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AA begins in-flight Wi-Fi testing
In-flight wireless access is taking another step forward. PC World writes that American on Wednesday "flew the first commercial jet with in-flight broadband enabled since the shutdown of Connexion by Boeing in 2006. American's Boeing 767-200 was to make a routine, scheduled round-trip from JFK to Los Angeles International (LAX) on Wednesday ... . On the maiden test flights, service was free." AA hopes to roll out the Wi-Fi access to all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 jets "in a few weeks," PC World writes.
The Times of London writes AA's Wi-Fi system - dubbed gogo - "will give passengers access to e-mail, the Internet and VPN services through any wi-fi-enabled device when the aircraft is above an altitude of 10,000 feet.
When the trial goes commercial, passengers will pay $12.95 for flights over three hours and $9.95 for short hops." PC World adds that "when Aircell starts to serve Virgin America with gogo later this year, it will charge $9.95 for flights of three hours or fewer." As for AA, the airline says it plans to prevent voice calls from being made over the Internet. "Customers don't want it, American said, and surveys strongly agree with them," PC World writes.
Wall Street Journal (subscription required) technology writer Walt Mossberg was on AA's inaugural Wi-Fi flight and reviewed the sevice, writing: "The service operates at respectable, if not blazing, speeds similar to what you'd get on a cellular broadband service or a slow home DSL line.
I found that most of the tasks I tested, except for streaming video, felt smooth and normal."
TAP Portugal starts trial of inflight e-mail, cell phone calls
TAP Portugal says it has started offering inflight e-mail, text messages and cell phone calls. Using the latest Inmarsat satellite network, the service will be available on a single Airbus A319 aircraft. If successful after six months of trial, the carrier may expand it to other aircraft. The crew can turn off the service at any time, or switch it to silent text and email only mode, it says.
Motel 6 now has Wi-Fi in every property
Let's devote some time to people on a budget this week (that would be me after I paid $64 to fill up my car).
Accor North America announced today that it has completed installation of wireless, high speed Internet access in its more than 600 Motel 6 and Studio 6 properties nationwide. It's not free but it's priced lower than many proprties -- $2.99 per 24-hour period.
Jim Amorosia, president and chief operating officer for Motel 6, Studio 6 and Accor North America paraphrased the Motel 6 TV ads in the announcement: We are excited to be able to leave the light and the Internet on for our guests.
Scenes from the road...
Here you can see a "prep" nook that has been added just before the B Concourse security checkpoint at
Baltimore/Washington International. It gives travelers one last chance to organize their belongings and
discard items before going through the security queues.
Device-charging stations [Minneapolis]
Minneapolis-St. Paul now has 22 charging stations throughout the Lindbergh and Humphrey Terminals.
Sponsored by Samsung Mobile, the 8½-foot-tall towers include four outlets per station, letting travelers recharge their electronic devices for free.
Similar stations are available at five other airports: New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Orlando and Dallas/Fort Worth.
| August, 2008 | |
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