ASiQ is gearing up to launch their own in-flight Wi-Fi service in the wake of the Boeing Company's announcement that they will be bowing out of the high-speed broadband communications connectivity markets.

Boeing Internet Service's Connexion is now being phased out mostly due to lackluster returns and high maintenance costs. What ASiQ is offering this time is a low-cost alternative to the aforementioned service.

Ron Chapman, ASiQ's President, stated, "Connexion were too far ahead of their time. There is no comparison with the technology available today to what they launched with back in 2000. Today's aircraft satellite systems weigh less than 60Kg compared to Connexion's reported 350Kg and are a fraction of the cost. Under the Connexion scheme, airlines were reportedly paying $500,000 as an activation fee."

ASiQ is currently offering airlines a new Internet platform over a 5 year lease for as little as $15 per flight. For narrow body aircraft the lease is even lower, reaching fees as low as $5 per flight. ASiQ is banking on this along with its low access fees and Freemailconnection to draw customers in.

The hardware platform is scheduled to be available in 2007 to coincide with the launch of the broadband service and will be on display at the upcoming World Airlines Entertainment Association conference and exhibition to be held in Miami from September 12 to 15.

At one of your trips on board Air France, you may notice that "No Smoking" signs are now replaced by "No Mobile" signs - a trend being adapted by many other airlines. Air France, specifically, will only allow mobile usage during flights using special satellite systems, at a cost of about $2.50 a minute. This is one of the number of solutions that are being developed both to improve detection of interference and to enable the safe use of wireless devices in flight.

The use of mobile phones on airplanes in-flight is prohibited worldwide. Usage of other portable electronic devices (PEDs) is also prohibited during takeoff and landing. The reasons, though, remain ambiguous, one of which is that by operating a device that will interfere with the aircraft systems and disrupt the two-way radio used by pilots, a person is endangering the lives of other aircraft passengers.

Whether this reason - along with other reasons - is true or not, you may want to think twice before you turn on your mobile phone while inside the aircraft.

There's a reason why product manuals never make it to the best-seller's list. They are boring. We certainly don't read them until our unit has been damaged and only to know how we wrecked it. But read the manual before we start fiddling with our spanking new toy? Nah!

Sleep-inducing they may be, those manuals contain a wealth of information about the product. It's like a treasure map that unlocks this feature here and activates that feature there.

For Awright (who used his girlfriend as a guinea pig), this basic character flaw afflicts all people with social lives. And PDA makers failed to take into consideration. While a monkey can operate a typical PDA, "There is a learning curve to them, while most end users want them to be intuitive," he says. By the way we didn't meant to imply he is dating a monkey or a guinea pig.

Why, Awright asks, is the Motorola RAZR the top selling unit in the US and not one of those smartphones that can control the movement of a space satellite from the ground? "It's sleek, it's simple, and it does what it does (make calls). For it to do more would make the target audience freak out because they would have to learn something new." Ditto for the iPod. It's nice and simple. So to all PDA manufacturers, Awright has this message: keep it simple and easy to use.

Toshiba Digital Products announced three new next-gen Satellite P100 models designed specifically for gamers who want the latest gaming graphics anytime, anywhere. Satellite P100-ST9012, Satellite P100-ST9412 and Satellite P100-ST9612 feature a 17-inch diagonal widescreen display in a 7.1lb, 1.41in slim notebook chassis. They all sport the the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX graphics card which cranks up stunning graphics for the most demanding 3D games and multimedia programs.

"The new Satellite P100 notebooks offer mobile gamers a light, thin and powerful notebook," according to Toshiba. "With the fastest graphics card available on the market today from NVIDIA, as well as an Intel Core Duo Processor and a brilliant 17-inch display, these notebooks deliver all the performance and features a gamer could want in a compact package."

The notebooks also include the latest Intel Core Duo Processors, a DVI-D output port, for HDTV, fingerprint reader for one-touch secure access management, customizable Dual Mode touch pad for one-tap short cuts to launch e-mail, an Internet browser and other selected programs.

The Satellite P100 series isn't just a game console in disguise. The Satellite P100 series is a also mobile multimedia center with infrared remote control for convenient access to power, CD, DVD, volume and other multimedia functions without booting up the Windows operating system.

They ship equipped with DVD SuperMulti Double Layer drives that read and write in up to 11 formats, 5-in-1 bridge media adapter for easy file sharing and downloads, built-in Harman-Kardon stereo speakers for a rich audio and TruBrite technology for a crisp, clear display.

How much will it set you back? Starts at $1,999.

Do you love to check your mail and do some video conferencing while on flight? Well, if your answer is yes then this is a piece of bad news for you. Aerospace and defense conglomerate, Boeing, is said to have been seriously considering a major change for its in-flight Internet service.

A recent Wall Street Journal report reveal that Boeing may dump Connexion, which has failed to turn a profit in six years. According to Boeing spokesman John Dern, "the company is evaluating Connexion to assess what's best for both the business and our customers."

It seems that Boeing has entertained a number of commercial-satellite operators and other potential suitors who might be interested in buying the business or becoming a major partner.

Now, if Boeing and Connexion does not reach a suitable deal, Boeing would be prepared to shut Connexion down, even though the service works as advertised and is used by a handful of international airlines on long-haul flights. Whatever happens in the future, we will surely keep you posted.

We have featured several innovations and gadgetries which involves making the lives of those who are physically blind more convenient. Some talked of seeing machines for the blind, and there is one that says robotics could cure blindness. Now to add to the list of possible solutions is a method of seeing by making use of sounds.

The technology is part of a wave of software and hardware which has evolved as laptops, mobile phones and PDAs converge into powerful handheld computers running common operating systems such as Windows Mobile 5.0 or the RIM Blackberry platform.

One good example of this innovation is the "seeing by sound technology", a brainchild of Dutch scientist Peter Meijer. What it does is configures signals from a video camera processed via computer into a series of sounds. To the untrained ear it sounds like a series of roars hisses and bleeps, but with a little time users begin to discern shapes and shadows based on the texture and density of the soundscape.

You may think that this one is a hoax, but there are actual blind users who have said that this technology made them "see" distinct shapes such as that of a coke bottle, a soccer and a rugby ball. Another user mentioned that now, when she's doing her groceries, she can now distinguish red and green peppers. These may mean peanuts to us people who are fortunate to have a good pair of seeing eyes, but to the blind, these are big deals.

Before the "seeing by sound technology" was designed for stationary use only since it operates on desktop computers. But now due to technological advaces such as smartphones and PDAs, handheld devices can now help the blind in going on with his/ her  daily life with less hassles. A good example is Marcia Cumming, a technical writer, uses an iPaq 4150 to run Trekker and Maestro software from L.A.-based Humanware. Maestro is a mobile software which reads documents to her, such as any notes she types into her mobile device or the text in documents. She can also download talking books, which are then digitally enhanced with chapter guides and bookmarks.

Also, she now has the ability to navigate in almost any city using Trekker, a Ground Positioning Satellite (GPS)-linked software. Trekker takes widely available mapping software one step further for the blind. It voices her location, points of interest and gives directions. Indeed, it's always a good thing when technological advancements can alleviate the lives of some of the physically challenged.

Tokyo-based electronics and engineering conglomerate, Toshiba, does not want to be left behind in the laptop department. The company recently came up with a new notebook - the Satellite K15 Notebook. The newest Toshiba baby on the block boasts of a fast Intel Core Duo T2500 CPU (2.5 GHZ) and 512 Mb of memory, which basically empowers the laptop to cope with your day-to-day demands.

The K15 is also blessed with a 1280 x 800 15.4-inch WXGA display, which makes it perfect for watching some movies or playing games while unwinding from a hard day's work or slacking off in the office (ha, ha)! It is also amped with a 40GB hard drive, CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive, three USB 2.0 ports, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, and Gigabit Ethernet. This contraption measures 368 x 268 x 29.8 - 36.9mm and weighs in at 6.6-pounds. As for its availability and price, Toshiba will release the K15 on June 22nd of this year, with a price tag of $2,168.