Business and airline aircraft passengers are about to enjoy richer, more interactive inflight entertainment experiences. No, there won't be dancing in the aisles—yet—but at least the trip might be more bearable.
In a series of announcements made just prior to arriving at NBAA, Rockwell Collins (Booth 12519) revealed several new developments with its Airshow inflight entertainment systems.
Collins and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems have teamed up to integrate Collins' Airshow 4200i 3-D interactive map and Tailwind 560 TV multi-region satellite television system with the General Dynamics YES! In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system, and will be offering it to airline customers.
From their seats, passengers traveling aboard YES!-equipped aircraft will be able to view new 3-D route maps, flight information, real-time news feeds from the Airshow Network, connecting gate information, and points-of-interest libraries at their seats. The Tailwind 560 TV system delivers up to 32 channels of live digital content to the aircraft. The new map and television content will supplement the programming available with YES!, which includes movies, music, games, instant messaging, Internet and e-mail.
Next year Rockwell Collins will begin shipping two new moving-map and inflight information products for commercial aircraft. Airshow 4200 is a distributed video-based product, while Airshow 4200i is the in-seat interactive version. Both integrate with leading IFE systems to provide customizable content.
Airshow 4200 features functional and look-and-feel enhancements over earlier map products, and can now be used for full-motion MPEG video displays, such as safety briefings, short subjects, advertising, duty-free and other content, via two channels of NTSC video distributed to overhead or in-seat monitors. This allows the distribution of map and flight information on one channel, and connecting gate information, news feeds and similar content on the second.
Taking the concept a step further, Airshow 4200i incorporates many of the Airshow 4200 options, but instead of 'pushing' video to all cabin monitors, 4200i lets each passenger 'pull' maps, news, and other content to their seat. Simulations of 3-D route maps are included, along with all of the other map and flight information. Intended for digital Ethernet-based IFE systems, Airshow 4200i uses HTML and Macromedia Flash to optimize distribution. Both versions can capture real-time flight information from standard cockpit sources, and both also use the onboard ACARS connection to retrieve airport terminal information. For Airshow Network news feeds, both offerings connect to the aircraft's NATS, satcom, or Iridium communications systems. Operators can tailor content.
In a related announcement, Rockwell Collins said it has signed a non-exclusive agreement with Thales to offer its multi-region satellite TV system and new moving-map product on the Thales TopSeries IFE system. Through the agreement with Thales, airlines can provide customized programming across multiple regions with seamless transitions.
