April 12, 2007 - CALIFORNIA-based IFE solutions provider IMS has been named as one of three finalists in the entertainment and communications category of the Crystal Cabin awards (Inflight Online, March 16), the winners of which will be announced at Aircraft Interiors in Hamburg on Tuesday.

Launched last autumn by the Hamburg Business Development Corporation, the awards are intended to recognise excellence in cabin interior products and concepts. Awards are on offer in seven categories: comfort and health, entertainment and communications, environmental, future concepts and industrial design, innovation/technical, safety and security, and an overall winning submission.

An international expert panel comprising airline representatives, scientists, journalists and aviation managers is assessing a total of 82 entries from 13 different countries. IMS has been shortlisted for its “integrated portables” concept, the result of work with American Airlines to integrate portable entertainment devices fully into the upgraded business-class cabin of the carrier’s Boeing 767-300 fleet.

The objective was to design the portable into the cabin environment in such way as to combine the benefits of portable and embedded IFE in a single solution. As a result, the portable device is part of the seat design. A shell built into the back of each seat is used to dock the portable and provide access to in-seat power. A variation that integrates the portable into the armrest has been adopted by other airlines to be announced shortly, IMS says.

The awards ceremony will take place at Hamburg’s Atlantic Hotel in the evening of April 17, the first day of Aircraft Interiors. The winner in each category will receive a Crystal Cabin trophy and certificate.