Boeing just released this video of a test of their in-flight entertainment system. Damn, I think those seats are better equipped than my office. Good size LCD screens, a remote that is also a game pad and QWERTY keyboard, power and USB ports for personal devices. I’d love to fly on one of these babies. Hopefully the tech will also trickle down to models I’m more likely to fly on (since I fly domestically several times a year), like the new B737 MAX. It is getting a version of the Dreamliner’s Sky Interior. Of course, my preferred airline is JetBlue, and they’re all Airbus A320s and EMBRAER E190s.
UPDATE: Shortly after I posted this I was going through my RSS feeds and I saw this post from Android Central, which linked to a report in Australian Business Traveler on these very same entertainment systems. It turns out they’re all Android based. Not only that, Android is the only option for the B787. Unlike other airliners which airlines select their choice of interiors, seats, entertainment systems, etc., on the B787 Boeing has a list of pre-approved options they must choose from. And both the Panasonic and Thales systems, the two options for B787 entertainment systems, run Android. Boeing has done this to increase efficiency in aircraft production, since it allows for more standardization which speeds things up. And it allows for everything to be tested out ahead of time so you don’t run into snags trying to integrate the disparate choices an airline may make on other products.
With 820 Dreamliners on order already, that’s a big win for Android. And Panasonic and Thales will certainly be marketing the systems they’ve developed for the Dreamliner for other airliner applications.
