Virgin America's in-flight entertainment will run on Android - Polidicks

[url]http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/12/virgin-america-red-to-use-android/[/url] [quote]To call most in-flight entertainment systems old and crusty would be generous when even the more advanced systems typically pale in comparison to your laptop or tablet. Virgin America might just narrow that gap, though. It's rolling out a beta version of its Red seatback platform that runs Android on a multi-touch screen, much like many mobile devices. The modern input gives you more sophisticated flight maps and games than you're used to seeing in mid-air -- you can play Pac-Man while you're waiting for your meal, if you like. The devices also have three times as much storage as before, which will let you watch 720p videos including Netflix staples like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. You'll have to get lucky to try the new Red tech in the near future. Only three aircraft will have it this month, and 18 will get it by the end of the year. It won't be until 2016 that you can assume that every Virgin America flight has the upgrade. All of the fleet is getting headphone-based surround sound for certain content (such as the first two episodes of Game of Thrones season five), however, so you'll still have something to look forward to on your next long-haul trip. [/quote] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsNx4WG42E0[/media]

OK Google, you see those two towers over there?....

[QUOTE=agentalexandre;47942736]OK Google, you see those two towers over there?....[/QUOTE] I hope this sounded funnier in your head.

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;47942753]I hope this sounded funnier in your head.[/QUOTE] Too soon?

Wow, look at this stuff the 1% can use!

Wonder if they could install and run some of the early flight simulator games..

Seems like a waste. If I'm able to fly in such a fancy plane I would probably have a fancy phone or a tablet with me for entertainment.

[QUOTE=Adayam;47942762]Wow, look at this stuff the 1% can use![/QUOTE] A lot more people fly than the 1%.

[QUOTE=OvB;47942830]A lot more people fly than the 1%.[/QUOTE] What I meant is there's only 1% of people who could actually afford this. This will probably be a really expensive plane ride and will most likely stay that way for a while.

Can this iteration of Red run Doom? [video=youtube;609i-OhFhoQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=609i-OhFhoQ[/video] 3:39

Isn't this really old news? Or did some other airline set up some linux-based entertainment computers recently? I remember one of them had DooM running on them.

[QUOTE=Adayam;47942884]What I meant is there's only 1% of people who could actually afford this. This will probably be a really expensive plane ride and will most likely stay that way for a while.[/QUOTE] In-flight entertainment systems aren't exactly something new. All my flights have had exactly the same thing they're showing. Although just not as smooth as their stuff :v:

The only entertainment I find myself is enjoying my single-service meal for as long as I can, and then neatly packing up the trashes.

I've been on a flight with android based systems before. They're not bad, definitely better than whatever airlines used to use before but the high familiarity of the UI for some reason takes the flying experience away from me. But that's just my opinion though, I enjoy flights because its a completely different experience but the UI makes me feel like I'm sitting on my couch at home looking at a tablet instead. In business class the remote control is literally a corded android phone which looks like it runs on honeycomb and sadly has the same performance as a phone of that era. Ie. it lags and there is delay between the remote action and screen response.

[QUOTE=adam1172;47943015]I've been on a flight with android based systems before. They're not bad, definitely better than whatever airlines used to use before but the high familiarity of the UI for some reason takes the flying experience away from me. But that's just my opinion though, I enjoy flights because its a completely different experience but the UI makes me feel like I'm sitting on my couch at home looking at a tablet instead. In business class the remote control is literally a corded android phone which looks like it runs on honeycomb and sadly has the same performance as a phone of that era. Ie. it lags and there is delay between the remote action and screen response.[/QUOTE] Honest question, and I don't mean anything by this, but why do you care about the experience? As long as you make it there with no hassle, what does it matter? I ask because I just recently flew across America, and I never once thought to myself anything even remotely along the lines of "This experience could have been better if X". The only thing I cared about was making it to my destination safely and timely.

It better not fucking run on Gingerbread or Honeycomb. ICS or later, please.

[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;47943202]It better not fucking run on Gingerbread or Honeycomb. ICS or later, please.[/QUOTE] Why would it? ICS is a dinosaur at this point. It's much more likely to run on KitKat or Lollipop, but then continue to run on that for the next 5 years

Agar.io LAN server between passengers.

the race begins for the first team to root a airplane

I think Adayam confused Virgin Galactic with regular Virgin.

[QUOTE=Wii60;47943265]the race begins for the first team to root a airplane[/QUOTE] [ROM][KERNEL]★ UberPlaneOS v1.29 ★[5.1.1][A380] ★ 100% LEAN ★ 100% STABLE ★ AOSP [b]Features[/b] CM Based Takeoff [b]Not working[/b] Landing gear Oxygen supply Landing [b]Bugs[/b] You tell me!

[QUOTE=Adayam;47942884]What I meant is there's only 1% of people who could actually afford this. This will probably be a really expensive plane ride and will most likely stay that way for a while.[/QUOTE] You must not have flown very far recently, every international flight I've been on included this exact thing for free, except using a super shitty interface.

[QUOTE]The modern input gives you more sophisticated flight maps and games than you're used to seeing in mid-air -- [B]you can play Pac-Man[/B] while you're waiting for your meal, if you like.[/QUOTE] :v: woah

[QUOTE=Anti Christ;47943190]Honest question, and I don't mean anything by this, but why do you care about the experience? As long as you make it there with no hassle, what does it matter? I ask because I just recently flew across America, and I never once thought to myself anything even remotely along the lines of "This experience could have been better if X". The only thing I cared about was making it to my destination safely and timely.[/QUOTE] I do care about the experience, but its more along the lines of "wow holy shit I'm on a plane" more than anything else. But I've only flown twice in the past 23 years so its still an incredible novelty.

[QUOTE=Anti Christ;47943190]Honest question, and I don't mean anything by this, but why do you care about the experience? As long as you make it there with no hassle, what does it matter? I ask because I just recently flew across America, and I never once thought to myself anything even remotely along the lines of "This experience could have been better if X". The only thing I cared about was making it to my destination safely and timely.[/QUOTE] You'd think differently if you flew back and forth between Tokyo and USA 11 times...those long flights get very boring and they drag on and on. Having infight entertainment like this was literally what kept me from going insane and made the flights pass by rather quickly.

[QUOTE=ScottyWired;47943566]:v: woah[/QUOTE] In the sky, everything is more computationally demanding. Maybe in a few years we'll get Doom?

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;47943783]You'd think differently if you flew back and forth between Tokyo and USA 11 times...those long flights get very boring and they drag on and on. Having infight entertainment like this was literally what kept me from going insane and made the flights pass by rather quickly.[/QUOTE] I loaded some podcasts and a few movies on my phone, and watched those on my flight across the United States. Is there any reason other people can't do that? And for those people, why does it matter if the OS on the entertainment is android? That's what I don't get. Is it desirable to want a premium feel to your entertainment device's OS? The part that I'm really stuck on is this: [quote]but the high familiarity of the UI for some reason takes the flying experience away from me. But that's just my opinion though, I enjoy flights because its a completely different experience but the UI makes me feel like I'm sitting on my couch at home looking at a tablet instead[/quote] I just don't understand why that is necessary. Why does it matter if you feel like you're using your tablet? As long as you can access your desired form of entertainment, I don't see how it would make any difference.

[QUOTE=Swebonny;47942920]In-flight entertainment systems aren't exactly something new. All my flights have had exactly the same thing they're showing. Although just not as smooth as their stuff :v:[/QUOTE] Internationally, sure, but domestic US flights very rarely have this, even for first class.

[QUOTE=Snowmew;47944232]Internationally, sure, but domestic US flights very rarely have this, even for first class.[/QUOTE] Domestic flights in the USA rarely have in-flight entertainment systems? Or it is only the budget carriers? I've been on 14 domestic flights in the past year on Virgin Australia and I haven't once been on a plane without in-flight entertainment here in Aus.

[QUOTE=Animosus;47944604]Domestic flights in the USA rarely have in-flight entertainment systems? Or it is only the budget carriers? I've been on 14 domestic flights in the past year on Virgin Australia and I haven't once been on a plane without in-flight entertainment here in Aus.[/QUOTE] I used to always fly Southwest and obviously they don't have any IFEs (they offer free streaming to mobile devices instead), but since I switched over to Delta, I still haven't gotten on a flight with IFEs. American and United are even worse in that regard. Virgin America is really the only "American" carrier with good IFEs, but their flights are exceedingly rare as they mainly focus on cross-country long hauls. JetBlue also has them, but again, who flies JetBlue? Plus, most US carriers are cheap, so... most of my Delta flights have been on oddball craft (I'm spoiled by SWA's 737 fleet, so getting tossed around MD-80/90s, A319s, and the occasional Dash 8 is interesting for plane geeks but gives off a real secondhand vibe).