Emirates, the airline based in Dubai, has become the first to allow the use of mobile phones for making calls and sending texts during flights. So farit’s only been done on a flight between Dubai and Casablanca, on an Airbus A340 that had been fitted with special equipment to prevent the calls affecting electronic flight systems, but it willbe expanded to other planes and routes, the BBC reports. Later this year the company will be able to accommodate BlackBerrys and other smart phones. The system will only be allowed once theplane reaches cruising altitude, and can be monitored and controlled by the cabin crew, who will prevent voice calls during night flights, when they might disturb other passengers. Nor will there bethe chirping of ringtones, as passengers will be asked to keep their phones on silent. The airline, which flies to some 60 countries, has introduced the service because of passenger demand.The system, developed by Aeromobile, has the approval of the international air safety groups. AeroMobile Chief Executive Bjorn-Taale Sandberg said, "We have gone to considerable lengths to ensure that all safety and regulatory issues have been fully addressed."
Tag Archive: Casablanca
Emirates Allows In-Flight Mobile Calls
Toshiba HD DVD Players Get $100 Rebate
In its continuing battle with Sony’s Blu-ray high-definition disc format, HD DVD founder Toshiba has launched two new limited time promotions to generate some excitement (and market share numbers) for the HD DVD format. First, the company is extending its “five free HD DVDs” promotion through July 31, letting consumers receive five free HD DVD titles (from a short list of 15) for free with the purchase of a Toshiba HD DVD player. Second—and new to the game—Toshiba is offering a $100 in-store rebates on selected Toshiba HD DVD players, bringing the final cost of some players below the magical $300 threshold.
New Theta Casablanca III controllers
Casablanca III is the latest version of Theta’s innovative, flexible series of surround processors. The new model offers improvements in versatility, speed, and customization. Like earlier Casablancamodels, it eliminates the need for owners to choose between audiophile music reproduction and video-based surround sound.
Among the Casablanca III’s innovations is a new operating system, the CB OS2, that enhances operating functions with fast response times, and support for digital and analog SACD and DVD-Audio optionsnot possible on the earlier Casablanca models. The new operating system also provides a foundation for many new features introduced in the Casablanca III, and under development for futurerelease.
