British Airways’ digital billboard identifies planes as they pass overhead (video)

We’re no stranger to digital billboards — Engadget made its own big-screen debut in Times Square back in 2011 — but British Airways’ latest endeavor is unlike any we’ve seen before. According to The Drum, the new advertisement, installed front and center at London’s Piccadilly Circus, uses “custom-built surveillance technology” to track incoming BA aircraft, prompting the screen to display a child pointing directly at the plane as it passes overhead. The adjacent text offers up the flight number and its origin or destination, along with a custom message, such as the lowest fare for that route or the current weather where that plane is headed. The airline’s new #lookup campaign is marketing at its best — see for yourself in the video after the break.

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Via: @clintonjeff, The Drum

Source: British Airways

New FAA Guidelines Permit More Device Use, All The Way From Take-Off To Landing

For years now, most of us have been quietly not turning off our phones and devices at landing and take off, and merely putting the screens to sleep and stuffing them in seat pockets instead. Now, we’ll be able to do that officially and more, according to the FAA. The American government organization overseeing air travel today announced that travelers won’t face regulations that are quite as strict when it comes to electronics on planes.

Don’t start celebrating just yet – this doesn’t mean you can continue playing Candy Crush while waiting for your massive, heavy hunk of metal to defy physics and launch itself into the air as of this very moment. The changes will differ depending on each airline, the FAA says, since there are differences between types of planes and how things are run at each different carrier, but the FAA anticipates that most will allow passengers to use their gadgets “in airplane mode, gate-to-gate, by the end of the year.”

Passengers can use e-book readers, play games and watch videos on devices, and can hold gadgets during both take-off and landing, or else stow them in the seatback pocket. These gadgets need to be in Airplane Mode or have cell service turned off during both landing and taxi/take-off, but you can actually use Wi-Fi during your flight and continue to use Bluetooth accessories connected to your phone.

There are still some things the FAA says travelers need to be aware of regarding these rules, to make sure they’re still in compliance with guidelines. Here’s a full list of those points flagged by the regulatory organization:

1. Make safety your first priority.

2.  Changes to PED policies will not happen immediately and will vary by airline. Check with your airline to see if and when you can use your PED.

3.  Current PED policies remain in effect until an airline completes a safety assessment, gets FAA approval, and changes its PED policy.

4. Cell phones may not be used for voice communications.

5.  Devices must be used in airplane mode or with the cellular connection disabled. You may use the WiFi connection on your device if the plane has an installed WiFi system and the airline allows its use.  You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.

6. Properly stow heavier devices under seats or in the overhead bins during takeoff and landing. These items could impede evacuation of an aircraft or may injure you or someone else in the event of turbulence or an accident.

7. During the safety briefing, put down electronic devices, books and newspapers and listen to the crewmember’s instructions.

8.  It only takes a few minutes to secure items according to the crew’s instructions during takeoff and landing.

9.  In some instances of low visibility – about one percent of flights – some landing systems may not be proved PED tolerant, so you may be asked to turn off your device.

10. Always follow crew instructions and immediately turn off your device if asked.

Earlier this year, the FAA seemed ready to relax the rules around personal electronics use in-flight, but they quickly noted that this didn’t mean we’d see blanket bans lifted immediately. Now, the FAA is taking pains to roll this out more quickly, and is “streamlining” approval of the new rules via clear instructions and guidelines for airlines about implementation of device use.  Delta has announced that it’s the first to submit its plan to comply with the new regulations, and that it will do so by November 1, it hopes.

With any luck, some passengers might be able to watch Home Alone 2 on their new iPad Air while winging their way home to enjoy a family Christmas dinner. It’s about time.

American Airlines finishes rolling out iPad flight bags

American Airlines finishes rolling out iPad flight bags

Some airlines and aircraft makers have made a big deal of moving to tablet-based flight bags, but few can say they’ve made a complete switch. American Airlines can — it just finished deploying iPad-based kits to all its cockpits, which can use the tablets at every stage of flight. The move lets the carrier ditch paper charts and manuals across the board, with an according round of savings in fuel and weight. Regional partners haven’t made the leap to digital, although that may come soon: American Eagle Airlines will have the choice of using iPad flight bags starting on July 10th. While most of us in the passenger seats will never notice the difference, the shift will likely help American’s bottom line.

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Source: American Airlines

Airbus A350 completes maiden flight, uber-efficient Trent XWB engine shines

Uberefficient Trent XWB engine shines in Airbus A350's maiden flight

With the Paris Air Show scheduled to lift off in earnest on Monday, Airbus is hoping to steal a bit of the limelight. After being conceived in 2004, the A350 finally took the public skies today in France, showcasing a highly-efficient Rolls-Royce XWB engine all the while. The jet is arguably being launched to compete with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, and as you’d expect, it’s the magic inside of the shell that’s most impressive. The Trent XWB engine was built specifically for the A350, replete with titanium blades and a mixture of technologies that have led to it being deemed the “world’s most efficient” airplane engine… as said by Rolls-Royce, anyway. To date, over 600 orders for the A350 have been placed, but the outfit is hoping to land even more contracts in the days ahead. Ideally, each will ship with a power port in every seat, satellite internet connections and an allergy for mechanical failures. (A boy can dream, right?)

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Source: CNN, The New York Times, BBC

Airbus A320 family to use Dell Latitude laptops for electronic flight bags

Airbus A320 to use Dell Latitude laptops for some electronic flight bags

Airbus isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket — or rather, one bag. While it already has a suite of iPad cockpit apps to assist pilots, the aircraft maker is hedging its bet with a deal to use Dell Latitude laptops as electronic flight bags on the A320 family. Crews will get the Latitude E6330 installed as a Class-2 device that can link up with the A320’s avionics; as you’d expect, the PCs will also ship with software for maps, manuals and weather. We’ve reached out to learn just which carriers are going this route, although possible expansion to other Airbus vehicles could make Dell a common sight at 36,000 feet.

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Source: Dell

Samoan Airline Begins Charging Passengers By Their Body Weight

Samoan Airline Begins Charging Passengers By Their Body Weight
People who are considered medically to be obese have always had issues when it came to air travel as nobody wants to sit near you and the airlines tend to treat you terribly just because of your weight. It looks as though things aren’t going to get any easier for those of you who are carrying a bit of extra personal baggage as Somoa Air is introducing a pricing policy that charges its passengers by their body weight.

A passenger would be required to not only enter the weight of their baggage, but for themselves as well at the time of booking. The combined weight will be used to calculate the price of the ticket, with its values being verified at the airport by weighing customers and their bags. The reason for the introduction of this new policy is due the Samoa Air’s fleet of aircrafts largely being made up of 12-seater aircrafts, which means the passengers and their bags need to be factored in to have a safe takeoff. It also doesn’t help that Samoans are known to carry a few extra pounds.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Auto Manufacturers Developing Cars With Biometric Sensors, “Who’s Your Daddy” truck is a mobile paternity test lab,

This Amazing Time-Lapse Shows How Twitchy Jumbo Jets Really Are

Here’s a great use of time-lapse photography to show a side of aviation that is rarely seen. This is a procession of jumbo jets (B747, A340, B777) flying into Heathrow airport in London. Since it’s a time-lapse video, it’s sped up 17x faster than normal, and as a result you see the jets jumping in a way that doesn’t inspire confidence (although flying is actually very safe). Also, the moving clouds in the background give you a sensation of a constantly moving camera. It’s hypnotic, and I never before realized to what extent that planes line up to land. The whole video is courtesy of Cargospotter, and you can check out a GIF version after the jump. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: American Airlines will equip flight attendants with Galaxy Note, Climate-Controlled Airline Seats On Their Way,

Boeing 747-8, 777 to join 787 in support for in-flight cellphone use and WiFi, like it or not

Boeing 747-8

The more cynical among us would argue that allowing cellphones in-flight is only a guarantee of an even more unpleasant trip, at least for anyone wanting a distraction-free cabin. There must still be a few optimists: Boeing is promising that future production runs of the 747-8 and 777 will have the necessary support for in-flight cellphone use, live TV and internet access that comes through either headrest screens or WiFi. Aircraft with the upgrade should roll off the production lines before the end of 2013, and they’ll be following a slight change to the 787 later this year that makes the technology support a common option. Some of us may wind up reaching for the earplugs in countries where regulators approve in-air wireless, but there’s definite upsides for all but the biggest curmudgeons — Boeing’s moves could lead to more ubiquitous in-flight WiFi next year, on top of ready-made wireless media streaming due in 2014.

Continue reading Boeing 747-8, 777 to join 787 in support for in-flight cellphone use and WiFi, like it or not

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Boeing 747-8, 777 to join 787 in support for in-flight cellphone use and WiFi, like it or not originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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American Airlines will equip flight attendants with Galaxy Note

Airlines have been using tablets and smartphones as part of the official in-flight gear for some time now. For instance, we reported earlier that American Airlines planned on providing Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 for in-flight entertainment as far back as 2011.

And now, the airline has decided to equip its flight attendants with Galaxy Note. The press release by the company shows off a 5.3-inch version which probably means that the employees wouldn’t be lucky enough to lay their hands on the upcoming Galaxy Note II, rather than first-generation device. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Climate-Controlled Airline Seats On Their Way, HTC May Be Working On A Galaxy Note Competitor,

American Airlines becomes first FAA-friendly carrier to use iPads through whole flights

American Airlines in taxi area

You don’t have to wait for an FAA rethink to use your iPad on an airliner below 10,000 feet — if you’re part of an American Airlines crew, that is. As of this month, the air carrier is the first cleared by the FAA to use iPads in the cockpit at every point during a flight. The program starts just with Boeing 777 pilots at first, but it should eventually grow to save $1.2 million in weight-related fuel costs per year across the airline, not to mention a few trees and the strain of 35-pound flight bags. American is confident enough in the tablet switchover that it plans to stop handing out any paper updates to its charts and manuals as of January, just days after its entire fleet gets the regulatory nod for iPads at the end of this year. We just wouldn’t anticipate Android or Windows tablet rollouts anytime soon. American isn’t opposed to the concept, but it’s only promising that slates beyond the iPad will be “evaluated for use” if and when the FAA applies its rubber stamp.

Continue reading American Airlines becomes first FAA-friendly carrier to use iPads through whole flights

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American Airlines becomes first FAA-friendly carrier to use iPads through whole flights originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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