In what seems to be a natural progression of in-flight entertainment, Qantas announced that the will be supplying iPads to passengers as well as unvieling a new streaming in-flight entertainment system starting in October. The in-flight entertainment system will stream through wi-fi on the aircraft and include movies, TV shows, and more. The entertainment can also be picked up by other passengers who have compatible, wi-fi enabled devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops.
The entertainment will run off of a server on the Qantas flight and all iPads will be configured so that if someone would decided they want to try to take it off the plane it won’t work outside of Qantas flights. Each flight will carry enough iPads for every seat on the flight as well as a few extra just in case there are technical problems. In the future they say they’ll have the entertainment setup so that even once the plane lands you will be able to continue watching the movie on your own time from your device.
The new in-flight entertainment streaming will first be a trial of six weeks from the end of October through early December on a single Boeing 767-300. If the trial is successful then Qantas may be expanding to more flights and offering more content within the stream. They will initially start by offering the iPad but are said to be looking at the option of choosing other tablets in the future for those passengers who would rather use another tablet. The test flight is said to be a flight originating from Australia and flying transcontinental trips which seems to be a perfect trip for new in-flight entertainment.
This is the first of its kind and with the popularity of iPads and other tablets on flights for movies, shows, and games this may end up being a staple among innovative airlines.
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