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Crystal Clear Voice Conversations with AirCell and PhweetAugust 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 amSource:Mashable! Joe Biden is Barack Obama’s running mate, as delivered by the high-tech means of a text message, and CNN’s Twitter feed. What’s the tech crowd’s gut reaction? YES or NO on Obiden? The comment form is all yours.
A while back, I chatted with AirCell SVP Tom Weigman about the in-flight Internet access system he was developing for several carriers making flights across America. It has since launched and is available to the public. Several folks have done some tests of the service and have generally given it positive reviews, the one thing that seems to be the big sticking point in everyone’s craws is the lack of ability to do live audio and video chats. The in-flight system is designed to choke out any video or audio connections as it detects it, so as to conserve bandwidth for general usage on the flight. VoIP expert, blogger and podcaster Andy Abramson wasn’t satisfied with that, though, and began tinkering with the system to see exactly what he could get away with: Phweet. Yup, the unfunded brainchild of pals Stuart Henshall and Mr. Blog David Beckemeyer (who I consider one of the true great minds in VoIP) made it happen. I invited Joanna, she replied and once I figured out how to get Phweet to answer (I had to use Safari, not Firefox) Joanna and I were having a lovely conversation while she was on an Aircell flight. I don’t mean a five second hi, hello. I mean, a real conversation, as she held her Lenovo UMPC up to her face. I even heard the announcement from the flight attendants as she was about to land. The theory seems to be that because the connection takes place within a flash embed, which seem a bit of either an easy patch to make or an impossible one, depending on exactly what method Phweet is using. Whatever the method is, though, AirCell clearly isn’t scanning for it yet, though you can rest assured they will be looking to as soon as possible. Based on the conversation I had with Tom when we talked on the podcast, there really is a limited amount of bandwidth to go around while the network continues to be built out nationwide. Using that as a basis for speculation, I’d imagine their restrictions are entirely related to limited bandwidth, and it’s very likely that these restrictions will eventually lift as bandwidth becomes more plentiful. You can sit in on the conversation between Tom and I. The embed is available below, or you can download the MP3 file directly here. Get the Mashable Conversations podcast here. Add directly to iTunes here (or give us a rating). Add directly to your Zune here. —Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:Podcast: A Conversation with AirCell’s Tom WeigmanAirCell gets FAA Approval for In-Flight WiFiAmerican Airlines Starts Testing In-Flight Broadband
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