So I took a little a break from working on gdgt to get on Virgin America’s inaugural Aircell GoGo WiFi party flight, posting this at altitude. If you haven’t already caught one of the early Aircell flights on Delta, American, or Air Canada, their now-active GoGo service provides in-flight internet. So far, as far as party planes go, this one hasn’t been to raucus — probably because everyone’s been geeking out on their laptops.
Quick facts:
- The service is a shared high-power EV-DO Rev. A connection, at 3.6Mbps downstream and 1.8Mbps upstream.
- By April, 100% of Virgin America’s flights will have GoGo service. Dayumn!
- So far I’ve been getting about 1Mbps down, and 200Kbps up — pretty good considering that this is about as pinned as the system is going to get. There are only about 150 people on it right now, you know?
- Latency is between 200-500ms, sometimes higher. Reasonable latency, though.
- The system uses 802.11a/b/g, although it’s an open AP (i.e. no encryption).
- Aircell intends to block voice and video chat to keep things less obnoxious for travelers. It’s working in flight though — people are doing iChat sessions. But part of this inaugural flight will have live YouTube streaming, so one should expect to have this cut off later.
- BitTorrent works! It’s not crazy fast, but I’m peering with about 8 nodes. I wouldn’t expect this to work when the service launches.
- GoGo has a built-in traffic shaper that keeps an eye out for those using more traffic than others. If you’re consuming too much, it’ll scale you back (although no one has a hard cap). If you’re the only one on GoGo (say, on a red-eye at 4am) then you can go crazy, you won’t be scaled back. Still, I’m sitting next to my old pal Brian Lam from Giz, and I’d wager the two of us are somehow taking up about 80% of the plane’s bandwidth.
- Virgin America isn’t filtering content, so feel free to cast a glance over your shoulder and engage your browser’s private mode.
Any thing else you want to know?
Filed under: Transportation, Wireless
On Virgin America’s inaugural GoGo WiFi flight: this post published from 35,000 feet originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: aircell, already-caught, america, browser, delta, entry, Gizmodo, gogo, inaugural, transportation, virgin, virgin-america, wager-the-two, wifi, wireless
With Chrysler pushing out an internet-connected package of its own, Mercedes-Benz is attempting to stay one step ahead with the intelligent, intuitive myCOMMAND system. Our pals at Autoblog were able to get a bit of hands-on time with the new setup at the LA Auto Show, and they were kind enough to host up a near-5 minute video showing off its most attractive features. They reiterated that what was being taped was simply a concept for now, but there’s zero doubt that the automaker is looking to get this into production as soon as feasibly possible. Hit the read link for a look at the clip, but be sure and pull over first.
Filed under: Transportation, Wireless
Mercedes-Benz’s myCOMMAND system demoed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mercedes-Benz has already toyed around a bit with some
internet-connected in-car systems, but it looks to really be going all out with its new myCOMMAND system, which it’s now showing off at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Among other things, it would constantly pull various traffic information off the internet and take it into account for route selection, as well as give you access to internet radio stations, let you make VoIP phone calls, and even give you a browser that’ll let you ” surf the internet in the accustomed way.” Mercedes is also promising that the entire system will be completely intuitive, with most of the primary functions controlled with a single rotary pushbutton, and two secondary buttons provided for things like menu operation. Of course, it’s all still very much a demo at this point, and Mercedes itself says it’ll be least a “few more years” before it actually winds up in a production vehicle.
[Thanks, Jason]
Filed under: Transportation
Mercedes-Benz shows off internet-connected myCOMMAND system originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Transportation
Fujitsu and automotive safety advancements go hand-in-hand, so it’s no shock whatsoever to hear that the outfit is fixing to showcase a new technology that enables wraparound view of vehicles in real-time. The new video-processing technology “adapts to different driving situations, enabling the driver to peripherally view the entire surroundings of a vehicle, from the point of view and field of view that is most appropriate for each driving situation.” Obviously, such an inclusion would come in handy when parking downtown, passing on a narrow street and / or watching your back should real life ever mimic something straight out of GTA IV. Unfortunately, there’s no word as to when an automaker will begin infusing its automobiles with this here invention, but our insurance premiums are begging for it to be sooner rather than later.
[Via AkihabaraNews]
Fujitsu development enables real-time wraparound vehicle view originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Okay, so maybe Memorex’s Profile 1.1 MVBD-2510 was only $269 from the get-go, but busting through the unofficial $150 price barrier is a pretty big deal for Blu-ray. Granted, we’re totally expecting a few more to join the fold come Black Friday, but who’s not all about buying from the comfort of one’s home versus braving frigid temperatures only to catch eight airborne diseases and shave 2.85 years from your life due to statistically significant levels of stress on a day off? Bottom line: $139.99 for a BD deck is pretty darn cheap (even for Woot’s standards), and even if there’s no BD-Live support baked in, it’ll still handle the 1080p basics. Order now, debate later.
[Thanks, Jamil]
Memorex MVBD-2510 Blu-ray player hits $139.99 (but not for long) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Transportation
It’s a bit of a shift from its usual business, but it looks like BRABUS isn’t about to let the
Tesla Roadster escape its reach, and it’s now taken the wraps off a completely customized version of the vehicle to give those lucky few owners out there (or would-be owners) a taste of what’s possible. Sure to attract the most attention is the company’s “space sound generator,” which can not only pump out the sound of a traditional V8 engine like some
similar systems, but some “futuristic soundscapes” as well, including “Beam” and “Warp” sounds, which we can only hope are just as Jetsony as we imagine them to be. Other custom options include an all new tire / wheel combination that promises to improve handling, a redone exterior with a special matte white paintjob, a set of LED running lights, a whole slew of interior options and, of course, some underbody neon for that added touch of class. No word on a price for any of that, naturally, but those in the area will apparently be able to check it all out first hand at German’s Essen Motor Show later this month.
BRABUS announces Tesla Roadster customization plans originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Transportation
Like it or not California, it’s about time you folks ponied up for a serious rail system. With the recent passage of Proposition 1A, the wheels have started to churn on a sophisticated bullet train system that will eventually link San Diego in the south with Sacramento in the north, with stops at most every major city in between (LA and San Francisco included). The 800-mile network of trains would operate at upwards of 220mph and cost around $45 billion to construct, but it’ll create 320,000 permanent jobs by 2030 and reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year. Unfortunately, there’s no set time frame for completion just yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see this one finished before that Anaheim - Las Vegas maglev project even gets off the ground.
[Via BoingBoing]
California high-speed train system to link NorCal and SoCal at 220mph originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft employees can’t catch a break in China. Photographed above is a company shuttle equipped with a workstation per person, meaning they’ve got to get down to business just seconds after leaving their homes. So much for listening to your iPod and zoning out before work.
Microsoft makes you work from the moment you step on the bus! [NewLaunches]
Photo: NewLaunches
Filed under: Transportation
Not that we haven’t seen similar technology from other outfits before, but we’ll take as many in-car safety advancements as we can get. It’s bruited that Fujitsu is conjuring up a sophisticated sensor system that can actually detect when a driver gets drowsy or begins to sink into a deep, dark wonder-world of sleep. Put simply, the system would detect specific changes in the motorist’s heart rate via the steering wheel, and once it determined that you weren’t exactly “with it” any longer, the car could then roll its own windows down, blast the stereo or jolt the wheel in order to get your attention. In our minds, the biggest issue here is to not cause an accident by spooking a sleepy driver out of their slumber, and we presume that’s exactly what the company is working on in its R&D labs.
[Image courtesy of MetroHealth]
Fujitsu’s in-car safety tech senses drowsiness, reacts to wake you up originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Transportation
According to a report leaked by someone at Canadian electronics manufacturer
Electrovaya, the company is teaming up with China’s Changan Auto Group to bring a new electric car to our northern neighbor — and it might be on the street as early as this year. Electrovaya is set to distribute the car (based on Changan’s popular Ben Ben five-door) possibly making this the first automobile from the People’s Republic to tap into the lucrative North American market. Of course, wheels like this won’t make you any more popular with the ladies (you’d probably want a
Linc Volt for that), but we’re just happy that there are more
green options out there.
[Via Autoblog]
Changan, Electrovaya teaming up to release electric cars onto Canadian streets? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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