But Beeston does see the North American feeder carriers as something of a hard nut to crack, for the time being at least. ``The majors pay them a fixed rate to operate a route, and they have little incentive to add passenger-attracting features like IFE,`` he commented.

Contrast the above statement with the one below:

The Mezzo proposition, whilst primarily aimed at the needs of travellers on short-haul flights, also

appeals to airlines, which are hungry for profitable incremental revenue streams.

digEcor is still trying to sell airlines on the passenger attraction/entertainment angle while Mezzo is showing airlines how they can create an additional revenue stream. Assuming the IFE devices themselves and the content/options are more or less equal, who do you buy from - the company that just dumped a successful product in favor of a new and un-proven one without any added value... or the company that offers a turn-key solution using proven technology with a low-cost of entry and money-making potential?

And then there`s this:

Utah-based digEcor is planning to complete an initial production run of fully representative examples of its second-generation handheld IFE system in September in order to have examples ready for October`s WAEA show. Full production at the company`s dedicated facility in Springville, Utah, is due to start in October, leading to commercial availability from November.

versus:

We offer a complete and fully outsourced service that is available right now and which we can implement in as short a period as 8 weeks.

and:

With volume eVU production on track to begin next quarter with our U.S. manufacturer...

Seems like we have at least a couple of months jump on them. digEcor better lock up all the airlines it can now before Mezzo makes its initial splash with the eVU.

- Sinkman