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Android Atlas Weekly 42: Who's afraid of the big bad brick?

Amazon's Android blitz continues with the launch of the Cloud Player service and a deal to preinstall its App Store onto phones. Meanwhile, in the original Android Market, app makers get a new way to monetize their wares. Also, Antuan risks bricking his new HTC Thunderbolt by attempting to installing a custom ROM during the show. Will he be left with an expensive paperweight? All of that and more on this week's episode of Android Atlas Weekly with Justin Eckhouse and Antuan Goodwin.

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Aircell unveils Android phone for in-flight calling

We missed this last week while we were at CTIA, but Aircell announced a new smartphone for making that all-important call from 35,000 feet.

The Aircell Smartphone (catchy name, eh?) will allow air travelers on private business jets to make and receive calls just as they would while on the ground. It will be compatible with Aircell's forthcoming GoGo Biz service, which will supply in-flight Internet access and voice call service for corporate aircraft customers. Though the handset won't be available to airline passengers anytime soon (and hopefully never), Aircell also operates the GoGo in-flight Wi-Fi service … Read more

Broadband-ready passenger planes to near 800

Those who need their Internet fix while in flight should appreciate a report released on Wednesday by market researcher In-Stat.

The number of commercial airplanes providing broadband access is expected to jump from 25 in 2008 to 800 by end the of 2009, according to the report.

Broadband connectivity is brought to airplanes either through satellite or an air-to-ground network. Both technologies are battling for market share, with Aircell's service based on its own air-to-ground network, and Row44 and Panasonic's service satellite-based.

In-flight broadband has struggled to gain a foothold due to the weak economy and the availability … Read more

Webware Radar: March Madness reaches the sky

Aircell, the company that offers Gogo Inflight Internet service to airline passengers, announced on Thursday that based on internal research, Gogo customer visits to NCAA-focused sites increased 953 percent during the first and second rounds of NCAA Tournament play.

Visits to sports-focused sites in general were up 123 percent from February. The most visited NCAA site on Gogo was CBSSports.com (Disclosure: CBSSports.com is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News.)

Real-estate search site Trulia announced Thursday that it set new records for site traffic in the first quarter of 2009. According to the company, visits … Read more

Virgin America plans Wi-Fi launch party in the sky

Virgin America is teaming up with YouTube for its big coming-out party for its Wi-Fi in the sky service.

The California-based airline will launch its Gogo Inflight Internet service on November 22 in a flight over San Francisco. To show off how robust the in-flight Internet service is, the company is planning to stream a live video feed from the plane down to the ground to an audience attending the YouTube Live concert in San Francisco.

The Gogo service will be available to all passengers on a single Wi-Fi enabled plane starting November 24. And by the second quarter of … Read more

American Airlines launches in-flight Wi-Fi

American Airlines passengers will now have Wi-Fi access on some flights.

The airline said Wednesday that it has finally launched its in-flight Internet access service via Wi-Fi on 15 of its 767-200 airplanes. The service, called Gogo, will be offered on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. The cost is $12.95 per flight. Passengers will be able to sign up when they boot up their browsers.

The airline will be restricting the use of voice over IP services, such as Skype, and it will still restrict the … Read more

In-flight Wi-Fi to take off with Delta

Delta Air Lines passengers will get Wi-Fi access on all domestic flights by the middle of next year, the company said Tuesday.

Several other airlines, including American Airlines, Virgin America and JetBlue, have announced similar in-flight Wi-Fi plans, but Delta's roll-out is among the most aggressive plans announced.

Specifically, the Atlanta-based airline plans to outfit its domestic fleet of 330 aircraft with Wi-Fi, which amounts to around 60 percent of Delta's seats flown every day. The service won't be available aboard Delta's smaller aircraft, which typically seat 50 to 75 people.

The wireless service, which will … Read more

iPass to add in-flight Wi-Fi roaming

Mobile Internet aggregator iPass it teaming up with in-flight broadband provider Aircell to give its customers access to broadband on planes.

On Tuesday, iPass announced that it would offer Wi-Fi roaming with Aircell Gogo, an in-flight broadband service expected to launch soon in the United States. Aircell's service is expected later this year on American Airlines and Virgin America.

iPass provides mobile Internet access for a monthly fee. Users can connect via Wi-Fi, dial-up or Ethernet using a single user password. Monthly services include all three connectivity options and cost between $29.95 per month for unlimited Wi-Fi in … Read more

American Airlines and Virgin America promise in-flight broadband

Editor's note: This blog initially misidentified the provider of JetBlue's in-flight broadband service.

In-flight broadband is coming soon for travelers on some American Airlines and Virgin America flights. But will the companies hit the right price point to attract customers?

Aircell, a company that sells air-to-ground telecommunications equipment to airlines, said this week that its in-flight broadband system will be used on some Virgin America and American Airlines flights originating from San Francisco and Los Angeles to New York and Miami.

American Airlines will initially enable 15 of its 767s with broadband, and eventually it will offer Internet … Read more