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Aviation History
2000
2000-1 - 1121.PDF
MMCA SHOW REPORT Rockwell takes its time on entertainment product line EMMA KELLY/ANAHEIM ROCKWELL COLLINS Passenger Systems needs a further 30-60 days to decide the future of its widebody interactive in-flight entertainment product line following the recent acquisi tion of die former Sony Trans Com (Flight International, 8-14 August). Rockwell will, meanwhile, launch the long-awaited audio- and video-on-demand (A/VOD) capability of its Total Enter tainment System (TES) with LanChile next month. Since early August, Rockwell has had nine teams comprising Rockwell and Sony Trans Com personnel working on integration issues. Two other teams are focused on combining the Rockwell and Sony IFE hardware product lines, including the competing widebody systems - Rockwell's TES and Sony's P@ssport. Speaking at the World Airline Entertainment Association show in Anaheim, California, held from 19-22 September, vice president marketing and strategic manage ment at Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems, Graham MacDonald, said the company had hoped to come up with Rockwell Collins is launching long-awaited A/VOD with LanChile solutions to the product line inte gration sooner. MacDonald told the audience that it would be "another 30 to 60 days before they make their initial recommendations". The single- and twin-aisle IFE product teams are determining which product line-up to go ahead with and are investigating areas including technology, marketing and "where we need to be two to five years from now" says MacDonald. "We haven't made any decisions yet on the future of TES and P@ssport," says the Rockwell Collins vice president. P@ssport is flying with three air lines - US Airways, Air Canada and South African Airways. TES has a much larger installed base, with customers including British Airways, American Airlines, Air France and Delta Air Lines. TES and P@ssport have on-going installation programmes. "No matter what the decision is on the future of TES and P@ssport, we have to meet the contractual com mitments we have today," says MacDonald. Product development of TES continues with LanChile set to become the first carrier to offer A/VOD capability on TES with the delivery of its latest Boeing 767 next month. Rockwell is the last of the major interactive IFE system suppliers to add A/VOD functionality. British Airways is back up to full speed with its TES installation programme following earlier dis appointing system reliability. • Singapore Airlines starts System 3000 upgrade SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA) will start upgrading its widebody fleet with Matsushita's new System 3000 interactive in flight entertainment (IFE) hard ware in November and December. Theairline will be the first to install the fully interactive IFE System, a development of Matsushita's mar ket-leading System 2000E. SIA has the System 2000E installed on its widebody fleet and will progressively upgrade the fleet once it is satisfied with initial System 3000 performance. System 3000 will allow SIA to offer audio- and video-on-demand (A/VOD) services in all passenger cabins. It will provide faster full- cabin A/VOD, improved interac tive capabilities and picture quality compared with its predecessor. Matsushita has 15 airlines com mitted to the new product, with some carriers ordering the ana logue version for later upgrade and others the digital version to allow full-cabin A/VOD. Customers include All Nippon Airways, Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, and Swissair. Many of the carriers will be moving up to the System 3000 from the System 2000E, with the upgrade being "an evolutionary step" with a change in hardware and no wiring changes required, says Matsushita. System 3000 is not intended to replace System 2000E, but is an upgrade and Matsushita is expect ing more airlines to move up to the new system as "VOD becomes more the norm and the content price comes down". System 2000E has captured two-thirds of the widebody interactive IFE system market, according to Matsushita. The manufacturer is already planning its next-generation sys tem, which is two years away from a. development announcement. J BRAHMSS to list the future of multimedia AERONAUTICAL commu nications specialist SITA is heading a European team commis sioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) to examine future in-flight communications require ments. The study, investigating the in flight business requirements for aeronautical high-speed multime dia satellite services (BRAHMSS), involves EADS (France), satellite manufacturer Astrium and Thomson-CSF. BRAHMSS, which will examine communication requirements for passengers, cockpit and cabin crew over the next decade, is Europe's response to the in-flight multi media services being developed by US companies including Boeing (Connexion), according to indus try sources. SITA started working on the nine-month project in early September and began surveying airlines on their future communi cations needs at the show. Around 200 international air lines will be questioned on their future in-flight communications needs by early November, says Elizabeth Young, SITA director of passenger communica tion services. The study is designed to define a service chain required to offer future aeronautical multimedia services needed by airlines. It will also produce preliminary design requirements for delivery of the services and could result in a demonstration phase, says Young. • SITA will introduce a number of developments to its in-flight tele phone services early next year. Passengers will be able to charge their in-flight telephone calls using SITA's Inmarsat-based satellite communication service to their cellular mobile phone accounts. Ground-to-air calling will be added from the third quarter, while GSM call roaming, whereby the aircraft in-flight phone takes on the identity of a passenger's mobile phone will be introduced in the fourth quarter. Longer-term, SITA is investi gating technologies that will allow passengers to use cellular phones inside the aircraft cabin in flight. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 26 September - 2 October 2000 15
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