Boeing, the popular aircraft manufacturer, has decided to equip its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft with Android to enhance the in-flight entertainment system.
Android based tablet type devices ranging from screen sizes of 9 inches to up to 15.4 inches have been selected to provide entertainment to the passengers as per their travelling choice. All the devices except the bigger ones used for the business class passengers will feature touchscreen for input and additional keypad for gaming and text input as well.
For the business class passengers, Boeing is planning to use a prototype hand gesture based technology in these Android based devices as due to a bigger space in these aircrafts it would be difficult for the passengers to reach out for the screens to control them. “Rather than that users can simply make out gestures with their hands and get the work done,” said Mark Larson, technical manager, Boeing to Australian Business Traveler.
With this decision Boeing has officially shut Apple and other Android competitors’ plans to enter the in-flight entertainment domain. For manufacturing the tablet devices and related devices to run the whole shoe Boeing has selected Panasonic and Thales, out of which Panasonic will be majorly involved in the making of the touchscreen devices.