AEROFLOT to Offer APS' Latest In-Flight Entertainment Technology; digEplayer 5500 Will Be Used on New Airbus Fleet
WAEA Show
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2004--APS of Tacoma WA and Inflight Dublin (Ireland), announced at the 2004 World Airline Entertainment Association Conference that AEROFLOT Russian Airlines will be bringing APS' unique, in-flight personal entertainment product to its travelers throughout destinations in Europe. The digEplayer 5500(TM) is the world's first completely self-contained, portable video on demand entertainment unit preprogrammed which can hold up to over 60 feature-length movies, as well as television shows, cartoons, videos and music choices.
AEROFLOT will initially make the units available on their new Airbus mid-range fleet and their IIyushin 96 long range fleet. The units, which offer the passenger 15 movies with multi-language tracks, including Russian, English and Japanese also offer 20 sitcoms and up to 1000 music tracks. Of course, AEROFLOT will also feature a selection of top Russian movies with English subtitles. Coordination of program content will be managed by AEROFLOT's in-flight entertainment service company, Inflight Dublin.
AEROFLOT Russian Airlines will distribute the digEplayer 5500(TM) in business and first class only during phase one of their project. Phase 2 will see the airline distribute the hand held in-flight entertainment centers to all classes on a rental charge basis.
AEROFLOT Russian Airlines are delighted to partner with APS, Inc. in the provision of cutting edge in-flight entertainment across their selected fleets.
Content will be refreshed every 60 days, giving even the most frequent flyers enough programming variety to meet their needs. DreamWorks SKG, Buena Vista, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox currently have content provision agreements with APS, and additional studios are to be announced. Films are made available one month ahead of store rentals with initial titles available include Troy, Shark Tale, Master and Commander, Friends, and The Simpsons.
Each APS digEplayer 5500(TM) VOD unit is about the same weight and size of a typical portable DVD player. Units contain a 40-gigabyte hard drive and utilize the latest technology licensed from e.Digital Corp (O/S and engineering) and DivX (compression).
About APS
APS is a privately held company based in Tacoma, Wash., which specializes in innovative technology for the airline industry. The digEplayer 5500(TM) is an example of the industry-changing products developed by APS as the company looks into the future of the transportation and leisure industries.
About Inflight Dublin
Inflight Dublin is a privately-owned Irish company dedicated entirely to the production, sourcing and management of in-flight entertainment software for over 60 international carriers.
