747

FAA wants to know Boeing 747-8 is hack-proof

If Boeing is going to keep on producing jumbo jets with state-of-the-art networking technology, it may have to get used to dealing with government demands that it ensure the planes are not hackable.

Earlier this month, as reported by AVWeb, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued "special conditions" regarding Boeing's forthcoming 747-8--the next-generation of its iconic 747 line of planes--aimed at making sure that the new plane's high-tech networking systems are hack-proof.

The 747-8, which should have its first flight any day now, is intended to be a much more efficient and powerful version … Read more

Gadgettes Podcast 159: The Bad Marketing Ideas Episode

With the launch of Windows 7 this week, we've seen a number of product marketing attempts that made us ask "what on earth does this have to do with anything?"

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 159

Windows Cafe in Paris

Windows 7 Whopper marketing promotion

I'm a PC USB keys

Pistachio ad campaign featuring Levi Johnston

Dolce & Gabbana Sony Ericsson Jalou

Regretsy… Read more

Boeing delivers its 1,400th 747

I got an e-mail Friday morning from my contact at Boeing alerting me to the fact that the aerospace giant delivered its 1,400th 747 Thursday.

The lucky recipient of the 747-400 freighter was GE Commercial Aviation Services, which plans to lease the jet to AirBridgeCargo Airlines, a Boeing press release says.

What really struck me about the news is that there are only 1,400 747s. It seems to me that every time I fly through Los Angeles, I see something like a couple hundred of the big planes on the tarmac, half of them owned by Qantas.

Of … Read more

Samsung's SGH-A747 SLM makes its debut

Just in time for the big shopping weekend, Samsung gives us its newest cell phone for AT&T, the Samsung SGH-A747. Though we've been drowning in Samsung handsets as of late, this one caught our eye. Its thin flip phone design may be nothing new but inside the SGH-A747 promises a new feature. It will be the first phone to support AT&T's new wireless music download service. Announced at CTIA last month, the service will allow AT&T customers to purchase and download music tracks over the air through Napster Mobile. It's a … Read more

Do 747s make e-mail fun?

You might have noticed if, for some reason, you have followed my work over the last couple of years, that I have a thing for 747s.

I can't really explain why that is. I suppose it's just that the jumbo jets are sort of a physical manifestation of adventure for me: When I see them flying overhead, I know they're off to some faraway place where I'd probably like to be going.

So when I heard about 3D Mailbox, an e-mail client that uses visual images as representations for e-mail messages, and the fact that the … Read more

At last, 747s, up close and personal

ROSWELL, N.M.--After I drove by, and was unable to get into, the Pinal Air Park, north of Tucson, Ariz., I've kind of been jonesing for some good Boeing 747 access.

It turns out that there are commercial airplane storage facilities in many different locations, including Roswell, where at the Roswell International Air Center, there are up to 200 planes just sitting on the ground, waiting to be used by their owners.

I visited this facility on Wednesday, as part of Road Trip 2007, my journey around the Southwest, and I expect to post a full gallery Thursday. … Read more

Canon's lenses make a great Road Trip addition

TUCSON, ARIZ.--For more than a week now, I've been on Road Trip 2007, my journey around the Southwest visiting various science and technology-related sites, and I've been having a great time.

I've toured the nearly-hidden tunnels that go underneath the Las Vegas Strip, and braved my fear of heights on the Grand Canyon Skywalk. And I've peered into the Earth's past, and a scary future, at Arizona's Meteor Crater.

All the while, I've also been ferrying around a box full of high-tech gadgets to review, and I've been road-testing them as … Read more

So many 747s, so little access

MARANA, Ariz.--I was driving down Interstate 10 today, on my way from Phoenix to Tucson, where, as part of my Road Trip around the Southwest, I am visiting the airplane boneyards of the Pima Air and Space Museum and Davis Monthan Air Force Base's famous Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), as well as the Titan Missile Museum.

But as I was driving along I-10, I noticed a whole bunch of airplane tails rising above the low trees. This instantly reminded me of last summer, on my trip around the Pacific Northwest, when I discovered the Japan Airlines 747 pilots training facility. … Read more

787 Dreamliner launch a big deal

EVERETT, Wash.--"This will make some rock concerts pale by comparison," Boeing spokesman Tim Bader told me with a smile as we rode a company-hired bus to the long-awaited 787 Dreamliner launch event.

I knew this was a big event since, after all, the 787 is Boeing's biggest plane launch in years. But how big? I had no idea.

Well, let's just say that the event looks primed to do justice to the building it's being held in--the company's factory here, which is the world's largest building by volume.

Indeed, thousands and … Read more

787's Dreamlifter is one huge plane

SEATTLE--I was driving into Seattle from the airport today, on my way up to Boeing's Everett, Wash., factory--the world's largest building by volume--for the official launch of its brand-new 787 Dreamliner, when I saw something interesting off to the side of the highway.

For anyone who's driven in from Sea-Tac airport, the sight of Boeing Field on the west side of Interstate 5 is very familiar. But today, I noticed that the "Dreamlifter" was parked on the tarmac there. The Dreamlifter is the mammoth plane--it's a modified 747-400 with a huge hump--that flies in … Read more