WirelessCabin: Use Your Mobile Phone on Airplanes

securitas writes "What if didn't have to turn off your mobile phone when you travel by air? eWEEK's Matthew Broersma reports on a European Commission project to enable mobile phone use on airplanes. The technology works by creating short-range 'picocells' that force transmission output power to drop to 1/1000th of normal, reducing electronic interference, then using a satellite uplink. The WirelessCabin project members include the German Aerospace Centre, Siemens, Ericsson and Airbus. Initial trials will use 'GSM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections' but will add CDMA and 3G standards. WirelessCabin is already making a picocell with CDMA2000. The first demonstrations are scheduled for this summer on Lufthansa long-haul flights with the A340-600 jet."

Huh?

[xSquaredAdmin]

We're supposed to turn off our cellphones on airplanes? Whoops.

Unless you're flying with a convention of mimes...

[Anonymous Coward]

just imaging trying to think with 200 stuttering zombies around you chatting about nothing

The airplane is one of my last refuges, keep it sacred!!

A brief scenario

[ArmenTanzarian]

There's always that one lady with the super high-pitched voice and horrible accent (I'm picturing Fran Drescher) who just has to talk about something horrifically mindless. She's been on planes before, but decorum was preserved by the fact that her friend fell asleep with all the other normal people. Now she can ring up her equally annoying family and drone on through every time zone, I can't wait...

Re:Uh-oh...

[Kenja]

The way I see it, if they can have their cell phones, then I should get my gun. Its a checks and ballances issue.

Re:Huh?

[cmdr_beeftaco]

I've used my cell phone on planes for years and have only been involved in one crash and it didn't really hurt as much as I expected. I would definitly not be interested in this service. Anyone know of amplifiers and/or high gain antennae that can get through security checkpoints?

hint, buy the flight insurance...

[Anonymous Coward]

The FIRST RULE of Project Mayhem is "Don't talk about Project Mayhem!!!

Re:I never turn it off

[cmdr_beeftaco]

I've been using my cell phone on the plane for years and have only crashed once. Lucky for me the injuries where not severe and I am sure the plane was insured.

Re:Too complicated

[Blimey85]

One word, incoming telephone calls.

Fscking metric system.

Re:Uh-oh...

[Minwee]

Having all 100+ conversations being "Hey, guess where I'm calling you from!" and "Can you hear me now?" would be even worse.

Re:Sky high rates?

[Shakrai]

"So, Bob, is that syphilis cleared up yet?"

Laugh, I heard somebody in a restaurant having this conversation once (of course I could only hear one side of it -- bet it would have been twice as funny with Nextel two-way):

"Did the results come back yet?"
"WHAT???? HERPES???? THAT F-ING BITCH!"
"AWWW MAN! That REALLY sucks!"
"That bitch! No man I used a condom! That slut!"
"Whatta gonna do?"
"YEAH THAT'LL TEACH HER! Stupid bimbo!"

The sad thing is that this conversation was in the middle of a busy pizzeria at lunch hour and this guy didn't seem to care (or he is really that dense) that everybody in a 50' radius could hear this conversation.

Of course on the off topic (non cellphone) arena my deepest fear has always been having a conversation with a friend in a bar and having the music stop at just the wrong moment:

"YEAH I GOT THE TEST RESULTS BACK...." [music stops] "IT'S HERPES" [looks around the room wondering why everybody is looking at him]

Re:no, god. please no.

[Dr. Evil]

The airlines could test the markets... "cellular section" and a "no cellular section". Just like "wailing child section" and a "no wailing child section".

Toddlers are the worst. Some f-ing numbnuts came up with the idea that they shouldn't have their own seat. Have you ever seen a person try to hold down a three year old during takeoff? Have you sat next to them? I mean, your ears six inches from the toddler's face? Being spat on and scratched as the toddler tries desparately to escape his mother's grasp?

Then when the meals are served, when you're belted in and trapped under your meal tray as the toddler (with no seat) stands in front of his mother, flailing his arms in the three inches of space, pushing over drinks and slapping the tray.

It's a stupid situation to put the kid, their mother and other passengers in.

On my subsequent flight, I asked if I could be seated away from any toddlers. The person working the seating arrangement just gave me a dirty look then nodded blankly.

I mean even if you had a toddler-section (e.g. designate a set of bulkhead seats...) then somebody who really doesn't want to be around them during a flight, would only have themselves to blame for not arranging their seat well enough ahead of time... unless there are just too many toddlers.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Personally, I make it a point to call my brother whenever I take a dump.

Don't ask.