Southwest & Dish to provide passengers in-flight entertainment via Apple's iPad 2
Satellite television provider Dish and stalwart low-cost airline Southwest on Tuesday announced an extension of their partnership that will see Dish lend iPad 2 tablets to passengers for use during flights on certain routes.
The program will be available to passengers on Wi-Fi-enabled flights between Chicago-Midway, Denver, and Oakland airports, the companies said in a release. Passengers will be able to check out an iPad 2 at in-terminal Dish kiosks prior to departure and return the iPad at the corresponding kiosk on arrival.
The lending program is part of a Dish and Southwest promotion entitled "TV Flies Free," which lets travelers watch live television and on-demand programming for no cost, and borrowing an iPad will not incur any additional fee.
Dish Chief Marketing Officer James Moorhead said that the companies wanted to "give travelers the chance to relax and enjoy their favorite programming, whether in the air on Southwest or on the ground," predicting that the lending program would "provide a great entertainment experience."
Travelers have been able to watch live television on their own WiFi-enabled devices through the "TV Flies Free" promotion since July.
Tablets, and iPads in particular, are taking the aviation industry by storm. Companies like Qantas and Hawaiian Airlines have already deployed iPads and iPad minis for on-board entertainment, while many others --?including heavyweights American Airlines and United --?have chosen Apple's slate for cockpit use, replacing cumbersome paper manuals and charts for pilots.
The program will be available to passengers on Wi-Fi-enabled flights between Chicago-Midway, Denver, and Oakland airports, the companies said in a release. Passengers will be able to check out an iPad 2 at in-terminal Dish kiosks prior to departure and return the iPad at the corresponding kiosk on arrival.
The lending program is part of a Dish and Southwest promotion entitled "TV Flies Free," which lets travelers watch live television and on-demand programming for no cost, and borrowing an iPad will not incur any additional fee.
Dish Chief Marketing Officer James Moorhead said that the companies wanted to "give travelers the chance to relax and enjoy their favorite programming, whether in the air on Southwest or on the ground," predicting that the lending program would "provide a great entertainment experience."
Travelers have been able to watch live television on their own WiFi-enabled devices through the "TV Flies Free" promotion since July.
Tablets, and iPads in particular, are taking the aviation industry by storm. Companies like Qantas and Hawaiian Airlines have already deployed iPads and iPad minis for on-board entertainment, while many others --?including heavyweights American Airlines and United --?have chosen Apple's slate for cockpit use, replacing cumbersome paper manuals and charts for pilots.
Comments
Odd...why wouldn't they give out Surface devices, or Galaxy Tab? Oh...that's right...
Yes, I get it was a joke. And a good one.
But the real reason is Dish is giving you an iPad if you sign up for Dish- so it's a tie-in.
Really don't see the upside to going iPad 2 for in-flight. Especially if they're paying anywhere close to Apple's MSRP.
True but the brand will suffer when people think you hand them cheap junk. And I think the screen on N7 is too small.
And I think the screen on N7 is too small.
Not really- they are almost the same viewing area when the iPad is in 16:9 or 21:9 with letterbox.
Hmm.. Really. Look at this image.
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17seqil0fh44qjpg/original.jpg
I think you're confused iPad 2 with iPad mini.
The iPad 2 is the best choice because it is most efficient for streaming audio/video over the network and it is inexpensive.
Smart providers will always chose iOS devices because it saves them a fortune for the bandwidth in the long term and provides a better user experience to the customer.
Hmm.. Really. Look at this image.
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17seqil0fh44qjpg/original.jpg
I think you're confused iPad 2 with iPad mini.
I was. Ignore me.
The Nexus 7 HD is a tiny piece of crap, so no, it would not make sense to give out Nexus 7's, unless people like worse things.
Even an iPad Mini is a bit larger than a Nexus 7, and an iPad 2 at 9.7" absolutely dwarves a Nexus 7.
Here's an iPad 3 VS Nexus 7.
What a joke!
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
Look at that tiny piece of crap!
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
The Nexus 7 HD is a tiny piece of crap, so no, it would not make sense to give out Nexus 7's, unless people like worse things.
Even an iPad Mini is a bit larger than a Nexus 7, and an iPad 2 at 9.7" absolutely dwarves a Nexus 7.
Here's an iPad 3 VS Nexus 7.
What a joke!
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
Look at that tiny piece of crap!
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
Except you're leaving out one key piece of the puzzle: screen resolution. A full-size iPad with Retina is sufficiently large and sharp to provide a superior movie-watching experience. The iPad 2, however, is low-resolution, and would provide an inferior image compared to a Nexus 7 HD when displaying high-definition movie content. Considering the use-case of in-flight entertainment, it makes more sense to have a cheap tablet that can play widescreen video in HD. Scaling a 1920x1080 signal to fit within a 1024x768 display involves a heck of a lot of lost detail. That "tiny piece of crap" on the left makes a heck of a lot more sense as a movie viewer when cost is factored in.
I would never be interested in owning an Android tablet, but if an airline offered me a choice between a Nexus 7 HD and an iPad 2, there really would be no comparison.
You make a lot of silly assumptions. For starters, why flights have you been on where per-seat in-flight entertainment is streamed at 1080p? I've seen exactly zero. You have also completely ignored other uses of a tablet which shows your bias since you are well aware that 7" 16:9 Nexus does not make for a good reader.
Except you're leaving out one key piece of the puzzle: screen resolution.
A person watching a movie on an iPad 2 screen on a flight would think that it looks amazing, especially compared to the usual crappy airline screens found on the back of a seat. The iPad 2 is not retina, but it does have a nice, IPS screen.
I've owned an iPad 2 before, and I currently have an iPad Retina and an iPad Mini, and for watching a movie, the iPad 2 looks fine. This is also about in flight streaming, so the resolution of the movies might not even be that high. There is no need for a super high resolution tablet, bigger is better.
I would take the iPad 2 over the tiny Nexus 7 any day of the week, and so would the vast majority of customers IMO.
You make a lot of silly assumptions. For starters, why flights have you been on where per-seat in-flight entertainment is streamed at 1080p? I've seen exactly zero. You have also completely ignored other uses of a tablet which shows your bias since you are well aware that 7" 16:9 Nexus does not make for a good reader.
You're assuming that movie content will be streamed, when it makes a lot more sense for airlines to pre-load content onto the devices.
You say in the same sentence that I'm biased and yet also recognize that 7" makes for a poor e-reader. Well, which is it? Because if I'm biased in any direction, it's most certainly in favor of Apple. The iPad is a superior tablet, without a doubt. I'm strictly arguing for the implied use-case of in-flight entertainment. The airlines are trying to replace the very poor in-headrest movie watching experience with a much more marketable personal iPad loaner. I don't get the impression that renting magazines is even on the airlines' radar at this point, they certainly aren't mentioned anywhere.
Who's really making the assumptions here?
My iPad 3 with the stock ear buds is completely useless while listening to the audio of the movie during a flight. It is not loud enough to hear the quieter dialog in the movie. I experienced this in economy which is nosier than business and the movie was No Country for Old Men which has a lot of soft spoken dialog. Now I have really good headphones, and although bulky to carry, they provide much better listening experience. I wonder what kind of audio equipment they are passing out on Southwest.
You're assuming that movie content will be streamed, when it makes a lot more sense for airlines to pre-load content onto the devices.
The assumption is not unreasonable since the article states:
"The program will be available to passengers on Wi-Fi-enabled flights..."
and
"...which lets travelers watch live television and on-demand programming for no cost..."
Yadda yaddaa yaddaaaa.
sorry.
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