October 1, 2009 by kb3ljm.

Roger Flessing was on an American Airlines flight to Seattle recently when he began speaking with his son on his iPhone.

Unsure of how his action might be received by others, the Tacoma resident says he spoke discreetly. But soon, he says, flight attendants were leaning over, asking for a demonstration on how to make calls on their mobile phones. “They were saying, ‘Wow this is great. We have to check our schedule, and we couldn’t do that before,’ ” says Flessing, who flies often for his job as a communications executive for the non-profit relief organization World Vision.
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September 26, 2009 by kb3ljm.

People looking to cash in on the next gold rush should consider developing applications — or apps — for the new generation of smart mobile phones, according to a forecast released Tuesday by the Yankee Group.

Consumers will spend more than $4.2 billion on apps in 2013, up from $343 million this year, the research firm says, as smartphones become ubiquitous and app prices rise.

The average smartphone owner “downloads about 20 apps per year,” says Carl Howe, director of consumer research. “It’s a bigger market than a lot of people have been thinking.”
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September 9, 2009 by kb3ljm.

Microsoft has just issued security patches for six critical Windows flaws. It’s part of Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of every month, when the software giant issues security updates for its operating software.

This comes as a researcher named Laurent Gaffie points to fresh, unpatched flaws in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Threatpost blogger Dennis Fisher reports that there already is a proof of concept program circulating that would enable an attacker to remotely crash vulnerable machines via the flaws uncovered by Gaffie.
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September 7, 2009 by kb3ljm.

In-flight cellphone usage is creeping ever closer to the United States. Bloomberg News  reports Aeromexico, “Mexico’s largest airline, said it will let passengers use cellular phones on board its planes, after the (Mexican) government lifted a ban on such calls during flights.” The airline tells Bloomberg that flight attendants will be able to interrupt cell calls “if necessary” during flights.
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September 5, 2009 by kb3ljm.

AT&T says multimedia messaging (MMS) will be available on the Apple iPhone starting Sept. 25. The feature, which allows users to attach video clips and such to emails, will be enabled by a “software update on that day,” says AT&T, the exclusive U.S. distributor of the iPhone.
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August 24, 2009 by kb3ljm.

In a press release just out from Southwest, the carrier says it “and Row 44 are continuing plans to roll out wi-fi beginning in the first quarter of 2010. Beginning this fall, Southwest will be moving to the next step of certifying Southwest’s full fleet with plans to begin fleetwide rollout of the Row 44 satellite service in the first quarter of 2010. The airline has been testing the service on four aircraft since Feb. 2009 and has received fantastic Customer feedback on the product.” Stay tuned for more details.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=68497502.blog

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July 19, 2009 by kb3ljm.

Now that it has become the first major airline to outfit its entire fleet with wireless Internet service, AirTran Airways is offering passengers a few do’s and don’t’s.

Tip #134. “The lavatory is not your personal conference room.”

The bathroom admonition is one of several included in the primer Internetiquette: A Guide to Keeping Everyone In Line, While They’re Online that AirTran (AAI) will place in every seat pocket following its announcement Tuesday that the Internet is now accessible on each of its 136 planes.
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March 9, 2009 by kb3ljm.

Airports are catching on to the Twitter trend. Baltimore/Washington International now has a Twitter account
used to deliver airport status reports and travel information to travelers’ smartphones. Twitter is an online service used to send and receive short messages no longer than 140 characters.
Southwest Airlines has opened its priority security lanes at Seattle-Tacoma. The “Fly By” lanes are
dedicated screening lanes for its top-paying customers and frequent fliers. Launched last year, they’re available
at 64 airports, including Baltimore/Washington, Dallas Love Field and Phoenix Sky Harbor.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2009-03-08-updates-airports-airlines_N.htm

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February 23, 2009 by kb3ljm.

Budget carrier Ryanair has become the first European airline to launch in-flight cellphone service. The Irish discount airline is famous for finding ancillary sources of revenue, and cellphone calls and texting could be a cash cow. The service will cost £1.50 to £3 per minute (one pound is currently worth $1.43), 40p per text sent (incoming ones are free) and £1 to £2 for limited e-mails use.
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December 17, 2008 by kb3ljm.

[USA Today]

We’ve seen a recent wave of the new small and light laptops known as netbooks, produced by the likes of HP, Asus and others.

Starting Sunday, RadioShack will sell the 2.44-pound Acer Aspire, one mini-laptop at the awfully aggressive price of $100, provided you also sign up for a two-year AT&T DataConnect mobile broadband plan. The lightweight machine includes integrated 3G wireless. The Acer also has an 8.9-inch screen, built-in Web cam and 160 GB hard drive. It uses Intel’s energy-efficient Atom processor.

One recent indication of netbook popularity comes out of the UK. According to Hitwise Client Intelligence, the netbook category accounts for 1 out of every 7 computer searches over there.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2008/12/radioshack-to-s.html

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