wi-Fi again (and Microsoft Linux???)
- TAGS:airlines, BetaBlue, JetBlue, Wi-Fi, Yahoo
- IT TOPICS:Devices, Emerging Technology, LAN/WAN/Broadband/Wireless, Mobile, Networking
Please fasten your seat belt for IT Blogwatch: in which airlines try seducing us with in-flight Wi-Fi 2.0. Not to mention some more visual oddities from the world of IT...
Matt "Ramblin'" Hamblen reports, from 35,000 ft:
[No, from Boston -Ed.]
The first free U.S. inflight e-mail and instant messaging service will launch next Tuesday ... JetBlue Airways is working with Yahoo Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. on the "BetaBlue" flight ... After several months of trial flights on the A320 aircraft, JetBlue will decide whether to install the system fleetwide. [more]
Peter "ha" Ha laughs:
This isn’t exactly what we expected in terms of in-flight Wi-Fi, but beggars can’t be choosers ... The service is limited to Yahoo! Mail, Messenger and Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerries will have access to their BB mail and messenger. [more]
Brian "BL" Lam blinks:
I can hardly believe my eyes ... The service will be able to "support the entire plane" but don't expect YouTube ... That's on one flight. [more]
Jordan "CheeseAndCrackers" Golson bites:
No iPhone? No Gmail? Count me underwhelmed. Just let me use any Wi-Fi device to surf the Web and check email and I'll be happy. Until then, why bother with this nonsense? [more]
Caroline "obvious" McCarthy can't resist:
If there were snakes on this plane, you could IM your friends and tell them ... LiveTV, a division of [JetBlue], was awarded a 1MHz air-to-ground wireless license from the FCC in June 2006, following an intense bidding war. [more]
Mike "TWIMO" Elgan expands:
In the coming months, American Airlines, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines will offer Internet access for a fee -- probably $10 per flight. Airlines have finally gotten the message that we passengers are fed up with being denied Internet access while aloft. [more]
Marshall "arshalls" Sponder ponders:
[That's enough silly middle names -Ed.]
American Airlines is beta testing full wireless internet right now ... I'm flying American Airlines to Paris on Saturday night ... and it would be great if the wireless were, in fact, on. But maybe it's too much to hope for ... On the other hand, maybe I should just drink a glass of wine and fall asleep, and wake up on the other side of the Atlantic. [more]
Natalie Depardee Fonseca remembers:
[Hey! Oh wait, it's her real name. -Ed.]
Still, after Boeing's in-flight Net service failed to take off in the U.S., it's welcome news for those who can't bear to be offline during a flight ... [but] if you're looking to check your e-mail during a domestic flight, good luck finding that one JetBlue plane. [more]
And finally...
Buffer overflow:
- Microsoft Watch: Web Services & Browser - IE 8: What's in a Name?
- Joel on Software: Where there's muck, there's brass
- Willie, IT Toolbox: Another reason why you can (SHOULD) rebind
- The Open Sourcerer: "Commiserations to my successor" - OOXML Strikes Again
- Data Center Knowledge: IBM Research Chip: Low Energy, 100X Faster
- Mike Masnick, Techdirt: Is The Post Office About To Kill Netflix's Business Model?
Other Computerworld bloggers:
- Ian Lamont: The global electronics supply chain: Who's responsible for cleaning up Chinese sweatshops?
- Joyce Carpenter: Ethics in the CS curriculum
- Ken Mingis: What's up with 802.11n and MacBook Pros?
- Sharon Machlis: Digital natives, digital immigrants ... what about digital Pilgrims?
- Mark Hall: Fink on spammers to get better results
- Scot Finnie: Windows XP or Vista?
- David Ramel: The FIOS adventure begins
- Don Tennant: Behind the scenes: Frank Abagnale of 'Catch Me If You Can' fame talks about the movie
- Mike Elgan: Verizon Offers New Global Cell Phone: Motorola Z6c
- Seth Weintraub: Think business doesn't care about the iPhone? Think again.
- Shark Tank: And wait till you see him drag and drop
- Shark Bait: Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)
Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.
Previously in IT Blogwatch:
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