for May 19, 2008
IFExpress is available via the web at:
http://www.airfax.com/airfax/ifexpress/
Hot Topic: Aircraft by Cessna - Entertainment by Rockwell Collins and You
By
now you have probably dispelled the delusion that iPods® are only carried by
“X” and “Y” Generation kids, and the guy who doesn’t seem to grow-up in the
next office. Think again. The ubiquitous iPod® interface now becomes
mainstream on the Cessna Citation CJ4 bizjet.
While few “X,” “Y” and “ NextGens” have Bizjets, the reverse is not true for
iPods® and users business jets. As the trend toward have-it-your-way
entertainment infiltrated the road warrior, so did it find in-roads with the
Bizjet set. The recent announcement from Cessna clearly sets the bar higher
and Rockwell Collins, the big dog in General Aviation IFE, is the winner
with their Venue™ system. We have included a picture of the Rockwell Collins
Venue™ system; however, this will not be the Cessna final design... we wanted
to give our readers, who did not attend the NBAA, a peek.
We note that Cessna is arguably the first of many business jets to
incorporate an iPod® interface but we expect to see other airplane
manufacturers, IFE providers and even commercial planes sporting this
hardware in the not too distant future. As we went to press, we got wind of
an Air New Zealand announcement for similar hardware on their Boeing B767’s
and Airbus A320’s! If avgas continues to climb, the “bring your own
entertainment” trend may be the only entertainment available!
Notes Rockwell Collins’ Andrew Mohr - Director of Product Marketing, “We
established a licensing deal with Apple that conforms to the ‘Made for
iPod®’ specifications. Local and remote interfaces and docking stations in
the cabin all operate seamlessly with carry-aboard iPods®.” Authentication
between the portable player and the system is performed via a handshake with
firmware on the chip. Just so our readers know, the latest generation of
iPods® incorporates an authentication chip in peripheral devices/cables that
keeps rogue developers from delivering products that do not successfully
work with the new iPods®. No doubt this move dumps even more money
into the coffers of Apple but one could make an argument that an improper
interface could harm the $300 - $500 devices. Moreover, we hesitate to call
the iPod® a ‘carry aboard server’ but in some respects it acts like one. We
note that the output remains analog and we suspect that no more than one
user can control the device at a time which probably destroys the moniker.
The key is that the Rockwell Collins’ system enables passenger preferred
Video-On-Demand, albeit in NTSC or Composite formats (coming soon –
Component video).
Mike Tiffany, Cabin Products Director, Rockwell Collins told IFExpress,
“There are a couple of things really exciting about our iPod® program that
will have value for the BizJet operators: Because of our relationship
with Apple, our solution will support both audio and video distribution from
the current generation of iPods® and iPhones®. Further, we are integrating
the Apple menu schemes into Venue™ and our other CMS platforms, so no matter
where the iPod® is docked, passengers will be able to interact with it using
a remote menu that's nearly identical to their iPod®.” So there you have it,
readers, the iPod® is here to stay in IFE, so you had better bring yours on
your next flight.
Rockwell Collins Venue™
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/venue/index.html
IFExpress is sponsored in part
by:br>
Piaggo Aero Selects Business
Aviation Broadband Solutions from Aircell
5/19/2008 11:24:39 PM
Teledyne Controls and Airbus
Recognize Philippine Airlines as the 100th AirFASE® Customer
5/19/2008 11:23:47 PM
Boeing Delivers 300th Jetliner
to GECAS for Lease to XL Airways
5/19/2008 11:23:13 PM
Alternative fuel partnership
teams Airbus with Honeywell, IAE and JetBlue
5/19/2008 11:22:16 PM
A380 production ramp-up
revisited
5/19/2008 11:21:40 PM
IFExpress is sponsored in part
by:
Umniah to
offer inflight mobile service
Trade Arabia
Sterling to
“turn inflight retail on its head”
DFNI Online
IFExpress is sponsored in part
by:
8th
Annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2008)
5/20/2008 - 5/22/2008
WAEA
29th Annual Conference and Exhibition
9/8/2008 - 9/11/2008
Aircraft Interiors Expo - Americas
9/9/2008 - 9/11/2008
Aircraft Interiors Expo - Asia
9/22/2008 - 9/25/2008
NBAA
61st Annual Meeting & Convention
10/6/2008 - 10/8/2008
IFExpress is sponsored in part
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