Air New Zealand is equipping 18 of its planes with some cool new media kit, according to The Register. El Reg makes much of the fact that the Panasonic X Series in-flight entertainment system includes an iPod dock, but there seems to be much more to it than that: including broadband internet, VoIP, secure payments and a suite of games with multiplayer options. The exact configuration is up to the airline.
The implication seems to be that the seat-back kit will be fitted throughout the plane, and not just where Graham Reid sits.
I was a bit puzzled about why the iPod functionality would be such a big deal -- can't you listen to your iPod solo anyway? -- but the system gives you an LCD iPod menu display and noise-cancelling.
Cool.
It's just a bugger I'm unlikely to be flying anywhere outside New Zealand this year.