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Untangling inflight entertainment overload

A new app will let Singapore Airlines passengers select in-flight entertainment options in advance. (Image: Singapore Airlines)

A new app will let Singapore Airlines passengers select in-flight entertainment options in advance. (Image: Singapore Airlines)

As airlines upgrade their in-flight entertainment systems passengers can face a bewildering array of choices, with listings of movies, TV programs, videos and music selections that number in the hundreds. So airlines are now developing technology to help customers manage that entertainment more effectively.

For example, Singapore Airlines is introducing what it calls the first “companion app” for its Krisworld in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. It’s currently available for Apple and Android tablets, and will be offered for iOS and Android phones in the second quarter. Its initial use will be limited to Singapore’s new A350-900s, with plans to expand it to 777-300ERs.

Customers can use the app before departure to explore all the video and audio content that will be available on their flight, and create a list of their preferred selections. Linking the app to the IFE system onboard enables the personal device to be used as a remote control, to pause, play, or skip through media content.

Singapore Airlines’ KrisWorld IFE system offers a whopping 295 movies, over 470 TV shows and more than 450 CD albums each month- so this new app should come in handy!

Related: Trip Report- Singapore Airlines B333 SFO-Hong Kong

Lufthansa's new web platform lets customers preview and select in-flight entertainment options before departure. (Image: Lufthansa)

Lufthansa’s new web platform lets customers preview and select in-flight entertainment options before departure. (Image: Lufthansa)

Lufthansa, meanwhile, worked with a content and media agency called Spafax to create a new website that customers can use to see and select in-flight entertainment.

The new site (http://lh.com/mediaworld-en) lets passengers check out all the movies, TV shows, music, games and other content available from Lufthansa’s IFE system, and an interactive feature will tell them which specific offerings are available on their upcoming flight when they enter the flight number.

Users can view trailers to preview film selections, and can find a program guide that will tell them which sporting events will be available via live TV feed on its intercontinental flights.

“Interesting features will be added over time for our guests to have an even more personalized entertainment experience,” a Lufthansa spokesman said. Spafax noted that future enhancements to the site will include “the ability to personalize content recommendations based on passenger preferences.”

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