Airline JetBlue has created mock-ups of how Google Glass could be used for air travel. A posting on Google+ shows a how the Glass interface could show a number of important details for passengers when they are in an airport, including information relating to flights, baggage, and airport car parking facilities.
JetBlue has quietly reached a deal with ViaSat to offer what should be part of the next generation of in-flight Internet access. The two made permanent a previous memorandum of understanding that would see ViaSat provide satellite access over the fast Ka-band on all its planes. The Ka-band is claimed to be fast enough to beat a land-based system like Gogo's and would allow for "streaming movies" even while dropping the price compared to talking to cell sites on the ground.
JetBlue has become the latest airline company to announce it will bring Wi-Fi to its fleet. The company, which flies across the US, will partner with ViaSat to install hardware that will enable broadband Internet and TV service on its 160 aircraft by the end of 2012. Before this happens, however, the FAA needs to test and approve all the gear.
American Airlines will begin testing in-flight Wi-Fi technology on June 25th, a report claims. The technology is expected to debut on a round-trip flight between New York City's JFK and Los Angeles' LAX, and should it be successful, it could be quickly activated on number of other AA aircraft. Some 15 Boeing 767-200 planes are said to already have Wi-Fi installed, it just being a matter of activating the routers at will.
Continental Airlines today joined a previous approach by JetBlue and said it would begin offering Wi-Fi onboard some of its aircraft. As with details revealed shortly after news of the earlier offering, the new LiveTV-backed service will provide travelers with comparatively low-bandwidth Internet features through most of a given flight. Notebooks, smartphones, and other portable devices that support e-mail and instant messaging services through RIM's BlackBerry network or Yahoo's services will be able to communicate with others on the ground.
BlackBerry creator Research in Motion this afternoon announced a partnership with Yahoo to offer free Wi-Fi on JetBlue flights. The deal will provide custom Yahoo IM and mail services on both RIM's smartphones as well as on notebook PCs and will allow any device to use the service for general Internet access, including the BlackBerry's 'push' e-mail feature. Using the service will be free with a JetBlue ticket for a supporting flight; the first airplanes to deploy the short-range wireless in their cabins will run commercial flights from December 11th in trials with a full launch in several months if succesful, the airline says.
