August 22, 2008 – THE never-a-dull-moment handheld IFE sector is beginning to warm up with just over a fortnight to go to this year’s WAEA/Aircraft Interiors Americas show in Long Beach.

digEcor, locked in a struggle for market leadership with The IMS Company, says that long-standing customer Pacific Blue has decided to upgrade its stock of handheld units from the company’s original digePlayer 5500 to the current digEplayer XT. The Utah-based company is also promising to unveil enhancements to the XT in Long Beach.

Pacific Blue, the international arm of Australian low-fare carrier Virgin Blue, introduced the first-generation digEplayer in 2005, offering the units on all its flights between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Passengers rent the players for A$12 (US$10.50) per flight. Sixty digEplayers are carried on each flight and content is updated every 60 days.

The new stock of digEplayer XTs will be offered from next month on a total of ten Boeing 737-800s operating from Australia to Christchurch and Auckland in New Zealand and to the Pacific Islands.

“Our low price was the key to Pacific Blue’s decision to upgrade to the XT and extend our contract for several years,” says Brad Heckel, digEcor’s chief operating officer.

A new variant of digEplayer XT will debut at WAEA/Aircraft Interiors Americas, according to Heckel. “In order to better meet the demands of airlines and take advantage of new technologies such as inflight connectivity we have developed a new version of XT with many enhancements,” he says. “As well improving performance and increasing battery life, we have slightly modified the look of the player to accommodate the new features.”

WAEA 2008 promises to be a vintage show for observers of the handheld business, with another leading provider said to be planning a major new product launch.