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March 12, 2008 – BRITISH company Bluebox Avionics is supplying its semi-embedded AVOD inflight entertainment system for installation in a new Boeing BBJ now being fitted out for a US-based VIP operator.

“It’s our hybrid system,” says Rick Stuart, managing director of the Phantom Media/AviIT joint venture (Inflight Online, December 4, 2007). “It has everything you would find in a fixed system except it’s not permanently fixed – although it could be.”

The semi-embedded nature of the BBJ installation, being carried out by Seattle-based Greenpoint Technologies, means that there is no requirement for an FAA supplemental type certificate. “As a result, we expect to get it into the air no later than this September,” says Stuart.
 
Bluebox is offering a range of lightweight IFE solutions that comprises both fixed and semi-embedded versions along with the handheld Bluebox Lite, currently in service with UK carrier bmi. “We have been steadily developing the fixed and semi-embedded systems since launch in September 2005,” says Stuart. “We have now resolved all of the issues associated with wireless or wired control of the devices and have gained approval from all the major Hollywood studios to deliver first-run movies.”

Based on the same hardware as Bluebox Lite, the semi-embedded system is controlled with a crew management terminal. In the BBJ installation control will be exercised via a WiFi wireless network supporting cabin PA, pause, forced playback and system disable functions, along with Rockwell Collins Airshow moving-map and passenger information.

The Bluebox units will be installed in seat-arm mounts. The passenger will be able to remove the unit from the mount and place it on the table, if desired, and power will be permanently available from the seat.

Content acquisition, encoding and integration will be provided by Phantom Media under the terms of its turnkey VIP package, which is designed to overcome the economic obstacle presented by the small user numbers inherent in VIP operations.

The Bluebox range will next be displayed in public at Aircraft Interiors Americas in Long Beach, California, this September.