for December 10, 2007
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Hot Topic: Hertz To Offer IMS Players
An
announcement this last week from Hertz Corporation caught IFExpress a little
off guard. It seems that IMS Consultants, the people who brought you
Archos-based portable media players, penned a deal to provide back seat
portable entertainment players to rental car giant, Hertz. The units
ostensibly are designed for traveling adults and their children and are
optionally rented along with an automobile in some 21 high profile
destinations across the US. Prepackaged with 40 hours of Nickelodeon
programming (dubbed Nick on the Go), the unit is ruggedized and wrapped in
an orange skin matching the Nickelodeon logo. IMS administers a content
security methodology similar to that used in IFE but appropriate to the
content release characteristics of Nickelodeon broadcast content. Here a few
of the specifications of the unit: 80GB hard drive, 7-inch touchscreen, 22.6
oz., 800x480 resolution, 16:9 display, VC-1 encoding optimized to the
platform.
We asked Harry Gray, VP Sales & Marketing about the deal and he told IFExpress; "This sale represents significant market expansion for IMS beyond IFE and into the broader travel industry. We are becoming a solutions provider for 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' and see many benefits to providing systems with common standards across the travel industry. The users represent the same mobile customer base whether they are in an airplane (commercial or private), train, or rental car... and places in between." Interestingly, IMS developed the "complete travel kit" as part of the deal and did so, we understand, in a few months – this is a bit outside the norm of the aviation business and no doubt will lead to other deals of a similar nature. We are strong believers in turnkey, entertainment player solutions and along this line, Harry told us; "Our success in this area has to do with our ability to provide a complete solution. Our ability to cost-effectively repurpose COTS hardware, our ability to optimize the content display to the platform, our ability to provide encoding, integration and security-a completely integrated supply chain-is key to the success of this solution."
Significant is the inclusion of pre-programmed content and in that respect, IMS has sole responsibility for content encoding, integration, administration, and delivery of same. They provide the content loading infrastructure used in Hertz’ offices to dock the units between uses, and to recharge batteries and refresh content that they push to them. The infrastructure is very much like that in use at airports. We are told that the selection process was very competitive, and at least as rigorous as the same process in IFE. As to why Hertz chose IMS, we suspect that their leadership in IFE portables was no doubt a factor. That fact along with their ability to respond quickly with an ideal product, a total solution, and supply chain support over the long term probably sealed the deal. For more information contact, Harry Gray, Vice President Sales and Marketing, (714) 693-3505, hgray@imsconsultants.com.
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Thales wins full avionics and
IFE package contract with AirAsia X
12/10/2007 11:27:41 PM
Boeing Confirms Lion Air Order
for 22 737s
12/10/2007 11:25:57 PM
AirAsia to become largest
airline customer for A320 aircraft
12/10/2007 11:25:02 PM
Cathay Pacific adds eight A330
aircraft to Airbus fleet
12/10/2007 11:20:45 PM
L’Avion Airlines selects
digEplayer XT for additional routes
12/10/2007 11:19:55 PM
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Boeing could
launch program for plane to replace 737: Financial Times
MarketWatch
Boeing
surpasses Airbus record
Seattle P-I
Boeing,
going, gone: America’s Dreamliner a nightmare
Tech.Blorge
Virgin adds
web show to inflight entertainment
Just The Flight
How Four
Airlines Plan to Connect Fliers to the Web
PC World
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WAEA
Technology Committee Meeting
1/22/2008 - 1/23/2008
Aircraft Interiors Expo - Hamburg
4/1/2008 - 4/3/2008
8th
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5/20/2008 - 5/22/2008
Aircraft Interiors Expo - Americas
9/9/2008 - 9/11/2008
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