Hot Topic: Digeplayer Redux

Buoyed by winning an award for best IFE product of the year at IPEC, Wencor’s portable entertainment solution is about to take on a new persona – installed IFE. While details are sketchy (actually non-existent) we do know that the Digeplayer as we know it will be the basis of a hardwired installation that begins as a plug-in seatback module using aircraft power. The story was leaked at IPEC but expect to learn more about the development at the Airline Interiors Conference in April. IFExpress understands that Digeplayer will be working with one seat manufacturer, however, if we were an inseat power player or a seat manufacturer we’d be calling Wencor. This 1.6 lb. per seat product will have single-aisle, killer-app potential, especially if they can hit the $3-$3.5k per seat price point! We understand that Digeplayer has 12 customers to date, and are talking to at least 4 legacy carriers about their new product. Expect to see nervous twitching from the big IFE players if installed Digeplayer comes out at half the weight and half the price of other systems when it hits the streets later this fall. Since the portable product debuted in 2003, the little device has sported a card swipe mechanism, increased its hard disk capacity to 40GB, and has a neat seatback pouch as a storage option. IFExpress is not surprised about the installed system announcement; if you were a regular reader you would know that we predicted it. Now one more prediction…networking, but our question is wireless or wired? We think our readers can field this one – rocket scientists need not apply. (Editors Note: Since the Digeplayer established a new paradigm – portable IFE – we think they will miss the mark if they confuse the market with an installed product. How about DigeplayerII or DigeSystem)