Have iBeacon – Will Travel

Have you ever been at the airport baggage claim area for what seemed like an interminable amount of time? It can be quite frustrating having to wait for the conveyor belt to start and the bags to flow down from the baggage chute. Once the belt has started, everyone from the flight rushes towards the conveyor belt. This, of course, makes finding your own bag more challenging as the scrum of people restricts your view thus complicating your efforts.

With that in mind, the folks at Aww Apps have a solution. Rather than adorning your baggage with your lucky keychain or a favorite ribbon, why not just use an iBeacon that has been paired with the Travel Radar app?

As shown in the video, the idea is simple: pair a Bluetooth-based iBeacon with the Travel Radar app on your phone, place the beacon in your baggage, and you will get a notification on your phone as your baggage gets closer to your location. If you are the less patient type, you can also open the app and see an approximate distance to your baggage.

Folks, this is a nifty use of iBeacons.

P.S. The UI for the tracker is pleasant, but wouldn't it have been cool to have it look like the motion tracker from Aliens?

Using Your Smartphone While In-Flight is a Privilege, Not a Right

Jad Mouawad and Nick Bilton, writing for The New York Times:

For many passengers, the ban has been a source of frustration. John Shahidi, a technology entrepreneur, ignored the order to turn off his cellphone late last year, but this time a flight attendant caught him sneaking a look at his iPhone, he said — and instead of a gentle scolding, she opted for a public shaming. She stood there, he said, staring at him, and announced that the plane would not take off until he had powered down the phone.

On the one hand, it is good that the FAA is going to review its rules for passengers' use of T-PEDs (Transmitting Portable Electronic Devices) during all flight phases. Having a policy that is based on research and empirical evidence is a good thing. On the other hand, the amount of vitriol being spewed by passengers is absurd.

The fact of the matter is that there is a non-zero risk to airplane systems due to passengers' devices. Honeywell, for example, is embroiled in discussions with the FAA regarding its cockpit panels' susceptibility to interference from Wi-Fi signals. The most critical and dangerous flight phases are when the airplane is taking off or landing. As you might imagine, instrument disruption during those phases is more dangerous than when the plane is at cruising altitude. With that said, 'non-zero risk' is not the same as 'imminent danger' and this policy review is a positive step for the FAA (which is entrusted with making the skies safe).

However, the fact that the FAA's existing policy may become obsolete does not warrant the childish responses exhibited by passengers such as Mr. Shahidi.  In-flight entertainment is not a human right. It is a privilege.

I am not suggesting that the FAA's existing policy is above reproach. Rather, I am suggesting that disagreement with the policy should be based on rational thought and discourse instead of being based on an emotional response to a minor inconvenience.

Folks, I am hopeful that the FAA will relax its restrictions on using electronic devices. However, until the proper authorities have weighed the risks and presented their evidence, I will follow the rules and turn my devices off when requested (and so should you).

Inside the Airbus A350 Cockpit

Zach Honig, over at Engadget:

As you might expect, the cockpit is as modern as they come, with large LCDs taking the place of traditional avionics. In fact, the layout looks more like something you'd find on a stock broker's desk -- it's quite a contrast to the aging panels many commercial pilots still use today.

The video in the source link gives us a glimpse at what the cockpit of the A350 is like. The cockpit, to no one's surprise, is a splendid example of a so-called 'glass cockpit'.  The large display panels allow for system flexibility and enhanced awareness for pilots. I have experience writing software for Boeing's Electronic Logbook, so I was quite interested in seeing the A350's Class 3 Electronic flight bag. The sheer size of the LCD panel is impressive.

Check out the video, folks.

Boeing is Using Robots to Paint the Wings of the 777

Glenn Farley over at KING 5 News has an interesting video that shows how Boeing plans to use robots to automatically paint the wings of the Boeing 777 aircraft. The company believes that the robots will not only paint the wings 50% faster than human beings can, but will also do so while using less paint due to higher paint application accuracy. This also has the added bonus of saving weight on the wing, which translates to fuel savings (especially when multiplied by many flights across the fleet).

See the source link for ​the video.

The iPad Will Not Make Air Fares Cheaper, Folks

Nathanael Arnold, in a post over at Wall St. Cheat Sheet:

Besides using the iPad as a piloting accessory, the airline is also initiating its use as an informational customer service device for flight attendants. It remains to be seen if the airline will be passing its new iPad fuel savings on to the passengers.

Arnold's post notes that American Airlines will save a nice bundle of cash in the form of fuel savings by using the iPad as an Electronic Flight Bag for its pilots instead of a traditional paper-based flight bag. The above quote is something that I often see in aviation reporting...the implication being that everywhere an airline saves money is an opportunity to pass those savings on to consumers.

Folks, that just isn't realistic. Airlines in the USA are having difficulties in being profitable (and quite often have been losing money). Airfares are, oddly enough, actually very inexpensive compared to fares in the past (adjusted for inflation). Every bit of cost savings that an airline can manage in today's market will be used to maintain the health and well-being of that airline, not used to save Joe Traveler a couple of bucks on airfare.

Gogo Does Not Have a Monopoly on In-Flight Internet

Jeff John Roberts at GigaOM:

In throwing out the case, Chen accepted GoGo’s argument that it doesn’t have dominant market share because it covers only 16% of all US airplanes, and it’s possible for the remaining planes, which do not offer internet, to sign up with a competing service provider. The internet contracts are sold on airplane-by-airplane basis, and not across entire airlines.

As noted in the article, Gogo has an astounding 85% share of aircraft that offer in-flight internet service in the USA. However, that is altogether different from having a monopoly on in-flight internet service when that 85% share represents only 16% of all aircraft in the USA. This lawsuit seems like it was brought forward by people who feel that they are entitled to everything that they want.

Japanese Airline Offers In-Flight Entertainment Via Smartphones

Courtesy of the folks at Airport News Japan:​

Users download movies, TV shows, music, magazines, games or other content to their smartphones or other devices through the airport terminal's dedicated Wi-Fi network, which they can enjoy without limitation while in the airport or on their departing flight.

What makes this more interesting than the usual in-flight entertainment (IFE) news is the fact that this is being done by Peach, a low-cost carrier in the same vein as Southwest Airlines or Ryanair.​ As noted in the post, low-cost carriers don't typically offer IFE in their aircraft. This is a very smart, relatively low tech way to offer IFE to passengers without incurring the costs of a traditional installed IFE system or Internet connectivity systems/services like Gogo.