Panasonic May Relaunch In-flight Broadband 109
Glenn Fleishman writes "Panasonic's avionics division may relaunch Connexion by Boeing by using similar technology that's better, cheaper, and lighter. The company said today that they were looking to get airlines to commit to 500 planes within 60 days, and already had 150 aircraft committed. They'd still use Ku band, but have a cheaper and smaller set of leases. Connexion had at least $120m in yearly fixed expenses, a large part of which was transponder licenses. The new service would provide 12 Mbps down and 3 Mbps (versus Connexion's 5 Mbps/1 Mbps), and be priced conceivably as low as $10 per session wholesale, with airlines choosing to not mark up rates. With that higher rate, even with latency, in-flight VoIP seems more achievable at a reasonable cost, although some airlines may choose to block VoIP services.
I reported for The Economist magazine last week about mobile phones in flight (services coming in Europe in 2007). Three U.S. airlines told me that American passengers have very low interest or negative interest in allowing any voice (cell or otherwise) during flights. Europeans, with shorter flights and lower expectations of privacy perhaps, are more open to it." We covered the story back when Boeing decided to scrap Connexion.
What I do care about... (Score:5, Insightful)
Slippery slope? Not really, think about all the boring calls you have to listen to on a shorter transit system. Now put 300 bored people on a plane and see how they go about trying to relieve that boredome.
Now. I would certainly be happy to have internet access on the plane... and the slight tapping of keys I could deal with. Plus, give me something to do on my computer and I'd easily forget what else was going on.
So what do I say? Spare me having to listen to cell phones or VOIP for the whole plane trip. If you can limit it to 10 minutes of calling per passenger, then fine. Otherwise, stop trying to make my co-passengers even more annoying.
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"Have you landed yet?"
"No."
"Err, so how are you calling me?"
"There's a phone in the arm rest."
"Did you get an upgrade to business class?"
"No, it's in every seat."
"Wow, that's cool."
"Can you hear me alright?"
"Yeah."
After being on the plane for 10 hours you're just about ready to talk to anyone about a
It's not about privacy (Score:5, Insightful)
It has nothing to do with privacy, and everything to do with the fact that nobody wants to sit in a tin can listening to some guy talk for 2 hours about his hemorrhoids and digestive problems.
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when those huge fucking trim wheels start whizzing away in the center console...
Re:It's not about privacy (Score:4, Insightful)
The "danger" cell phones pose to airplanes is that you might get a signal, and not pay $10 a minute for the in flight phone system.
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Probably (Score:2)
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Re:It's not about privacy (Score:5, Insightful)
Indeed. Considering the current issues of warrantless wiretapping, I can't imagine why Americans would have higher expectations of privacy. We just know that our fellow americans would abuse the ability to talk loudly in a confined place. Now, I wouldn't mind seeing a reasonably priced sound proof phone booth on the airplane. If I need to make an important call, I can. But, I can do it without disturbing other passengers. Hell, maybe just put phones in the bathroom, and make them dual purpose...
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Because if the pain of hearing about hemorroids of your neighbor is strong, the embarassment of peeing in your pants waiting in line to the loo consisting of travellers sufferring of communication-diarrhea is even stronger, one would think.
I am thinking earplugs as a solution.
Europe is no different (Score:2)
Interesting Mind Games (Score:1, Offtopic)
I once took out my cell phone, flipped it open, and proceeded to dial a number. However, I never touched the send key. The phone was still switched off.
I waited an appropriate time and then said loudly:
"Hi! Is this Dr. Paul, the psychiatrist's office?"
I wait, and then say, "This is Mrs. Clear Plastic. I hav
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We're talking about cell phones here, not ham radio.
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of course this means you can fill in the other half yourself to entertain yourself in your boredom.
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I bet $20 that you'll be using your phone just as much as the next guy or gal. I bet people complained when TV's were being added to planes, but they aren't
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Don't be silly. Everyone knows that people on
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Re:What I do care about... (Score:5, Funny)
I smell a business model here.
You can pay $10 to use the internet.
You can pay $20 to use the internet and let VoIP traffic through.
You can pay $50 to disable the VoIP traffic for the people sitting in the seats around you
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I've never understood why people say "I could care less...". Care less then. Care so much more less that you can't care less. Then say it properly: "I couldn't care less...".
Re: caring less (Score:1)
It was originally the sarcastic expression: "As if I could care any less [than I do]!"
It was shortened to "I could care less!" with the same meaning.
The great-grandparent seems unaware of the literal meaning, since inserting the word "really" into a textual sarcastic expression without including "as if" can have the effect of negat
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Which doesn't help because you have the same problems we had before with smoking sections. On a full flight, you may be forced to take a seat in the cellphone section, or you may be seated close enough to the cellphone section that you still get disturbed.
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kinda annoying (Score:1)
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Inconceivable (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it really conceivable for airlines to not mark up rates of something?
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I don't travel often (Score:3, Insightful)
Its like a few hours of peice and quiet where I actually don't need to think about work or listen to other people yack on about similar stuff.
I'd be happy to see planes without internet and phone access because then I wouldn't feel preassured into actually doing more work during a time where I should be relaxing.
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Re:I don't travel often (Score:5, Insightful)
> your face, not before.
But your right to yammer on your phone extends right inside my ear?
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So you're free to whip it out and spank your monkey on a plane now? After all you're not physically hitting anyone.
Sheesh you dorkus libertarians give us more sensible ones a bad name.
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If you can't stand that sight, don't fly Virgin Airlines then...
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Think of it this way. The airplane belongs to the airline and they're letting us ride it, so they get to make the rules about what we do in it. It's in their best interest to keep the passengers happy on the whole. (They often fail miserably at this, but anyway.) Passengers will be happier if they don't have to listen to the guy next to them yakking away. So the airline says you can only sit on their plane if you promise not to call anyone until you l
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...but look on the bright side (Score:3, Funny)
It's not the privacy... it's the ANNOYANCE!! (Score:2, Insightful)
Cell phones on a plane - ICK! NO! It's already bad enough having to hear everyone else on the plane's stupid conversations during the boarding process and as soon as we touch down... Apparently people don't get the concept of "Keep it short and simple". Instead they have to have these marathon discussions over the phone and talk LOUDLY. And god forbid if they have one of those Nextel -type walkie ta
Re:It's not the privacy... it's the ANNOYANCE!! (Score:4, Insightful)
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who's going to pay for this? (Score:2)
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11 hour flight? No problem, as long as your battery doesn't die. If they also decided to put in power outlets, perhaps even multiple types, or provide adapters for international flights, then I think it'd be a pretty good deal. 11 hour flight across half of the US and the Atlantic?
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Will they... (Score:1)
Use a balloon? [slashdot.org]
I love flying. There's so much to look forward to on each flight..
Well... maybe I can steal a few industrial secr
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Don't they use compressed air from the engines to ventilate the cabin while the pressure regulator in the tail is constantly bleeding the excess (i.e. used) air back to the outside?
So you might smell some bird farts, but your cold is probably caused by the dry air and the sometimes ice cold temperature and not too high a concentration of germs.
Just Fly Yourself (Score:2)
I travel a lot for business, mostly just trips around the Southeast US, with an occasional longer trip to New England or the West Coast. I had always been interested in flying and I finally bit the bullet and went and got my license.
I now fly my own airplane. I can beat the airlines time-wise on any trip under about 2000nm. It takes me 40 minutes to drive/take the train to Hartsfield, whereas I can drive to my local airport, pre-flight and load the airplane and be on my way in about 30 minut
webcam? (Score:1)
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Even more disturbing when combined with the bussiness class seats that now turn into beds.
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missing word? (Score:3, Funny)
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"Wait, if my laptop is at flight level 350, which end of the network is "down"?"
The landing part.
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This seems wrong (Score:4, Insightful)
The last few times I've had to fly, I haven't been asked to have an anal probe inserted while answering ungodly questions about my personal life. That's because I fly in Europe.
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I can just picture the Spanish security guard who propably couldn't care less if 250 Americans crashed in to the ocean thinking, "Oh shit. I hope no Americans get killed on my watch. You know how those Americans are. Lose their luggage and they act like you just killed a family member
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At first, I was sent into a queue (consisting of only me, behind a very bewildered old lady) to hand over the knife and have it shipped home. However, the guy who sent me over to the queue came over to me after a few minutes, told me to hand over the bag and the knife, looked around, and stuffed the knife into the
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I am from Denmark too, and I am so happy I chose to fly directly to Dublin tomorrow instead of changing planes in the UK..
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We all know where this is headed (Score:4, Funny)
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What about uploaders?
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Snakes on a Plane (Score:2)
How else are you suppose to email the pictures of the snakes?
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How else are you suppose to email the pictures of the snakes?
hey, do you then think the snakes in Spain stay mainly in the plane?
Americans don't like cell phones? (Score:3, Informative)
Australia: Phones are off all the way. When disembarking up the walkway, you'll start to hear SMS messages come in.
Hong-Kong: Touchdown, SMSs are in. Calls being made while disembarking.
USA: Calls made until the plane taxis, calls made the instant the plane lands.
Europe [Denmark, France]: SMS on disembark
UK: SMS the instant the plane hits
Japan: Not a peep. Those guys actually know how to use the vibrate setting.
Of course the above is far from conclusive - but everytime I travel to the US I am still amazed how attached Americans are to their last desperate phone call before the phone takes off..
Public Airwaves (Score:1)
No, Europeans have higher expectations of privacy, as reflected in their much stronger privacy protection laws. Maybe their openness just comes from their manners, which let them all talk on mobile phones quietly and discreetly already, though they're all jammed together in a little continent full of cities. Or maybe Americans are mostly just hundreds of millions of primitives who can't respect each other, dependent on an increasingl
Re:Public Airwaves (Score:4, Funny)
to fellow passenger (trying to sleep): Don't you just hate these things?
Thankyou
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My word.
* Guns don't kill people
* Cellphones don't make people loud and rude
So sad. (Score:4, Funny)
When the 737s started terrorizing maintenance workers on the runway by taxing over to them and shouting "I'm a luxury cruise ship, play shuffleboard on me damn you!" we knew it was time for the padded hangars.
Cell phones and small children... (Score:1)
no voice (Score:1)
Yeah, I go along with that, I've got a negative interest in allowing voices during flights, ie shut the hell up.
You don't really need to worry about using the phone, if you can't speak.
Perhaps it could be like Neo in the Matrix, "How can you use VOIP on a plane, if you can.. not.. speak".
This is a pretty poorly written story, other faults have already
And the self absorbed whining begins... (Score:3, Insightful)
Laptop (Score:1)
text messaging (Score:2)
This seems just intuitive to me, why doesn't anyone pick up on it?
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I absolutely agree about text, and I can tell you that I see around 1000 text messages a day from the airlines I have implemented, at the moment and passengers use the service extensively and are very happy with it.
Up vs. down (Score:3, Funny)
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What about the security? (Score:2)