The IEEE Spectrum blog offers a wonderful overview on modern day IFE systems.
Tag Archive for 'Singapore'
The annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax (carried out between August 2007 and June 2008) has annointed Emirates’ ICE system the best airline IFE for the fourth consecutive year. The Emirates system edged out Singapore Airline’s KrisWorld which came in second again. Other strong performances in the survey were again achieved by Cathay Pacific (3rd) and Virgin Atlantic (4th).
Harvard Business Review Ideacast episode 107 discusses Singapore Airlines’ strategy that is allowing them to thrive in the current downturn in the industry by focusing on the customer experience and using marketing as an investment. Harvard Business School Professor Rohit Deshpande speaks based on his HBS case study “Singapore Airlines: Customer Service Innovation.” Deshpande says that Singapore Airlines brings its customer service focus to all cabins, even if it’s making its money off of the front of the plane. “They give more frills to economy than any airline,” he says. “They were the first in-seat TVs and offered more channels than any airline. They have, even in economy, more flight attendants per passenger.”
The OAG Industry Awards (formerly the OAG Airline of the Year Awards) recognize the most highly regarded and innovative airlines and airports, based on the votes of consumers who use them the most: frequent business travelers from around the globe. Singapore Airlines was voted “OAG Airline of the Year”, and the country’s main international airport, Singapore Changi, voted Best Airport when the 2008 winners were announced in London earlier this month.
Singapore Airlines announced the first-ever flights featuring iPod and iPhone connectivity as part of their KrisWorld IFE system. iPod/iPhone connectivity is achieved via a custom cable that includes the iPod/iPhone 30-pin connector on one end and a 9-pin connector that plugs into the KrisWorld IFE system. Each seat features a 15.4-inch widescreen LCD monitor which is perfect for watching television shows and movies, as well as active noise-cancellation headphones. iPod/iPhone connectivity is currently available on the newly reconfigured all-Business Class A340 flights between New York and Singapore. Service between Los Angeles and Singapore is slated to begin in August.
A USA Today article speaks to a move by US airlines to give economy passengers greater control and selection of movies, audio, and games.
Airlines worldwide spent $1.4 billion on in-flight entertainment hardware last year, research firm IMDC says. It’s projected to increase to more than $2 billion by 2012. The result: monitors in individual seatbacks, digital transmission for clearer picture, on-demand delivery that lets passengers pause and rewind, hundreds of movie and song titles, games beyond Hangman and Sudoku, seat-to-seat texting and even e-mail.
Most travelers and analysts agree that foreign airlines have been more aggressive about adopting the latest and fanciest features.
via USA Today
