Airbus Sees Mobile Phones On Planes By 2006
66233
European planemaker Airbus reported progress on Wednesday in plans to allow passengers to use mobile phones in flight, beginning in 2006.
593011
Soon you could be using your mobile phone on flights as easily as you do on the High Street. A two-year investigation has shown that mobiles can be used on planes without interfering with navigation systems.
194231
Banners hanging at&#160;Macworld Expo&#160;on Monday read, &quot;2008: There&#39;s something in the air,&quot; suggesting wireless news to come in CEO Steve Jobs&#39; keynote Tuesday morning.Faster cellular service for the iPhone is already on its way later this year, AT&amp;T&#39;s top executive reportedly said in November, but Apple could go beyond that plan and extend high-speed wireless WAN (wide-area network) capability to its MacBook notebooks and even a rumored &quot;ultramobile&quot; computer.Many consumers have been clamoring for more speed on the iPhone since it was announced a year ago with support only for Wi-Fi and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), a version of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) that generally runs below 200Mbps. U.S. iPhone carrier AT&amp;T Wireless and other operators around the world already have a set of faster systems called HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) that can deliver more than 1Mbps.At the same time, wide-area wireless has been moving into PC notebooks and smaller PC-like devices. The big notebook vendors, including Dell, Lenovo, and Hewlett-Packard, have rolled out products with built-in 3G. And the Asustek Computer Eee PC and some other small UMPC (ultramobile PC) devices are slated to ship with WiMax.Apple hasn&#39;t made the leap. Mobile Mac owners can hook up to Wi-Fi hotspots but have to buy dongles or other add-on devices from third parties to get fast wireless elsewhere. Offering a built-in 3G card would give MacBook users access to broadband in far more locations.However, that leap would take Apple into a market that hasn&#39;t attracted a large percentage of notebook buyers, analysts said.At least in the U.S., 3G radios are associated with a particular carrier and usually sold along with two-year data contracts. Users keep notebooks longer than they do phones and don&#39;t want to lock them down to a particular carrier, said Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin. In addition, many notebooks are purchased by enterprise IT departments, which demand more flexibility, Golvin said. He doesn&#39;t expect to see another iPhone phenomenon.&quot;I don&#39;t think that laptop users would be as interested in aligning themselves formally with one particular carrier,&quot; Golvin said. One alternative would be to build in a chip that could handle more than one carrier and 3G technology, he added.Avi Greengart of Current Analysis believes Apple&#39;s proven ability to streamline could change the picture.&quot;They have not been in the forefront of 3G on notebooks. However, it wouldn&#39;t surprise me at all if they came out with a simplified offering that just made a lot of sense and became the catalyst, as the iPhone is,&quot; Greengart said. Apple simplified the iPhone experience for customers by sticking with one carrier and letting subscribers sign up with AT&amp;T through iTunes.Apple could also jump-start the market by offering an alternative to the expensive monthly service model that carriers typically use, said Gartner&#39;s Ken Dulaney. Most consumers don&#39;t travel frequently enough to justify spending US$30 or more per month for cellular service on their notebooks, but they might be willing to buy a system with built-in 3G and pay for service as they need it, he said. Verizon has a little-known offering like this, in which users can pay $15 for 24 hours of service, according to spokesman Jeffrey Nelson.Because of its greater mobility, a rumored Mac that&#39;s smaller than a notebook but bigger than the iPhone would be an ideal candidate for 3G. If the company unveils it on Tuesday, that product could lead Apple&#39;s new wireless charge.But that &quot;something in the air&quot; could be a number of other things, too, analysts said. Apple is expected to make its SDK (software development kit) for third-party applications on the iPhone available next month, Greengart said. And the iPhone could gain GPS (Global Positioning System) capability, or some iPods could get Wi-Fi, he said. As always, it&#39;s all speculation until Jobs speaks.&#160;
349315
Planemaker Airbus said on Friday it had  raised its expected deliveries target for 2004 to as many as  320 planes and might tap up to 1 billion euros ($1.24 billion)  in controversial government loans to build a new model.
724049
Planemaker Airbus said on Wednesday it  expected demand for 16,600 passenger planes over the next 20  years, including a sharp rise in demand for very large  airliners such as its new A380 doubledecker which is due to fly  in 2006.
639698
The European company Airbus and a Geneva-based information technology firm, SITA, said they had set up a joint venture to make mobile telephone services available for passengers during flights.
195857
The president of European planemaker  Airbus said on Saturday he hoped to win around 50 orders for  the new wide-body jet A350 by next June.
530313
The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is to launch a new plane, the A350, that will challenge the future Boeing fuel-efficient 7E7, Airbus owners EADS and BAE Systems said.
117823
Air France launched a commercial trial of an onboard cell phone service, but in a limited fashion that avoids a controversial aspect.Travelers on certain Air France planes on European routes can send and receive short messages and, provided their phones support Internet access, send and receive e-mails.Initially, travelers won&#39;t be able to make or receive voice calls. That limitation skirts an important issue: whether cell phone talkers will annoy nearby passengers.However, in about three months, Air France does plan to allow voice calls, but said it will regulate the service &quot;to maintain passengers&#39; comfort and well-being.&quot; It did not explain how it might do that.Onboard calls and messages are routed through a small cellular base station inside the plane. From there, messages are transmitted over satellite to the ground and then on to the telephone network. The service is supplied by OnAir, a company part owned by airplane maker Airbus.To use their phones, passengers must dial as if they&#39;re making an international call. Air France did not say how much each message would cost for users but said the price is comparable to traditional mobile phone use.The planes come equipped with a new illuminated sign that instructs passengers when to keep their phones off. Travelers can send and receive messages only when the plane rises above 10,000 feet.Tips for using the service will be explained on a leaflet in seat pockets, Air France said. In addition, users will be able to fill out a survey about their experiences using it. After six months, Air France will consider whether to launch the service on all of its flights.Airlines and regulators worldwide have been considering onboard cell phone use for years. Some regulators, including the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, have banned mobile phone use on airplanes. The European Union, however, has approved the idea, and various national regulators there have begun to allow it. Airlines in other regions, like the Australian operator Qantas, are also conducting more limited tests of the service.JetBlue, Yahoo, and Research In Motion recently launched a service on one airplane in the U.S. that allows users to send and receive e-mail from BlackBerry phones, Wi-Fi smartphones, and laptops. However, the service uses an onboard Wi-Fi network instead of cellular phone technology.
300726
Airbus will launch a new commercial aircraft program by early 2006 at the latest, once development spending for the new A380 superjumbo passenger jet begins to decline, chief executive Noel Forgeard said.
632482
Airbus  expects its delayed A380 superjumbo to receive technical certification by December 13, a senior company official said in remarks published in a local newspaper on Friday.
416354
European plane maker Airbus is to develop its A350 passenger jet, parent company EADS announced, ending months of speculation and handing a boost to the European aerospace industry.
196514
Overhead "no smoking" signs will be  replaced by "no mobiles" messages on some planes next year when  technology is introduced to make it safe for passengers to use  mobile phones mid-flight.
35484
Airbus plans to challenge Boeing Co. by offering a new aircraft as early as year-end, its chief executive says. The Toulouse, France-based plane maker is &quot;reflecting&quot; on whether to introduce an all-new plane
152013
EUROPEAN aircraft maker Airbus hopes to win up to 50 orders for its new wide-body A350 by next June. The 4 billion ($A7 billion) A350 -- a spin-off of the earlier A330 -- is Airbus&#39;s response to Boeing&#39;s first
502707
Cell phones and wireless devices pass Airbus's onboard tests with flying colors.
591204
PARIS/TOULOUSE, France  - Airbus is eager to  produce a rival to Boeing Co.'s new 7E7 passenger jet and hopes  to make an announcement by the end of the year, the European  planemaker said on Tuesday.