Air Canada has begun testing In-Flight Wi-Fi and is the first Canadian Airline to offer it. With In-Flight Wi-Fi, you can surf the Internet on any mobile device while in the air. Check email, access your VPN network, browse the web, shop online, play video games, IM, tweet and more – suddenly those 8-hour flights don’t seem so boring anymore.
The testing period will be until January 29, 2010 and is provided by Gogo. For the testing phase, the service will only be available onboard select long haul Air Canada flights travelling over the United States between Toronto or Montreal and Los Angeles.
A laptop device will cost you $9.95 US to connect and a handheld devices is $7.95 US payable by credit card.
After the January 29 test period, Air Canada will analyze results. If feedback is positive, we can expect to see Wi-Fi available on more flights, and hopefully some out of Winnipeg.
Supported devices and minimum requirements:
* Gogo works with Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, laptops, and PDAs.
* Platforms supported include: Blackberry®, Windows® Mobile, Apple®, and Nokia® (Symbian S60).
* Minimum laptop requirements for access are:
o 802.11 a/b/g wireless capability (Wi-Fi) and
o a supported Web browser, e.g.: Microsoft internet Explorer® 6&7 (Windows® XP or Vista®), Mozilla® Firefox®, Safari® on Mac OS® X.
* Voice service (including voice over IP) is not supported.
Image Video iChat from 35,000 feet, and an awkward face! Originally uploaded by tom.arthur
