What do you do when you find an Apple iPad in the seat-back pocket? Naturally, watch hours and hours of the newest television and movies. Duh.

This week, Qantas announced testing of their new in-flight entertainment system. We've already talked about the technology the Australian airline brings to cabins both domestically and internationally, and this news is an even more important cog in the wheel.

The fresh entertainment system is called Q Streaming, and it's being trialed on one aircraft at the moment. The technology allows passengers to stream, on demand, the entire portfolio of Qantas entertainment to an on-board iPad. Both business and economy customers can spend the majority of their flight with their eyes glued to the 10-inch screen.]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-27T11:03:47-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/12/91359/5037

We've got bad news, good news and awesome news.

The bad news: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is wrapping up and will end tomorrow, January 13. That means no more fun gadget announcements and breathless product release liveblogs on your favorite tech news sites.

The good news: Thanks to CES, Ford teamed up with in-flight WiFi provider Gogo to offer a free 30 minutes of WiFi on flights heading into or out of Vegas during the CES dates. Sure, that means the free internet access from 35,000-feet comes to a halt tomorrow, but wait... ]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-12T11:33:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/3/62030/19707

Since we do a good amount of flying, we've been lucky enough to enjoy seat 1A but also thankful enough just to be onboard in the last row of economy. Recently, this Jaunted writer had the opportunity to sit in an all totally new area of the plane (to us). No, I didn't get to travel in the cargo hold as luggage, instead I got to fly the plane.

Long gone are the days when children were escorted up to the cockpit for a view of the brains of the aircraft, a visit with the pilots, and, inevitably, a set of plastic wings. Since 2001, airlines no longer allow passengers access to the flight deck for obvious reasons, but the dream still exists for many.

Last month we told you all about the British Airways simulator gift card idea. Obviously, my family and friends were listening since I received a boarding pass (gift voucher) for a 60-minute flight simulator experience with a company called Flight Experience. As someone whose interests are primarily consumed by travel, I am always looking for a way to upgrade. Naturally I went ahead and upgraded myself from the 60 to the 90-minute simulation.]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-05T11:54:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/21/22525/771

Lots of exciting techie news coming from Down Under! Australia seems to be the competitive hub for in-flight technology; this week Qantas dropped big news. They're doing WiFi on international flights. To America. On their Airbus A380! Yes, this is all correct, The flying kangaroo will be trialing their in-flight browsing service on flights between Australia and LA. Premium passengers flying on any one of the 6 A380s will be able to use their smart-phones, tablets or laptops to surf the web. Skype and Facetime are a no-no since the service will not have voice enabled 'pico-cells'.

Passengers in both first and business class will have to purchase the web browsing, but no prices have been announced. We have to say, however, that for a 15-hour flight we're more than happy to fork over our cards and while away the hours doing something other than playing Angry Birds. Let the WiFi wars begin!]]> jetflyboy 2011-12-21T10:58:36-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/15/62050/825

Two huge bits of in-flight entertainment news dropped this week. Let's sum 'em up:

· Emirates A380s join the In-Flight WiFi bandwagon

Guess the airline with the largest amount of orders for Airbus A380. It's Emirates. Guess the airline with the largest amount of the superjumbo already flying the skies. Again, it's Emirates. Guess the airline that's already got in-flight WiFi on most those babies. Duh, Emirates. Still, the news that passengers may pay up and log on during A380 Emirates flights came in 2010 with the projected log-in date June 2012. They've arrived at their goal a whole seven months early!

The service is OnAir, the same long-haul WiFi provider for Oman Air, TAM, Singapore and more. Pricing begins at $7.50 and is arranged in service bundles of MB. And yes, even First Class will have to pay.]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-15T11:11:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/11/52245/929

Last year, Qantas changed the feel of the airport experience with their Next-Generation check-in. Thanks to the introduction of towers—each around 5' tall—where you check in with a simple swipe of a membership card, passengers in Qantas domestic terminals are having an overall quieter, less-hectic experience. There's not even the need for a boarding pass, since the bar code on the frequent flyer card is the paperless replacement.

When launched, we told you The Red Kangaroo was on the forefront of this technology, trialing in a few cities around Australia before introducing it, practically, across the entire domestic system in 2010. Ticket counters have been replaced with traditional kiosks for those who do not have a smart-chip card, but the number of towers outnumber the kiosks. We have had the chance to use this innovation and think it's pretty amazing, not only because of the technology but also for its efficiency and massive help on cutting down the time from airport door to plane door.]]> jetflyboy 2011-12-13T10:49:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/30/133633/11

Having more or less mapped the world's roadways—up to and including getting the security hyper-conscious Israelis to let their guards down—the Google Maps kids have taken to sending their cars and tricycles to increasingly esoteric destinations.

They've mapped bike routes and jungle trails, which are natural extensions of roadway mapping, but they've also extended their maps into our beloved San Diego Zoo and the insides of Japanese businesses—neither of which are particularly intuitive additions.

One area into which Google had yet to expand was the inside of airports. The oversight was particularly notable because, in sharp contrast, Microsoft's Bing search engine had added airport maps a few months ago. Bing's maps launched with support for 42 national airports, and included locations for restaurants, ATMs, ticket counters, restrooms, and so on. The implementation was not only pretty slick, but it was something that Google Maps just didn't have. So guess what Google just announced as the newest feature for Google Maps.]]> Omri 2011-11-30T15:20:49-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/