New In-Flight Mobile Device Rules Open Up Huge In-Flight Marketing Opportunities

Mobile Insights is a daily newsletter from BI Intelligence delivered first thing every morning exclusively to BI Intelligence subscribers. Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today.

The New FAA Mobile Device Rules Open Up Huge In-Flight Marketing Opportunities, So Long As Passengers Buy Wi-Fi (Bloomberg Businessweek)
The FAA passed new rules that will allow U.S. airline passengers to use personal electronic devices at any time of the flight, instead of having to completely shut off the device when the aircraft is below 10,000 feet.

1104_FAA_wifi_b_315

On top of the amended rule, many airlines are working to enhance their in-flight Wi-Fi service to allow for "gate-to-gate" quality access.

With extended time spent on mobile devices during the flight as well as higher quality Wi-Fi, many more opportunities for in-flight mobile marketing will surface.

For example, Mobile Marketer uses an airport car rental service as an example, claiming that service could target passengers with a mobile advertisement that could link to a registration landing page for a seamless car rental before the flight lands.

Unfortunately, demand for in-flight Wi-Fi remains suppressed, and caters mostly to the business travel crowd; power users who seek extra productivity. Wi-Fi provider Gogo claims just 6% of passengers actually pay for the service on an average flight. In order for in-flight mobile marketing potential to fully materialize, airlines will have to enhance their Wi-Fi offerings and cater to the leisurely users simply looking for better in-flight entertainment. Ultimately, the best-case scenario is moving to an era where in-flight Wi-Fi comes free of charge on every flight. Read >

In other news...

VisionMobile comments on the current state of HTML5 and deliberates how it can compete with native apps. (Developer Economics)

Apple has disclosed how it handles customer data and shared some government request stats. (9 To 5 Mac)

China's mass media company Tencent wants to take the lead in a new fundraising round for Snapchat as a way to gain a foothold in the U.S. (Wall Street Journal)

Handset maker HTC is enduring another difficult quarter. Forecast sales and profit for the fourth quarter are expected to miss analyst estimates. (Bloomberg)

Kapow Software created an infographic about Where To Find And Access Big Data. (Kapow)

U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile posted positive results for the second straight quarter, including more than 1 million net new additions. (ZDNet)

T-Mobile also sold more tablets on iPad Air launch day than in any entire prior quarter (All Things Digital)

Research outfit SDL surveyed more than 4,000 consumers in various countries to determine how impactful showrooming will be this holiday season. (Chain Storage)

Nike launched its Nike+ Move fitness app, which tracks user movements. The app does not require a FuelBand smart wristband, but is only compatible with the iPhone 5S and its M7 motion processor. (9 To 5 Mac)

DisplayMate claims the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX topped the Apple iPad Air in screen quality tests. (CNet)