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Mobile Messaging in the Air

Techstination feature for Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Mobile messaging…in the air. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. Virgin America…is off and flying as of this month….and even with its discounted fares…the airline is featuring lots of high tech amenities. CEO Fred Reid says they include the ability…in coach and first class….to plug in your laptop or PDA..

"We've started by really thinking about how people really live today and we have plugs at every seat for every kind of PDA that you're likely to be carrying, so you can power throughout the flight. We have the most advanced in-flight entertainment system in this country, maybe in the world. We plan to have broadband connection, high speed Internet sometime in 2008."

That's a feature American Airlines is adding as well. The in-flight entertainment system is all digital…

"And it's uploaded and downloaded and updated wirelessly when we're on the ground. And we're talking about 25 movies at a minimum, premium television, 18 live television channels, three thousand songs. A lot of fun things. You can get everybody on the plane to chat in a chat room with each other on politics, or social trends. You can order your food or your beverage from your screen while watching a football game. Or everybody can watch a soccer match and comment in a chat room next to that. There's a lot of fun to be had."

The planes use multiple servers to deliver the content. Routes are limited at least for now. You can find more information at VirginAmerica.com. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.