2014 AIN Cabin Electronics Special Report

Customer expectations mature as
cabin technology comes of age
Faster in-flight communications and significantly improved wire-
less connectivity remain the dominant themes among aircraft cabin
outfitters and OEMs this year, as customers and the industry alike
anticipate the introduction of improved systems able to use band-
width available on the Ka band. Offering speeds up to 10 times faster
than legacy L-band communications and the current state-of-the-art
Ku-band systems, Ka-band connectivity promises to elevate in-cabin
voice communications and data streaming from an experience com-
parable to older dial-up modem speeds to capabilities rivaling and
even surpassing today’s fastest and most advanced home and office
Internet connections.
In-flight entertainment (IFE)
systems and advanced digi-
tal cabin management systems
(CMS) are such staples of mod-
ern business aircraft that it is dif-
ficult to believe that more than
25 years have passed since the
earliest equipment found its way
into the most expensive long-
range aircraft. What is easy to
believe, however, is that these
systems will only continue to
grow more advanced and more
reliable as the industry shifts
focus from the availability of
such technologies to refining
that equipment to make such
systems more robust than ever,
and offering faster speeds and
connectivity than ever dreamed
possible.
“The trend is clearly toward
office-in-the-sky,” said James
Pearson, director of global
business development in VIP
and general aviation (GA) air-
craft for ViaSat. “That capabil-
ity has been limited, however,
as previous solutions may not
have offered the bandwidth
necessary to do much more
than send emails.”
Furthermore, while such
systems were once the exclu-
sive domain of intercontinen-
tal business aircraft, today’s
medium-range business jet cus-
tomers also expect to be able to
access Web, instant messaging
and email accounts through
their laptops, smartphones and
PDAs.
“There isn’t much vari-
ance between aircraft size to
customer desires within our
lineup,” said William Gay,
completion sales director for
Gulfstream Aerospace. “Our
clients all want the same
things: cabin comfort and
cabin entertainment.”
Those clients are also typ-
ically well informed about
the capabilities they want,
though specific manufac-
turers and capabilities often
require detailed explanations
and management of customer
expectations.
1 | AIN Special Report | August 2014
©2014AINPublications.AllRightsReserved.Forreprintsgotowww.ainonline.com
Ku-band connectivity is available for much of the globe,
giving passengers speeds of one to two Mbps.
Environmental controls for Lufthansa Technik’s Nice HD CMS may be hardwired to
the aircraft, or selected via an available iPad app.
Cabin Electronics Special Report
by Rob Finfrock
Special Report 2014
Continues on next page u

“We aren’t exactly spec’ing
off-the-shelf equipment from
Best Buy,” noted Stephen
Maiden, president and CEO
of Constant Aviation, a Cleve-
land, Ohio-based MRO. “Inte-
gration and approvals often
require a significant amount
of time, and…each job poses
unique challenges. Most
are custom one-off installa-
tions, each requiring different
equipment listings and modi-
fications, with a heavy empha-
sis on cabin electronics and
amenities.”
OEMs Build on
Legacy Systems
To Match Current Tech
As customer expectations
rise to meet rapidly evolving
technological developments,
manufacturers are building
upon the foundations of their
legacy product lines to add
capability to existing systems.
Earlier this year, TrueNorth
Avionics launched its open-
architecture Optelity prod-
uct line, a new Wi-Fi platform
complementing the compa-
ny’s Simphone cabin commu-
nications solution. “Simphone¯
remains a highly capable
system, but it’s a decade old,”
said TrueNorth CEO Mark
van Berkel. “Optelity is our
next step, which builds on
advancements made in wire-
less capacity, processor speeds
and other technologies.”
Intended as an upgrade path
for existing Simphone¯ custom-
ers, as well as an in-flight con-
nectivity and entertainment
solution for light jets, Optelity
control boxes also occupy less
space than TrueNorth’s earlier
systems.
Rockwell Collins
announced at EBACE that
it had surpassed 250 deliv-
eries of its seven-year-old
Venue cabin management sys-
tem and entertainment solu-
tion for business aircraft. The
company bills Venue as an
open-architecture design that
“accommodates future tech
nologies,” and is scalable from
“a BBJ down to a Hawker or
even turboprops.”
“We’ve seen a huge pop in
the retrofit market, includ-
ing being selected last year on
a handful of [high-end com-
pletions],” added Lupita Ho,
principal marketing manager
for cabin systems at Rockwell
Collins. That stems, she said,
from “the capabilities and reli-
ability of the system, and word
of mouth has been enormous.”
The latest Venue iteration,
which includes fiber-optic
cabling and high-definition
video capabilities, will soon be
available as a retrofit option on
Bombardier Global XRS and
Global 5000s equipped with
the company’s earlier Cabin
Electronic System (CES). Such
scalability is important consid-
ering the speed of technology’s
advancements in the segment.
Justin Dye, Honeywell
product manager for cabin
management and IFE, noted
that Honeywell’s current busi-
ness splits “roughly 50/50”
between retrofits and OEM.
“Original manufacturers
are interesting customers,”
he noted. “Each one has its
preferred supplier; we all play
where we play. The primary
differences are in the level
of configurability, as OEM
installations are generally
standardized.”Private jetliners
are “always the most complex,
and generally the capabilities
scale to aircraft size.”
‘Robust Architecture’
Allows Future Upgrades
Buyers seeking the latest in
cabin electronics for their new
business aircraft, or to retro-
fit the latest systems to their
existing airplane, may choose
from dedicated communica-
tions and in-flight connectivity
solutions, to fully integrated
CMS capabilities encompass-
ing communications, enter-
tainment packages, lighting
and other features under a
Smaller Aircraft Aren’t Neglected,
But Fewer Options Available
As the market continues to
emphasize advanced CMS and in-
flight entertainment solutions on
medium-range and large-cabin
business aircraft, smaller aircraft
have not shared in these develop-
ments. That stems from not only the
price tags for these aircraft but also
their shorter mission profiles.
“We have seen requests for in-
flight entertainment, but given our
price of $3 million [for the Eclipse 550
very light jet], adding another $50,000
to $75,000 on top of that really doesn’t
suit our mission,” said Ken Ross, pres-
ident of global services and support
for Eclipse Aerospace. “However, the
550 does offer power outlets at each
seating position in the cabin, as well
as USB ports to plug an iPad or similar
device into.”
Similarly, Daher-Socata also
offers power ports and USB outlets
in the cabin of its TBM 900 turboprop
single, as well as XM satellite music or
radio. PilatusAircraft includes moving-
map displays in the cabins of PC-12
NG turboprop singles.
Additionally, Cessna offers an
onboard DVD-based entertainment
system, complete with individual LCD
video screens and wireless head-
phones, as part of the Oasis executive
interior package on its Grand Cara-
van EX turboprop single. That actually
exceeds the equipment level for its
longer-legged Citation Mustang very
light jet, which offers but two 12V
power outlets in its four-place passen-
ger cabin. –R.F.
The JetJukeboxfrom Flight DisplaySystemsallowsstreaming of musicandmoviesand
displaysa moving map.
Flight Display Systems offers a line of HD displays ranging
in size from seven to 42 inches.
uContinued from preceding page

common system architecture
and user interface.
Flight Display Systems
offers its Smart Cabin control
system, allowing passengers to
adjust lighting and cabin tem-
perature, make galley service
calls and control IFE and even
an external flight view camera
through its upgraded JetJuke-
box wireless media streamer.
Compatible with any iOS,
Android or Windows device,
JetJukebox allows streaming
to mobile device screens as
well as hardwired displays in
the aircraft cabin, with cabin
controls ranging from single-
button OLED interfaces to a
seven-inch touchscreen for use
by flight attendants to control
the cabin environment.
HoneywellAerospacedeliv-
ered its first all-digital Ovation
Select CMS in late 2012. The
system is an evolution from the
company’s earlier Ovation C
series CMS offering, with par-
ticular emphasis on not only
greater in-flight capabilities
but also easier serviceability.
In total, Ovation systems
have been installed in approx-
imately 1,600 aircraft, with
Ovation Select installed on
54 aircraft, including Boe-
ing Business Jets, the Global
Express, Falcon 900 and
G550. The system is also
offered on Embraer’s Legacy
650 and Lineage 1000, as well
as the upcoming Legacy 450
and 500.
In addition to lighting and
environmental controls, the
system may be tailored to
operate cabin window shades.
“There has definitely been a
shift to how cabin systems are
viewed, from thinking of those
components as hardware to
considering the complete in-
flight experience,” added Dye.
“That brings in the flight crew,
maintainers, passengers; all of
those folks have a say in deter-
mining what the cabin expe-
rience should be, and how
serviceable those systems are.”
The result, Dye added, has
been a shift toward smaller
box sizes and fewer wires, to
ease the installation process
and turn the aircraft around
quickly in the event of system
maintenance.
“Ovation Select is differ-
entiated by the level of inte-
gration available,” he said.
“The system has a robust
architecture that doesn’t need
to be changed to accommo-
date whatever you want to
throw at it. Business people
who are more interested in
productivity may share a lap-
top with the cabin through a
VGA input, while all users
appreciate low latency rates
in the equipment, similar to
their home entertainment
systems.”
Customers also want the
option to reconfigure the sys-
tem as needed, with a min-
imum of downtime. “They
want their main space, a living
Rockwell Collins introduced its Venue cabin management system in 2007, as an open architecture design that could accommodate future technologies. Once available only
for iOS devices, the system’s app to control the cabin is now also available on the Android.
Passenger control of the cabin is finding its way to smaller aircraft. Passengers expect
docking stations for their smart devices, and they expect to be able to control their
environment from those devices, as they can by using iMedia in the G280, left, and the
Heads Up Technologies-based Clairity CMS in Cessna aircraft, right.

space and an office space,”
Dye noted. “There might be 30
available Internet connections
on the aircraft, some seats
wired and others with wire-
less access. Changing those
locations around amounts to
essentially a software push.”
Integration and
Reliability Are Key
Although many OEMs
select third-party vendors to
equip new aircraft with cabin
electronics systems, Gulf-
stream opted to bring that
process in-house for its G650.
The Gulfstream Cabin Essen-
tial package, also available in
the company’s medium-range
G280, gives the manufacturer
complete control over the inte-
gration process.
“We are working toward
making cabin interiors
approach the reliability of
other systems on board the
aircraft,” said Gay. “A lot of
that focus goes toward redun-
dancy in the cabin systems,
just as we see with engines and
flight controls.”
Gay added that when a
system failure does occur,
Gulfstream has emphasized
maintaining a transparent user
experienceforpassengers.“For
example, if the path between
a control station and a moni-
tor is breached, the CMS will
try to identify another path so
that failure is transparent to
the end user,” he noted. “The
fault is recorded by the aircraft
for maintenance personnel to
address on the ground.”
“At the speed this indus-
try is growing, it’s important
that any system be highly
scalable,” Dye said. “If I need
to swap out a video screen
or add a microphone, how
much in-depth work does that
require? A bad DVD player
may ground an aircraft, so
we strive for a fit form swap
and immediate parts avail-
ability to complement the sys-
tem’s robust architecture and
backbone.”
Customer Demand
for Connectivity
‘Loud and Clear’
One overriding theme
is clear among providers
of OEM and retrofit cabin
equipment and electronics:
satellite-based voice com-
munications and Internet
streaming are the greatest
priority among clients using
business aircraft, and those
customers are increasingly
no longer satisfied with sys-
tems offering significantly
slower connection speeds and
greater latency than most
home Internet connections.
“The industry is moving
toward two primary areas,”
noted Constant Aviation’s
Maiden. “One is the ability to
use your phone on an airplane
as if it were your phone at
utc aerospace highlights new cabin equipment
UTC Aerospace Systems recently introduced its
SVRH-100-x media server, a networked storage cen-
ter for digital photos, music and 1080p HD movies for
use by in-flight entertainment systems.
Stored media may be streamed to hard-
wired media players and displays or to
passenger handheld devices such as
iOS and Android smartphones and tab-
lets. An integrated Digital Living Network
Alliance server allows “device agnostic”
content streaming between dissimilar
devices and operating systems.
UTC Aerospace also offers the Model
1 VIP seat, shown, featuring integrated
wireless controls compatible with smart-
phones and tablet devices. The seat is
also equipped with a patented wireless
charging system for handheld devices
and heating and cooling controls to tailor the seating
environment to individual passengers. Optional elec-
tronic controls are also available for recline, leg rest,
headrest, lumbar and tracking. Business aviation OEMs
using the seat include Airbus, Embraer,
Gulfstream, Piaggio and Pilatus.
The Model 1 VIP seat can be equipped
with the company’s plug-in arm to hold
an iPad securely for easy passenger view-
ing, as well as for use as a wireless cabin
environment and in-flight entertainment
control through use of UTC Aerospace
Systems user apps. The arm also charges
the docked iPad and may be tilted for opti-
mal viewing. It can be quickly removed
and stowed for takeoff and landing.
The United Technologies subsidiary also
offers a variety of power and connectivity, and
personal control unit panels, including tailor-
made systems to match any cabin interior treatment. –R.F.
Passengers on board aircraft featuring Honeywell’s Ovation Select CMS can use
their iPad or Android tablet to control environmental systems, including cabin
lighting and audio, as well as powering the window shades up or down.

home, and the second is offer-
ing a level of comfort compa-
rable with what customers are
used to in their own homes.
That means satellite commu-
nications and connectivity to
real-time streamed program-
ming versus recorded offer-
ings. The industry has spoken
loud and clear that it wants
simple voice communications
and Wi-Fi solutions.
“Our customers haven’t
had a lot of negative feed-
back regarding connectability,
though they do want to know
how they could operate faster,”
he continued. “The focus is
definitely on speed and band-
width; it takes multiple mega-
bytes just to launch Yahoo! or
Google. Bandwidth and speed
are the major touch points.”
Operators must also be
awareof thelimitationsof each
coverage area and make their
decision based on the region(s)
where the aircraft will fly most
frequently. “Satellites are posi-
tioned differently for differ-
ent coverage areas, of course,
but limitations arise primar-
ily from license requirements,”
said Gay with Gulfstream.
“Ku-based connectivity is
available throughout North
and South America, Western
Europe, most of Africa, and
the Middle East. However, it is
not licensed in Asia-Pacific or
Russia just yet.”
The SwiftBroadband net-
work from Inmarsat offers
worldwide coverage, but
the tradeoff is connectiv-
ity speeds over the L-band.
Gay further noted that oper-
ators flying across the U.S.
might have their needs met
by Aircell’s ground-based
Gogo network, “which offers
extremely fast speeds and
relatively low price.”
“Offer[ing] high-speed,
high-capability in-flight
communications and enter-
tainment is easier than ever
before,” added Satcom1 co-
owner and CEO Karina
Larsen. “The technology is
becoming more affordable,
and hardware manufactur-
ers are creating less expensive
systems that are also easier
to install. Additionally, solu-
tion providers are now able to
take advantage of better rates
from satellite operators; the
more consumers there are, the
more affordable it gets.”
Honeywell’s Dye believes
the market is “at another
inflection point”when it comes
to connected aircraft. “The
entire infrastructure adapts to
a fatter and more robust ‘pipe’
between the ground and the
aircraft,” he added. “Diagnos-
tics change, as do configura-
tion management and in-flight
entertainment options. The
game changes with a fat pipe.”
On the Horizon:
Ka-band Connectivity
Indeed, a “fatter” pipe is
on the horizon, in the form of
data streamed on bandwidth
available in the Ka-band that
offers as much as 20 times the
wireless connectivity speeds
L-band systems can deliver.
“Today’s satellite-based
systems provide between one
and two Mbps of speed,”
explained Curt Gray, director
of satellite communications
technologies with Melbourne,
Fla.-based Satcom Direct.
“That’s with Ku-band systems,
operating at 12-18 GHz. Those
systems rely on lots of satel-
lites and capabilities designed
for fixed locations that have
been adapted over the years to
work on moving aircraft. The
next step up is Ka-band, which
Everyone in the cabin has at least one personal electronic
device to use during the flight, and passengers want the
same speed and utility they have at home.
The Tailwind 550 radome antenna enables private aircraft to receive Ku-band DBS
(Direct Broadcast Satellite) television signals. It may be configured for up to 32
unique programming receivers.

operates at up at 30 GHz.
“I basically equate the dif-
ference between L-band and
Ka-band to real estate in New
York versus land in Montana,”
he added. “There’s a lot of
wide-open space in Montana.”
Despite the promise of
increased bandwidth and sig-
nificantly increased speeds,
however, Ka-band systems do
pose one technical challenge:
the need for greater targeting
accuracy than with existing
L-band and Ku-band systems.
“The dish locks onto a sig-
nal from a satellite and basically
draws a box around it,” Gray
said. “That box is much smaller
for Ka, so you need to be right
on. To do that on a corpo-
rate aircraft with an 11.5-inch
dish, with equipment available
now, you’re talking list prices
approaching half a million dol-
lars, certified, without factoring
in installation.”
That price tag also does
not include the cost of a
new radome able to receive
Ka-band signals. Further-
more, installation of Ka-band
equipment represents a sep-
arate aircraft system that,
unlike existing cockpit avion-
ics that also use the L-band,
are not shared with any other
portion of the aircraft.
“That’s more equipment,
and more weight, that you’re
not replacing,” Gray noted.
Some of that weight dis-
parity, however, might be
offset by smaller compo-
nent packaging. “There’s
less weight and fewer boxes
than before,” said Larsen
with Satcom1. “Even better,
bandwidth speeds [on the Ka-
band] are approaching the
point where passengers may
experience faster connectiv-
ity in their airplanes than in
their hometowns”–an attrac-
tive tradeoff.
Early stages of a fully real-
ized Ka-band satellite network
are in place, with airline JetBlue
announcing late last year that
it would use the ViaSat-1 sat-
ellite to provide Ka-band wire-
less connectivity for passengers
on its domestic routes. “They’re
consistently seeing 12 Mbps
connection,” Gray noted. “As
technologies improve, it’s real-
istic to expect that Ka could
provide a 10- to 20 Mbps con-
nection speed to each passenger
on board a business aircraft.”
Inmarsat aims to have three
Ka-band satellites spanning the
globe, except for the poles, in
coming years. The ViaSat-2 sat-
ellite, which will cover the North
Atlantic tracks, is scheduled to
launch by 2017, while Eutel-
Sat offers Ka-band connectivity
over Europe and the Mideast.
“All use different modem
technologies that are not com-
patible,” Gray said. “You
can’t switch between satellites.
There’s [also] debate about
whether or not there will be
enough capacity to handle
everyone, given such wide ser-
vice areas.”
Some of those issues
may be addressed through
combined systems; for exam-
ple, Gogo may be paired with
SwiftBroadband to provide
international L-band con-
nectivity with access to LTE
speeds over North America.
Still, the direction the indus-
try is heading is clear. “That’s
the next wave, and we’re in excit-
ing times,”Dye noted.
“One of the things we’re also
seeing is interest from systems
integrators as they construct
more complicated networks,”
Pearson added, noting that
ViaSat recently collaborated
on routers for ICG and Sat-
com Direct. “That means that
GA users will benefit greatly
from the expansion of Ka-Band
systems, and we expect to see
speeds comparable to what
we’re seeing on [JetBlue.]”
Rockwell Collins custom-
ers will also benefit from that
company’s acquisition last
year of Arinc. The purchase
included the newest genera-
tion of Ka-band service for
airline and business aviation
customers under the GX Avi-
ation banner.
The first of three GX Avi-
ation satellites is already in
orbit and undergoing final
testing, with the second and
third scheduled to be in place
before year-end. Airborne
hardware is in the production
phase; testing and certification
are anticipated early next year.
Rockwell Collins notes the
system will provide Internet
ICG Unveils ‘AeroChat’ App for
eRouter-Equipped Aircraft
International Communications
Group (ICG) recently announced
development of an AeroChat mobile
app that allows customers greater
flexibility to use their own personal
electronic devices to make calls and
send text messages in flight. Avail-
able on iOS and Android platforms,
the app will provide air-to-ground
or ground-to-air VOIP communica-
tions over Inmarsat and Ku/Ka-band
systems managed by the compa-
ny’s recently announced eRouter, as
well as connectivity to an active voice
account provided by Satcom Direct,
Satcom1 or Arinc Direct.
Offering a small footprint (12
inches by 8.5 by 3.75), ICG’s eRouter
also offers certified 4G GSM (global
system for mobile) cellular service
that can be used for data connectivity
and file transfers when the aircraft is
on the ground. The front of the device
provides three Sim card access ports,
allowing operations in multiple geo-
graphic regions without swapping out
Sim cards.
“The eRouter is...designed with a
modular architecture to provide easy
expandability and reduce product
costs by offering operators only those
services they might currently require,
yet providing a forward upgrade path
for future and emerging require-
ments,” noted ICG vice president Brad
Smith. “It is the lightest, smallest and
most flexible aeronautical routing
solution on the market today.”
ICG currently offers the eRouter
in ERT-100 configuration, allowing
basic wireless access point connec-
tivity and on-ground GSM, and the
more advanced ERT-120 featuring
enhanced connectivity speeds and
AeroChat support.
Future versions–to be available
by next year’s fourth quarter–will pro-
vide digital and analog private branch
exchange (PBX) connectivity, tera-
bytes of hard-drive capacity, and IFE
and app-loading capabilities in the
ERT-140; the ERT-160 will add aircraft
status and health data routing capa-
bilities. –R.F.
In the Gulfstream G650 passengers
can control LED lighting levels
throughout the cabin via hardwired
touchscreen panels, or through their
own tablet devices. Continues on next page u

speedsof 50Mbpsvirtuallyany-
where in the world. While con-
verting an existing Venue CMS
to work with the higher band-
width available through Ka will
require some hardware changes,
the system’s overall open archi-
tecture design remains the same.
Refining User Interfaces
and Adding Portability
Just as the capabilities of
cabin electronics systems have
evolved, so too have the graph-
ical user interfaces (GUI) to
control cabin entertainment,
lighting and communica-
tions. Where once there were
wired headset plugs and tog-
gle switches adjacent to cabin
seating, passengers on board
today’s business aircraft will
more likely find touchscreen
displays either hardwired to the
panel, or even with the ability to
control their environment from
the palm of their hand.
Providing passengers with
direct control of their seat-
ing environment is a key sell-
ing point for OEMs. Cessna
bills its Clairity CMS, stan-
dard on the Citation X+ and
Sovereign+, as “an intelli-
gent cabin management and
entertainment technology
solution integrated with the
aircraft’s avionics and elec-
trical systems.” Touchscreens
located at each seat provide
passengers with cabin light-
ing, window shade and envi-
ronmental controls, as well as
data and power ports. Wi-Fi
media sharing capabilities are
available, allowing connectiv-
ity to other passengers and
streaming to portable elec-
tronic devices.
Cabin Essentials, Ovation
Select and Venue also offer
the capability to operate cabin
controls through an app run-
ning on a handheld tablet or
smartphone. While Apple’s
iOS was once the sole plat-
form for these apps, other
operating systems are gaining
in popularity.
“Our roadmap for Venue
is in line with the consumer
market,” said Ho with Rock-
well Collins. “Everyone has
a tablet, and in particular the
Android platform is becom-
ing more popular. As a result,
we are porting our existing
iOS cabin remote apps over to
Android devices.”
“Customers appreciate the
higher level of control,” added
Honeywell’s Dye. “No matter
what kind of device the cus-
tomer has, the interface should
be common.”
Dye noted that when differ-
entiating between Apple’s iOS
and Google’s Android, indi-
vidual preferences tend to be
segment-specific and–in par-
ticular–region-specific. “iOS
dominates the market in North
America and is growing in
China,” Dye said. “Outside
those areas, however, Android
rules the game.
“As another example of
how quickly our industry
moves, we can also look at the
growing market for Windows-
based devices,” he contin-
ued. “Just six months ago, we
weren’t sure whether our next
port would be to Windows
OS or BlackBerry. However, it
soon became clear that the lat-
ter probably wasn’t where we
wanted to go.”
Lufthansa Technik
Moves To Diversify
Cabin Amenities
Cabin systems also rep-
resent a sizable business for
MRO provider and aircraft
outfitter Lufthansa Tech-
nik. The company’s Nice HD
CMS is available from several
OEMs on aircraft ranging
from the A320 series and
BBJs and 747s to some Bom-
bardier and Learjet busi-
ness aircraft, including the
upcoming Learjet 85.
David Crossett, principal
executive for innovation sales
and support with the com-
pany, noted that Lufthansa
Technik is looking to move
past its existing CMS offer-
ing. “Our next step is a follow-
on product that moves into
even greater bandwidth and
more futuristic algorithms for
video. Our intent is moving
away from disc-based movies,
to movies stored on a server
aboard the aircraft.”
The company will soon
release a new content service
product that Crossett likened
to “Netflix in the Sky,” offer-
ing licensed Hollywood mov-
ies through its IDair joint
venture with Panasonic. The
first installation will be on a
Challenger 350 scheduled for
delivery this month.
“Ultimately, every aircraft
featuring Nice HD will be
delivered with a media cen-
ter stocked with licensed con-
tent,” Crossett added. “The
aircraft will come with a com-
plimentary two-month trial,
with a subscription-based con-
tinuation available past the
trial period, with the ability to
store between 30 and 40 titles
out of a library of thousands.”
As with IDair’s airline sys-
tem, Crossett noted that con-
tent will include “early window”
offerings not yet available on
DVD. The system will be rolled
out regionally, with Europe and
the Middle East following the
system’s introduction to North
American operators.
Seeing a potential market
for lower-priced entertainment
solutions, Flight Display Sys-
tems launched an entry-level
IFE platform in July, called Jet-
streamer. Offered at roughly
half the price of a JetJukebox
installation, Jetstreamer allows
wireless streaming of movies,
music and other content stored
on board the aircraft server
to tablets, laptops and smart-
phones, without an external
Internet connection. The sys-
tem connects to the aircraft
Wi-Fi router and allows con-
tent streaming to as many as
eight devices.
“We know that aircraft own-
ers are looking for cost-effective
ways to include carry-on devices
in in-flight entertainment, espe-
cially without an Internet con-
nection,” says FDS president
DavidGray.“Jetstreamerallows
passengers access to a library of
content.” o
Lufthansa Technik’s Nice cabin management system is available for a range
of business jets.

2014 AIN Cabin Electronics Special Report

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2014 AIN Cabin Electronics Special Report