Product history

The digEplayer was the brainchild of Tacoma, Washington native and entrepreneur Bill Boyer Jr., who at the time was a baggage handler at SeaTac-based Alaska Airlines.[1] In response to information posted about in-flight entertainment challenges on the Alaska Airlines employee website, Boyer conceived of a portable hard-disk based audio video on demand media player that he later named the digEplayer.[2][3]

On behalf of Aircraft Protective Systems (APS), a Washington corporation he founded earlier to commercialize other products he developed for the aircraft industry, he obtained $2.5 million initial financing from family and an Angel investor to fully develop and market his conceived product, which became the first self-contained portable AVOD in-flight entertainment (IFE) device.[4][5]

Boyer/APS contracted with San Diego-based e.Digital Corporation to develop and manufacture the original digEplayer, dubbed the digEplayer 5500.[6] e.Digital engaged Korean OEM Digitalway to do the industrial hardware design. Additionally, e.Digital licensed video encoding and encryption security from DivX, Inc.[7][8] and licensed other media player technology from Ittiam Systems.[9] Digitalway was also the original manufacturer of the digEplayer 5500 until e.Digital transferred manufacturing to Maycom Co.

Boyer was able to convince 20th Century Fox and later other studios to provide first-run movies and other content for the player.[10] Boyer's employer, Alaska Airlines, became the first customer for the digEplayer,[11] Based upon the apparent success of the Alaska Airlines digEplayer implementation, APS was able to sell the digEplayer to additional airlines.[12][13]

digEcor later created the digEplayer XT and digEplayer XLP products as part of the digEplayer product line. The digEplayer XT was originally designed by Triad System Engineering but was revamped and extended by digEcor.