Brea, CA (November 16, 2009) – For the third consecutive year, The IMS Company, a diverse technology solutions provider focusing on communications and entertainment solutions in the aerospace, government and travel markets, has been named to the list of “100 fastest-growing private companies” in tech-heavy Orange County, California, by the Orange County Business Journal (OCBJ), IMS chairman and CEO Joseph Renton has announced.
“In view of the overall economic downturn, and the severity of the inflight entertainment and communications sector in particular, we are pleased to continue being among Orange County’s fastest-growing,” said Renton.
Earlier this year, IMS expanded its operations with the acquisition of FlightDeck Resources, a leading provider of Electronic Flight Bag solutions to commercial airlines, corporate aviation, air cargo and aircraft fleet operations worldwide. With that acquisition, IMS created “IMS FlightDeck” as an operating division along with IMS Engineering and IMS Entertainment, said Renton.
The company expanded its In Flight Entertainment and Communications (IFEC) product offerings in 2009 with the announcement at the WAEA Conference and Exhibition in Palm Springs, California, of a light-weight, low-cost embedded IFEC system that “leaves the head-end-centric architecture behind” says Renton. Called RAVE™, this system is architected so that all content, applications and playback capabilities reside at each seat rather than at the head-end.
IMS also recently announced a new generation of embedded data loaders utilizing solid state technology that offer significantly faster content load speeds, increased storage capacity, and the ability to interface with multiple IFE systems. “Migration from the Removable Hard Disk Drive (HDD) to Solid State (SD) media is definitely paradigm-changing,” says Renton.
IMS continues to be a key engineering solutions provider on complex programs such as Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS), On Board Network Services program, for 787 and 747-8 aircraft and highly specialized engineering for numerous unmanned vehicle platforms.
Founded in 1996, The IMS Company is an entertainment and communications solutions provider in the travel industry and a systems and software solutions provider to the aerospace industry and the military. Organized into three business units, IMS serves more than twenty commercial airlines with portable entertainment, wireless communications, and content management services via IMS Entertainment. Via IMS Engineering, the company provides advanced systems and software engineering support in the development and deployment of the latest in inflight entertainment, cabin avionics, and media distribution systems, as well as engineering services and software development services to unmanned vehicles and software-defined radios. The recent acquisition of Flight Deck Resources resulted in the creation of a third unit, IMS Flight Deck, which provides Electronic Flight Bag and other solutions for the flight deck. IMS has expanded into the provisioning of content services and hardware solutions for business aviation, rental car, rail passenger, and related markets reaching the traveling public.
For more information see: www.imsco-us.com.
Skip the cheesy byline, RAVE by IMS is the paradigm shifter we referred to last issue. Dubbed “Reliable Audio Video Entertainment,” RAVE is best described as a “seat centric” embedded IFE system that is focused on the seat display unit in front of each passenger—not the plethora of traditional distribution LRU’s through the aircraft or the head end servers interconnected by a miles of wires. The RAVE system is built from only two major LRUs compared to traditional IFE systems that require ten or more major LRUs to deliver the passenger entertainment. The RAVE System, as far as we can see, is a next generation IFE solution targeted to address current embedded IFE system shortcomings (cost, reliability, weight, crew manageability) while providing equal functionality.
IMS has been a solutions provider in the IFE industry for almost 15 years. During this time they have successfully deployed the industry-leading onboard content & data loading solution, as well as becoming the leading provider of portable in-flight entertainment solutions. They have also been providing engineering systems and software support to different OEMs for airborne connectivity and embedded IFE systems.
RAVE is a uniquely architected embedded solution that provides autonomous seat display units, operating with either a wired or wireless communications backbone, with each containing all applications and content. This means that there is no dependency on any other LRUs to deliver a full and rich AVOD experience to the passenger. Traditional IFE system store passenger application, entertainment content and playback capabilities at the head end and depend on the entire distribution chain to deliver the experience to the passenger. If one head end LRU were to fail, or if one distribution LRU were to fail, many seats are rendered inoperative.
The RAVE SDU has an input for power and an input for Gigabit Ethernet. With the wireless communications backbone option, the wired Gigabit Ethernet input is eliminated. Content is loaded to the SDUs via Ethernet from the System Control Unit (SCU). The SCU is the single head-end LRU that provides aircraft interfaces along with content loading features. This LRU is based on the very successful IMS Terminal Data Loader (TDL) with improvements and modification to integrate within RAVE.
IMS has carefully listened to airlines and addressed the inevitable seat failure scenario. They’ve heard more than once that their PMPs are more reliable than embedded solutions. With RAVE, if a SDU were to fail, the airline has the option of allowing crew members to exchange the failed unit with a spare carried onboard the aircraft—just like with PMPs. The replacement SDU will snap right into the seat back and be ready to go, with no delay. This feature alone will have flight crews used to dealing with failed traditional embedded IFE standing to cheer as they now have a remedy for unhappy customers.
The design and development of seat centric IFE system that meets all regulatory requirements is not a trivial task. Many IFE ventures in the past have tried this approach and have failed. Why will IMS succeed where others have failed? Joe Renton, IMS Founder & CEO noted, “IMS has leveraged new technology, ten-plus years of IFE experience, and years of airline feedback to design and develop an extremely reliable IFE solution. Airlines now have the choice to install a lighter, more reliable, and more cost effective IFE solution.”
The IFExpress take on RAVE is that it is targeted for that portion of the market that is not served, or has been poorly served, by the “big dogs” in the industry—that is, those airlines who can’t afford traditional embedded IFE or those who have had less than favorable experiences with traditional embedded IFE. IMS has focused on creating a highly reliable IFE system that is available at a disruptive price and from what we can tell, they have hit their mark.
RAVE Block Diagrams (Adobe PDF - Click to View)
IMS rolled out RAVE for this past WAEA and but didn’t have time to develop brochures, however we talked them into providing system level block diagrams and you can find them here.
Brea, CA (September 29, 2009)— British Airways recently announced that its new Club World London City service to New York’s JFK beginning today will be equipped with portable media players from The IMS Company, providing inflight entertainment to the all 32 of the Business Class-only passengers onboard two A318 aircraft. IMS continues to be the premier provider of portable IFE solutions to the world’s major airlines, says Harry Gray, vice president sales and marketing for IMS.
The IMS portable media players are integrated into a brand new business class seat. This type of seat installation allows the passenger a hands-free operation and full use of the tray table for meal and beverage services. The PAV705’s sleek styling, small and compact size, as well as low weight allows for a simple, cost effective and elegant semi-embedded seat installation benefiting the airline and their passengers.
Several airlines are now using IMS portable media players in a semi-embedded configuration, allowing for the PMPs to be installed in a seat arm or seatback installation. IMS has worked with airlines and various seat manufactures providing a variety of innovative and effective designs to incorporate our players into the seats in both single and twin aisle aircraft, as well as economy class seats.
At WAEA, IMS will have examples of its semi-embedded installations for our portable media players, as well as some new concepts. Gray invites airlines to visit booth 1325 at WAEA for a closer look.
Founded in 1996, The IMS Company is an entertainment and communications solutions provider in the travel industry and a systems and software solutions provider to the aerospace industry and the military. Organized into three business units, IMS serves more than twenty commercial airlines with portable entertainment, wireless communications, and content management services via IMS Entertainment. Via IMS Engineering, the company provides advanced systems and software engineering support in the development and deployment of the latest in inflight entertainment, cabin avionics, and media distribution systems, as well as engineering services and software development services to unmanned vehicles and software-defined radios. The recent acquisition of Flight Deck Resources resulted in the creation of a third unit, IMS Flight Deck, which provides Electronic Flight Bag and other solutions for the flight deck. IMS has expanded into the provisioning of content services and hardware solutions for business aviation, rental car, rail passenger, and related markets reaching the traveling public. In 2008, IMS was named the 14th fastest-growing privately-held company in technology-heavy Orange County, California by the Orange County Business Journal, up from the 24th fastest-growing in the 2007 survey.
For more information see: www.imsco-us.com.
About The IMS Company:
Founded in 1996, The IMS Company is an entertainment and communications solutions provider in the travel industry serving planes, trains and automobiles. The Entertainment Group has a focus on portable entertainment, wireless communications, and content management services, while the Engineering Group focuses on systems and software development. Historically, the company’s core business is the provision of advanced systems and software engineering support to aerospace companies in the development and deployment of the latest in inflight entertainment, cabin avionics, and media distribution systems. IMS has expanded into the provisioning of content services and hardware solutions for business aviation, rental car, rail passenger, and related markets reaching the traveling public. In 2007, IMS was named the 24th fastest-growing privately-held company in technology-heavy Orange County, California by the Orange County Business Journal. See: www.imsco-us.com.
To be known as “IMS Flight Deck”, the new division provides Electronic Flight Bag solutions
Brea, CA (April 22, 2009)—The IMS Company, an entertainment and communications solutions provider to inflight entertainment , aerospace and travel industry markets, has announced the acquisition of Flight Deck Resources (FDR), a leading provider of Electronic Flight Bag solutions to commercial airlines, corporate aviation, air cargo, general aviation and aircraft fleet operators worldwide.
FDR, which will now be known as IMS Flight Deck, will join IMS Entertainment and IMS Engineering as a division within The IMS Company, according to IMS chairman and CEO Joseph Renton.
“As a result of the acquisition, we have synergistically expanded our product reach and will now have the ability sell products and services to our customers not only in the cabin of the aircraft but also in the flight deck,” said Renton. “It is our ongoing strategy to find ways to prudently grow our business and we see the FDR acquisition as one of those ways.”
A number of FDR’s executives and employees joined IMS Flight Deck and have moved into IMS’ facilities in Brea, California, thus ensuring a smooth and efficient transition for current customers. “As a turnkey Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solutions provider, FDR—now IMS Flight Deck—is a single source for EFB hardware, software, mounting, and certification,” said Renton. The acquisition is part of a strategic initiative to provide an integrated package of products and services that are comprehensive and complementary, Renton commented.
IMS provides portable entertainment solutions, applications, wireless communications, cabin avionics, media distribution systems, content delivery network services, content and data-loading solutions, and advanced systems and software engineering services, according to Renton. “The ability to provide a comprehensive solution set for the flight crew and the flight deck of the aircraft further demonstrates our commitment to a robust and compelling set of aircraft solutions,” he said.
IMS Flight Deck offers the SkyTab Electronic Flight Bag product line in addition to its proprietary EFB software applications. These Flight Deck Management Systems (all single piece Class 1 and Class 2 portable EFBs under FAA AC-120-76A) are capable of hosting and displaying navigational charts, digital terminal procedures charts, GPS data, company policies, documents, aircraft manuals, and preflight planning applications. They also perform exceedingly complex functions such as performance calculations, satellite communications, display of real-time weather information, and airport moving map applications, said Renton.
Despite the current economic environment, The IMS Company, the leading provider of inflight portable entertainment solutions, has continued to operate on sound footing, according to Renton. Earlier this month IMS announced a large portables sale and three year support agreement to supply portable media players (PMPs), ground-based delivery infrastructure, and recurring content management services for Kuwait Airways, and another sale for PMPs and content management services to Air Gabon.
About The IMS Company: Founded in 1996, The IMS Company is an entertainment and communications solutions provider in the travel industry and a systems and software solutions provider to the aerospace industry and the military. IMS serves more than twenty commercial airlines with portable entertainment, wireless communications, and content management services, as well as the provision of advanced systems and software engineering support in the development and deployment of the latest in inflight entertainment, cabin avionics, and media distribution systems. IMS also provides engineering services and software development services to unmanned vehicles and software-defined radios. IMS has expanded into the provisioning of content services and hardware solutions for business aviation, rental car, rail passenger, and related markets reaching the traveling public. In 2008, IMS was named the 14th fastest-growing privately-held company in technology-heavy Orange County, California by the Orange County Business Journal, moving up from 24th fastest-growing in the 2007 survey.
For more information see: www.imsco-us.com.
Despite the economic downturn, The IMS Company is continuing a pattern of strategic growth initiatives with this week’s announcement that IMS has acquired Flight Deck Resources, a leading provider of turnkey Electronic Flight Bag solutions. As IMS chairman Joe Renton points out, this strategic acquisition enables IMS to “sell products and services to our customers not only in the back of the aircraft but also in the front of the aircraft.” This extends IMS’ product reach from passenger services to flight crew services, an area in which IMS has previously offered only applications and not a full suite of solutions, and increases IMS’ presence in the business aviation and air cargo markets.
Upon absorption into the IMS infrastructure, Flight Deck Resources becomes “IMS Flight Deck”, an operating division of The IMS Company alongside IMS Entertainment and IMS Engineering. “The acquisition is part of a strategic initiative to provide an integrated package of products and services that are synergistic and complementary,” Joe Renton told IFEXpress.
IMS Flightdeck will now offer the SkyTab Electronic Flight Bag product line. These FlightDeck Management Systems are all single piece Class 1 and Class 2 portable EFBs under FAA-AC-120-76A, and are capable of hosting and displaying digital terminal procedural charts, GPS data, company policies, and preflight planning applications, as well as exceedingly complex functions such as performance calculations and display of real-time weather info.
Coming in the same month as its announcements of a large portables sale to Kuwait Airways, that included a three-year support deal and recurring content management services, as well as a portables sale to Air Gabon, IMS still maintains it primacy in the portables space, and is demonstrating an aggressive and strategic approach to the business, even while the broader market feels the downward pressure. “It is our perpetual intention to continue to find strategically sound and prudent ways to grow our business and extend our product reach,” Renton told IFEXpress. “This acquisition is one of them.”
March 24, 2009 (Brea, CA)—Gabon Airlines, based in Libreville, Gabon, will launch portable media players from The IMS Company in the second quarter of 2009 on routes from Libreville to France, the Congo, and South Africa in Business and Economy classes in an agreement made by IMS with Paris-based Groupe Nesse on behalf of Gabon Airlines, according to Harry Gray, IMS’ vice president sales and marketing.
The PAV-705 seven-inch touchscreen players will be utilized on B767 aircraft and will provide seven feature-length movies and video programming totaling 18 and a half hours, as well as audio content and games. The privately-owned airline began in November 2006.The IMS Company is providing the portable media players and accessories, the ground-based infrastructure, and turnkey content management services.
The IMS Company, the leading provider of portable entertainment solutions in the inflight entertainment industry, will be exhibiting their products in Hall B6, space #6B10 at the Aircraft Interiors Expo, March 31 to April 2 in Hamburg, Germany.
About The IMS Company:
Founded in 1996, The IMS Company is an entertainment and communications solutions provider in the travel industry and a systems and software solutions provider to the aerospace industry and the military. IMS serves more than twenty commercial airlines with portable entertainment, wireless communications, and content management services, as well as the provision of advanced systems and software engineering support in the development and deployment of the latest in inflight entertainment, cabin avionics, and media distribution systems. IMS also provides engineering services and software development services to unmanned vehicles and software-defined radios. IMS has expanded into the provisioning of content services and hardware solutions for business aviation, rental car, rail passenger, and related markets reaching the traveling public. In 2008, IMS was named the 14th fastest-growing privately-held company in technology-heavy Orange County, California by the Orange County Business Journal, up from the 24th fastest-growing in the 2007 survey.
For more information see: www.imsco-us.com.
March 23, 2009 (Brea, CA)—Kuwait Airways, the national airline of Kuwait, will begin using 7-inch touchscreen PAV705 portable media players from The IMS Company on May 1 on European and United States routes in First and Business Class cabins, according to IMS president, Rod Farley.
The players will be used on two B777, four A340, and five A300 aircraft. Over the three-year agreement, The IMS Company will provide several hundred media players and accessories, ground support equipment and recurring content management services.
“Kuwait Airways has selected the IMS PAV705 Portable Media Player as part of enhancing our First and Business Class Inflight Entertainment Service,” said Waleed Al Hooty, Assistant Director Onboard Services, Ground Handling Department, for Kuwait Airways Corporation. “IMS has been the only company to have a complete range of portable media players along with an extensive clientele. In this short period of time, IMS has proved their genuine commitment to providing excellent services to Kuwait Airways.”
Each portable device has a 160GB storage capacity and will contain over 284 hours of video content—including 72 movies—along with a large offering of audio content and games. A generous variety of Hollywood movies, Arabic movies, and Arabic and Hindi classic movies, along with news and current affairs, comedies, documentaries and sports programs, and Kuwaiti television are included as a part of the entertainment package provided to Kuwait Airways’ premium class passengers.
The PAV705 is the lightest weight, most compact and best value portable media player on the market today, according to Harry Gray, IMS vice president sales and marketing. These attributes along with its stylish ergonomic design and ease of use make it the most popular device in the airline market.
The leading provider of portable entertainment solution in inflight entertainment, The IMS Company will be exhibiting its products in Hall B6, space #6B10, at the Aircraft Interiors Expo on March 31 to April 2, 2009, in Hamburg, Germany.
About The IMS Company:
Founded in 1996, The IMS Company is an entertainment and communications solutions provider in the travel industry and a systems and software solutions provider to the aerospace industry and the military. IMS serves more than twenty commercial airlines with portable entertainment, wireless communications, and content management services, as well as the provision of advanced systems and software engineering support in the development and deployment of the latest in inflight entertainment, cabin avionics, and media distribution systems. IMS also provides engineering services and software development services to unmanned vehicles and software-defined radios. IMS has expanded into the provisioning of content services and hardware solutions for business aviation, rental car, rail passenger, and related markets reaching the traveling public. In 2008, IMS was named the 14th fastest-growing privately-held company in technology-heavy Orange County, California by the Orange County Business Journal, up from the 24th fastest-growing in the 2007 survey.
For more information see: www.imsco-us.com.
With tough IFE times ahead, we have been asking industry experts for their view on what is happening and going to happen in out corner of the aviation business. This week, we were looking for some input from an expert who has been there — been there by way of product development, engineering services, system development and content distribution. We found that person in Joe Renton.
IFEXpress: How can IFE companies remain viable at times of significant downturn — such as now? IFEXpress put this question to Joseph Renton, chairman and CEO of The IMS Company, an IFE solutions provider and the leading provider of IFE portables.
Renton: “Many successful companies have been created, and many have thrived in challenging economic times. Economic adversity often inspires us to be more innovative — to take chances, to look at problems and solutions differently, and try new ways of doing things. As a solutions provider, IMS is accustomed to innovating and trying new things, during both good and bad times.”
IFEXpress: An example?
Renton: “American Airlines showed unique vision in utilizing an embedded portable solution in a premium class cabin, after Alaska Airlines had demonstrated similar vision in opting for the very first portables solution in IFE. These are only two of many decisions that do, and will, shape tomorrow’s IFE solutions, not just the portables business. Our decision to leverage COTS (consumer off-the-shelf) technologies while everyone else was making big investments in proprietary products is yet another is approach to finding unique and compelling ways to apply portable technologies to the cabin, including semi-embedded approaches with portable products.”
IFEXpress: So, these are challenging times, what new ideas are you trying?
Renton: “First, we will always maintain our fiscal responsibility and innovate within our means. Having said that, everyone on our team is looking at ways to apply current and leading edge technologies in more cost effective ways. For instance, how do we apply our core technologies in ways that airlines can more cost effectively deliver passenger entertainment. How do we deliver feature rich entertainment for less. In that same spirit, how can we create more cost effective and reliable content delivery mechanisms in support of airlines’ and content providers’ requirements. Finally, and this isn’t new, we are proceeding through some significant self evaluation and identifying ways to reassert our corporate basics so that we can be assured that our own house is in order. In times such as these, so long as we continue to nurture a collaborative environment, our staff has always provided us with the innovations that we need to continue our success.”
IFEXpress: OK, that’s how you may behave in this environment — what advice do you have for buyers?
Renton: “The IFE industry at times resembles the fashion industry — buyers fall in love with the latest trends, new ideas that catch their eye, but some of which tend to not hold up very well over the passing of time — interesting solutions that just don’t include a viable business model. Do you remember when everyone was in love with the idea that onboard gaming was going to generate enough revenues to pay for all IFE and turn a big profit? Over the years we’ve heard expectations that telephone usage, advertising, device rentals, duty free sales, and onboard sale of entertainment would fully amortize IFE, or that onboard delivery of satellite television would completely replace all other IFE. It’s particularly easy to fall in love with new ideas that come with the promise that someone else will pay for them or that they will pay for themselves. But such expectations have yet to be fulfilled. As sellers we have to be innovative and imaginative while keeping our heads — and that’s good advice for buyers as well. Those who buy and sell solutions that are both innovative, cost effective and based in fiscal sanity will be those who likely survive in this environment.”
The line has blurred between Inflight entertainment (IFE) and Inflight connectivity (IFC). Inflight Internet will soon be as ubiquitous to fliers as Sky Mall and carriers will be integrating it with their own IFE systems for passengers to buy movies, stream music and order snacks - all at the click of a button.”
