Hasta La Gadget!

An example of American Airlines’ current in-flight entertainment. Photo Charlie Sorrel

American Airlines is set to stream in-flight entertainment direct to your iPad via Wi-Fi. Passengers will be able to buy and stream movies and TV shows to any Wi-Fi-capable device.

This is in some ways a fantastic idea. The current offering of a crappy screen with even crappier audio pales next to the experience of watching video on your own device, especially if it’s something airline-seat friendly like an iPad or a netbook. Why not let passengers choose to use their own screen?

But those customers are the same ones that are likely to have brought along their own content, not just endless re-runs of How I Met Your Mother (not that there’s anything wrong with How I Met Your Mother. Barney is awesome). Plus, if the planes offer in-flight Wi-Fi then you have access to the whole internet, which is likely to be more compelling than in-flight movies.

At least American is committed to connecting its planes. The company is “expanding inflight Wi-Fi to virtually our entire domestic narrow body fleet with additional MD80 aircraft and domestic Boeing 757-200 aircraft,” says the press release. It is also working to put power outlets in all planes, eventually equipping the fleet with standard AC sockets so no adapters will be required.

This is fantastic news, and I look forward to viewing pornography and making loud, unnecessary calls on Skype during my next American flight.

In Aircell-powered in-flight movie streaming will begin trials this Summer.

American Airlines to test streaming video inflight [American Airlines via Slashgear and ZDNET]

See Also:

• World's Most Cramped Airline Seat to Launch Next Week
• TSA Chief Apologizes to Airline Passenger Soaked in Urine After …
• Airline Brings Cuddle-Class Seating to Coach
• Pay-As-You-Go Airline Charges by the Minute
• Airlines Try Smarter Boarding
• Airline Leaves Middle Seats Empty
• Step Up, Lie Down, Sit Sideways As Airlines Explore Creative …

Believe it or not, blazing-fast WiFi routers don’t have to look like anti-aircraft weapons. The new flagship device from Netgear, the N750, keeps its array of antennae stashed out of sight. Even without a gaudy design, this dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n router can hit speeds of 450Mbps over the 5GHz band and 300Mbps at 2.4Ghz, for an “aggregate combined data rate” of 750Mbps. Don’t get too excited though, all that means is you can connect one device in either band without dragging down the transfer rate of the other — you’re still bound by the 450Mbps speed limit. The N750 also includes a ReadySHARE USB port for network storage, parental controls, and guest access — not bad for $150, eh?

Continue reading Netgear’s N750 wireless router Newspeaks its way to 750Mbps

Netgear’s N750 wireless router Newspeaks its way to 750Mbps originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye-Fi Direct Mode setup can be tricky

Sometime in the middle of the night, Eye-Fi released both the “Direct Mode” software update for its Wi-Fi enabled SD cards, and a new iOS app that works with” this mode. An Android app is also available.

Together, these pieces of software lets you snap photos on any camera and have them show up on your iPhone, iPad or Android device, beamed through the air over Wi-Fi. The Direct Mode actually turns your SD card into a tiny Wi-Fi hotspot, allowing devices to connect. Once you get it working, it works great. But it is a little tricky to set up. Here’s how.

First, slot your Eye-Fi card into your computer or card reader and run the Eye-Fi Center software to update the card’s firmware. Then go grab the new universal iOS app from the App Store.

Done? Good. Now, follow Eye-Fi’s own instructions to set up the Direct Mode. This involves checking a box and hitting save.

Then you need to connect your iPad or iPhone to the wireless network that the card has created. This is where things can get a little sticky.

The card will only fire up its own Wi-Fi network if it doesn’t recognize any other networks in the area. The idea is that you would use your existing network to transfer photos if you are at home or at work, and the Direct Mode would only kick in when you’re out and about. So, in order to use the Direct Mode at home, you’ll need to remove your local network from the card. This is easy to do in the settings. Then hit the “Start Direct Mode Network” button to force it to start up.

Once that’s done, fire up the Eye-Fi app on your iOS device and sign in to your account. Choose Settings>Eye-Fi Card Settings and tap on the name of your card on screen. Press the “Copy” link to copy the password to the clipboard, then go to the Settings app and connect to the Eye-Fi card’s network just like you would any other. I couldn’t get my iPad to see this network until I stopped the card from looking for my home network, as detailed above.

If this works, remove the card from your computer and put it in the camera. Switch on and test. You may have to force a reconnect since your iDevice will probably have re-joined your home network in the meantime.

Once you’re up and running, the transfers work great. I have mine set to receive only JPEGs (in the setting on the iOS app) to keep things fast. The camera is set to shoot RAW + JPEG, which lets me upload the RAWs into Lightroom later. I haven’t yet tried the combo out and about, but in limited testing it works great, with transfers coming across in seconds and getting saved in the camera roll, ready to be Instagrammed.

The only real problem is using the setup in the range of a known Wi-Fi network. Even if you have disabled the network on the card itself, your iOS device won’t connect to the Eye-Fi hotspot automatically if it sees another network it recognizes. And there appears to be no way to force the card to transfer to your iOS device via the home network. This shouldn’t be a problem out in the street, though.

Finally, there is one other oddity. The geotagging function on the card seems to think that I’m in somewhere called Nan Nan in Thailand. This is really rather strange.

Setting up Eye-Fi Direct Mode with an Apple iPhone or iPad [Eye-Fi Support]

See Also:

• Eye-Fi 'Direct Mode' Send Photos Direct to iPad
• Eye-Fi Mobile X2 With 'Direct Mode' Beams Photos to Your iPad …
• Marry Your Camera to Your Mobile With This Wireless SD Card …

Remember how Eye-Fi was cooking up some software to let their WiFi-enabled SD memory cards sling photos directly to your tablet or phone? Here’s some sweet news — starting next week, Direct Mode will be a free download for any Eye-Fi X2 card, and debut alongside companion apps in the Android Market and iTunes App Store. Moreover, the company’s celebrating the launch of the new transfer protocol with a brand-new card, the $80 Eye-Fi Mobile X2, which should be available for purchase online momentarily and make its merry way to Best Buy and Apple stores by April 17th. Basically, the Mobile is a redux of the $50 Connect X2, but with double the storage capacity (8GB) and Direct Mode pre-installed — though a price drop on the top-of-the-line Pro X2 (to $100) will add geotagging and RAW support for just one Jackson more. Need a refresher on how Direct Mode works? Peek our CES video demo (and a hefty press release) after the break.

Continue reading Eye-Fi launching new 8GB wireless SD card today, kicking out Direct Mode for iOS and Android next week

Eye-Fi launching new 8GB wireless SD card today, kicking out Direct Mode for iOS and Android next week originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A big announcement arrived today if you live in or around London: to prepare to the onslaught of data-hungry visitors for the 2012 Olympic games that the city is hosting, 120 WiFi hotspots are being added to various locations along the Underground subway system’s stations and platforms, in addition to other measures being taken to beef up tech. No WiFi will be in the actual tunnels, mind you, but it should definitely come in handy for all those tourists trying to find their way around the city. British Telecom has already tolled out a trial run at the Charing Cross station, with further installations expected in the lead up to the games.

London Underground to get 120 WiFi hotspots in advance of the 2012 Olympics originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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