Product review – Aircell Gogo inflight Internet on Virgin America.

by Scott Carmichael on

This past Saturday, Gadling participated in a special flight celebrating the launch of inflight Internet on board Virgin America.

During this flight, I worked hard to test every aspect of the service I could. I looked into the kind of products and services many of us use on the road.

The Wi-Fi enabled plane will enter commercial service as a special Thanksgiving surprise for passengers on Virgin America plane N638VA (“My Other Ride Is A Spaceship”).

Internet access for the duration of the flight is $9.95 for flights 3 hours or less, and $12.95 on longer flights. Passengers can connect to the service using 802.11 a/b or g Wi-Fi.

Virgin America plans to have the service available on their entire fleet by the second quarter of 2009, making them the first and only airline in the country with fleet wide Internet service.

Here are the services I put to the test:Web

Needless to say that this part of the service worked just fine. Right after the signal was turned on, I was able to get speeds in excess of 1.5mbps, and the lag was very minimal. As more people started getting online I noticed a slight drop in speed, but even when the entire plane was surfing away, it never became too slow to use for web access.

Secure web sites worked fine, as did connecting through a VPN service, which I’d suggest you do if you plan to connect to stuff you don’t want to share with anyone else on the flight as the Wi-Fi service is unencrypted.

Youtube video streaming

Yes, Youtube worked great. Of course, no amount of high speed Internet in the air will be able to bring talent to those of us without it, so the quality of the content won’t always improve with your altitude.

During the flight we were treated to some fantastic video clips, created for this event including this list of 5 things not to wear at the airport, by Youtube celebrity William Sledd.

Skype

Skype calls worked just fine — the fineprint on this one is that the Gogo service was intentionally left fairly “open” for us, so it is entirely possible that this may not work on the usual commercial flights.

Instant messaging

Instant messaging (using Digsby and Trillian) worked fine. Of course, you’ll have to spend a little time explaining to the folks on the ground exactly where you are. If you are really geeky, you can even use your IM client to chat with people around you, though Virgin America also offer that on the RED inflight entertainment system in every seat.

Email

Email access was a breeze; I got online with Gmail and through my regular email client (Thunderbird) and was able to send and receive my messages. I even received the official press release from Virgin America a few minutes after they sent it (from the seat in front of me).

Music streaming

I fired up my Slacker music player and within about 20 seconds I had a live stream of my own favorite radio station. I minimized the player and enjoyed it in the background while surfing. At no point did I ever hear a stutter or stall in the stream, even after 5 minutes. Of course, this is another service that may or may not be available when the service is live on regular flights.

Slingbox

Those of you hoping to watch some live TV during your flight will be surprised to hear that I was able to connect to my Slingbox and schedule a recording on my Tivo. The video quality is fairly low, but it is certainly usable if you just need to catch up on the latest episode of whatever series you are hooked on.

Portable devices

Of course, a laptop is not the only device that works on the Gogo service. During the flight many people were walking around with their iPhone or Blackberry. I brought my T-Mobile G1 along, and was online in about 30 seconds.

A list of devices tested with the service can be found on the Gogo site.

And finally…

When I was done with my list of things to test, I tried accessing a P2P service (Bittorrent), a porn site and Hulu.com. All of these services worked, but by then the entire plane was using up all the available bandwidth, so none of them worked particularly well. Of course, I also don’t see these services exactly as the kind of thing you’d really need during a flight, but it was good to see that the connection functioned without any restrictions.

The technology (for the geeks)

The Aircell Gogo inflight Internet service uses ground stations based off EVDO Rev.A technology, similar to the broadband services offered by Verizon and Sprint. Each plane has about 3.1mbps to the plane, and 1.8Mbps back to the ground. Unlike previous systems (like the now extinct Boing Connexion system), the Gogo equipment weighs just 125 pounds and can be installed in a single day.

Thanks to Virgin America, Aircell, HP and Youtube!

I’d once again like to thank the fantastic people at Virgin America, their awesome PR team, stunning flight attendants and everyone from Aircell who helped put this event together. And of course, the teams from Youtube and HP, who provided some great inflight entertainment and an assortment of laptops to play with.

My only regret was that I was stuck flying United Airlines back home, and had to settle for a $6 snackbox and no Internet access.

GALLEY GOSSIP: 10 ways to be REALLY annoying at the airport

by Heather Poole on

1. BE A PERV – Get frisked. Several times. That’s right, just keep going back and forth through airport security. When TSA looks at you funny during the pat down, grin mischievously and say, “oh yeah, that feels good.” Make sure to mean it when you say it. If you don’t get frisked, just smile and tell them you think they missed a spot. Use your eyes to show them the spot. You know the one. See how many times you can do it and actually get away with it.

2. FLIRT – Walk around, linger at a gate, and when you find that perfect someone stare intensely. Don’t blink. When they finally catch you staring, walk on over and use the flight delay / cancellation / on time boarding as an ice breaker to get to know the one you’ve been scaring. Go for it! Ask that person out on a date. You can go to the food court for coffee. If you still like each other after coffee, grab a bite for dinner. Take it a step further and try speed dating.

3. EAT – Don’t you know that calories don’t count at the airport? So go ahead and enjoy. No place to sit? Have a picnic on the floor. At the gate. Make sure you’re surrounded by passengers before you sit down. Use nearby luggage as a makeshift table. Be romantic by bringing along a date, perhaps the one you picked up at the gate. (Scroll back up to #2)

4. CALL YOUR MOTHER – Or better yet, call another mother, like my mother. Make sure you’re wearing the blue tooth when telling the mother of your choice what you’re doing, and not doing, and make sure to give details, lots and lots of details. Take it up a notch and explain to her, very loudly, exactly what the passenger sitting next to you is doing. Continue the play by play for as long as possible.

5. READ – Out loud. Help others around you catch up on the latest celebrity gossip. Make sure to let everyone know that Jen is pregnant with twins and that John Mayer is the father. Ask those seated nearby what they have to think, and the let me know whether or not they believe Jen is finally over Brad. While discussing these oh so important details, don’t forget to prop those feet up on your suitcase. Better yet, use another passenger’s suitcase. When you’re done, get out a notebook and make a list of things you think Jen should do, as well as the things she shouldn’t do, and share it with those around you. Don’t forget to fill me in.

6. ANSWER A PAGE – When someone is paged over the airport intercom, drop everything you’re doing, your magazine included, put your hands over your ears and cry out, “I’m hearing voices again!” Another option, “Leave me alone!” “It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it this time!” Or how about just pretending you’re the one who was just paged, every single time someone is paged, and take the call. See if anyone notices.

7. BOTHER THE AGENT. Whenever you see the agent about to make a PA, stand up, walk over to the counter and mimic the agent as he/she makes the announcement. When the announcement is over, make sure to ask “When are we going to leave? Can’t we just get a new airplane?” Don’t forget to use the word ridiculous as often as possible whenever addressing someone wearing blue. In fact, just yell it out whenever you see a uniform passing by. Even when you’re not at the airport.

8. PLAY A GAME – How about, What’s in your bag? Guess what other people pack by pointing at a bag and stating the contents inside the bag out loud. When you’re done, open the bag to see if you were right. Not fun enough? Okay, see if you can steal your neighbors food when they’re not looking. (Take it on your picnic and share it with your date) Bonus points if you can snag a drink, too. After that try having a staring contest with your neighbor, but don’t tell the neighbor, only inform them who won. Next you can practice breathing. Swallowing. Sleeping. Disappearing.

9. WORK OUT. Use the moving sidewalk like a treadmill and the escalator as a stair stepper. Make sure to wear athletic shorts and use your tube socks as a sweatband while listening to your Ipod. Run back and forth through the terminal carrying as many bags as possible and scream out, “I’ll be damned if I pay that fee!”

10. TAKE A RIDE – Stand smack dab in the middle of the moving sidewalk and go for a nice long leisurely ride while taking in the scenery. Never mind all those people anxious to get to their gates standing right behind you. When you get to the end, double back and do it again. Or find a wheelchair and get rolling. Wrap a luggage tag around your arm and ride the baggage claim conveyor belt. Have your travel companion arrive with a luggage cart, pick you up, load you on, and roll you away. Don’t come back. Take the bus next time.

10 1/2. HUG A FLIGHT ATTENDANT. Make sure to announce that it’s hug a flight attendant day and that you’ll be giving out hugs throughout the flight. Why? Because you know the crew has been wearing the same polyester uniform for days, because they’re not getting paid for the delay, because you really do know it’s not their fault, and because they’ve already heard that story, the one about your worst flight, which happened to be your last flight, or was it this flight? You can’t remember, so you’ll just tell it again.

%Poll-22805%

In Patagonia: Chile’s awe-inspiring Torres del Paine National Park

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Widely heralded as South America’s most beautiful national park, Torres del Paine in Southern Chile offers outdoor-lovers everything they could want: rugged landscapes, snow-capped peaks, massive glaciers, and abundant wildlife.

Named for the towering granite columns (torres) that dominate the park’s gorgeous skyline, the park also contains dozens of crystal-blue lakes, including Lago Pehoe, Lago Nordenskjold, and Lago Grey, the latter of which contains scores of breathtaking blue glaciers. (see the accompanying slideshow, complete with hilarious captions).

Located at the southern tip of South America– the region popularly known as Patagonia– Torres del Paine is not just one of the southernmost parks in the world, it is also one of the windiest, with steady winds averaging 50 to 75 miles per hour. In fact, this park probably wins the award for worst place in the world to have a comb-over.

%Gallery-37520% You want animals? The park can do that too. How about flamingos, condors, llama-like guanacos, ostrich-like ñandúes, and, oh yeah, pumas. At the Seno Otway Penguin Colony just a few hours away, animal lovers will be able to get up close and personal with scores of penguins making their way from the Pacific beach to their nearby nests. So, so much better than the zoo.

If you decide to go, here’s a little practical info that might help:

Where to stay:

On a recent trip, some friends and I stayed at Hosteria Las Torres, which was clean and in a great location, but was also wildly overpriced, with double rooms fetching more than $350 a night. Ouch. For cheaper options, try Hosteria Tyndall or the Mountain Lodge Paine Grande. If you’re really on a budget or love the outdoors, you can’t go wrong camping at one of the refugios for a meager $6. Tents and sleeping bags are available to rent for modest fees.

When to come:

The summer months from January to April are, by far, the best times to visit Patagonia, but even then the weather can be unpredictable. Think long and hard before trying to visit in the winter, as many roads will be unpassable. The nearby town of Punta Arenas has the closest decent-sized airport, and there are regular flights to and from Santiago for a few hundred dollars. Go already!

The slideshow above not enough for you? You’ll want to watch this. And definitely this too.

Coming to you live from Virgin America flight VX8001 at 30,398 feet!

by Scott Carmichael on

Greetings Gadling readers! This post is coming to you live from 35,000 feet, on board Virgin America flight 8001

This special flight is full of fellow bloggers, Youtube celebs and representatives from Virgin and Aircell. The flight celebrates 2 new products; the introduction of the Gogo inflight Internet service on board Virgin America, and the launch of Youtube Live.

We took off about 25 minutes ago and I’ve just connected to the Wi-Fi signal. Connecting was extremely easy, and the speed of the connection is impressive. .

To give you an idea of just how much fun I am having, I’ve included some photos of the airborne party.

Later this afternoon, I’ll post a list of products and services I tested during the flight.

Many thanks to Virgin America, Youtube and Aircell for putting together this amazing flight, it is without a doubt the most fun I have ever had in the air!

Now, if you don’t mind, I have some more of these amazing Virgin America Cocktails to consume.

Sounds of Travel 9: Me Gustas Tu?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Here at Gadling we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite sounds from the road and giving you a sample of each — maybe you’ll find the same inspiration that we did, but at the very least, hopefully you’ll think that they’re good songs. Got a favorite of your own? Leave it in the comments below and we’ll post it at the end of the series.

Manu Chao is a vagabond by nature. He was born in Paris to a Spanish mother and father, but he’s really from all over. Chao’s music wanders and meanders like his personal life, drifting languages from Spanish to English to French, and picking up influences and passport stamps from South America to Spain and to France and then back again. His improvised concert tours are equally freewheeling, featuring actors, circus performers and tour stops only accessible by boat (?!).

I stumbled across Chao’s free-form music while I was in college. There was something that sounded very culturally rich about it – it felt authentic and regional, yet somehow equally global and devoid of place. As I began to travel and see more of the world, I found Chao to be a poignant soundtrack for my travels, particularly in the Spanish speaking world where I happened to be visiting.

Whether wafting over the balconies of ancient windows in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, jingling from makeshift speakers in an apartment in Buenos Aires, or bouncing out of a car radio in Mexico City, Manu Chao’s music somehow made a particular sonic sense to me. Perhaps my favorite example is his song, Me Gustas Tu:


Me Gustas Tu is a bastard child of a song. It doesn’t have a lyrical “narrative” like you would expect from a pop tune. Instead it’s composed of a single continued refrain. As a guitarist plucks away a catchy, whimsical melody, Chao regales us with his love for life and for the Spanish speaking world, peeling off a list of countries, neighborhoods and “favorite things,” including the wind, traveling, planes, the morning, dreaming and the sea. Each of these favorites is preceded by the phrase “me gustas,” which basically translates as “I like” or “I love” in Spanish. In this case, Chao seems to be recalling the memory of a lost love, romanticizing what he remembers best.

If there’s one place Me Gustas Tu always evokes for me, it’s Barcelona. Each time I come back to this city on the Mediterranean, I’m drawn to the ancient walls and narrow alleys of the Gothic Quarter, a neighborhood that virtually explodes with life. As I walk the area, I always feel more alive, envigorated by rich, sensory experience. Down each street, the laughter of old men stumbles out of simmering tapas bars, water burbles quietly from forgotten fountains and my eyes gaze up at tiny metal balconies, shrouded in green curtains of plant life.

It’s hard to explain why, but I always feel happy when I’m there. I suspect it’s the sensory assault of the place and feeling of joy and wonder I find in the simplest experiences. Perhaps Chao is on to something then – Me Gustas Tu is a song that’s less about telling you where a vagabond like Chao has been, and more about where he is. That place is in his mind, filled with happy memories and vivid sensory experiences. For me the place is Barcelona, a memory I can conjure from time to time and forget my troubles. Suddenly I’m there, listening to Manu Chao on my balcony. And suddenly, life seems pretty awesome, doesn’t it?

Click here for previous Sounds of Travel