betablue

BetaBlue: It's one small step for in-flight Wi-Fi

The biggest problem with JetBlue's inaugural "BetaBlue" flight, equipped with Yahoo and BlackBerry e-mail and instant messaging, was the fact that there aren't power outlets on board the aircraft.

Sure, there are those little 110-volt things in each bathroom. But if you hog the airplane toilet so that you can give your laptop some juice, you're going to be the second most unpopular person on that flight. (The screaming kid in seat 15D still beats you.)

All joking aside, if in-flight Wi-Fi is going to take off, airplanes are going to need power outlets. Virgin … Read more

Some turbulence for JetBlue's in-flight e-mail

Special thanks to my editors for posting this. I've filed it in-flight via e-mail.

I'm typing this somewhere over Louisville, Ky. (or so the "live map" on my seat monitor tells me), on board JetBlue flight 641, a "BetaBlue" New York-to-San Francisco plane equipped with Yahoo and BlackBerry e-mail and instant-messaging access. And, yes, I've found a hack already--as it turns out, you have access to some of Yahoo's mobile site as well, enabling you to look up news headlines, finance information, weather, and a handful of other light mobile apps.

Once … Read more

Reporters on a plane: JetBlue's inaugural 'e-mail flight'

Hello from John F. Kennedy International Airport, the establishment that some say is responsible for more New Yorkers' headaches than all the bars on Macdougal Street combined!

In a few minutes I'm scheduled to hop on board the inaugural flight of "BetaBlue," the JetBlue test flight equipped with access to Yahoo and BlackBerry e-mail and instant messaging. At present, I'm in the terminal at JFK waiting for the flight--which will touch down at San Francisco International Airport about six hours later

So here are a few of the things I'm hoping to explore...

-- Will … Read more