how IMS released this PR just prior to the announcement of being acquired by Wencor. Does this deal now die because of the merger and will it be replaced by the digEplayer?

That could be quite telling.

Posted: 7/5/2005 8:11:18 PM

News Release

Air Sahara is Newest IFE Appliance (“Pea”) for its New Delhi-Singapore and New Delhi-Kuala Lumpur routes, according to IMS CEO Alan Pellegrini.

Air Sahara is launching the Peas on two B737 aircraft and will expand the service into wide-bodies later.

The airline is featuring a combination of Hollywood and Bollywood content with five Hollywood and four Hindi motion pictures, according to Pellegrini.

Air Sahara is part of the multi-core Sahara India Pariwar with interests in public deposit mobilization, media and entertainment, housing and infrastructure, tourism, consumer products and information technology.

North Star Aerospace of Auburn, Washington, USA, facilitated the launch of the new service. North Star is the exclusive dealer for IMS products in India, according to Vidya Shankar, vice president of North Star.

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Wencor makes a play for handheld monopoly

July 8, 2005 – IN what’s beginning to look like a bid for domination of the rapidly developing handheld IFE sector, Wencor yesterday announced that it is to acquire California-based IMS.

Originally an aviation parts distribution specialist, Utah-based Wencor last year bought out Seattle company APS, originator of the best-selling digEplayer. Yesterday’s news means that the company now controls two out of the three handheld product lines. The exception is the YES! range, developed by General Dynamics and now in the possession of Astronics following the latter’s acquisition of GD’s IFE and in-seat power interests.

According to Wencor, its purchase of IMS is the subject of a letter of intent and should be finalised in September. APS and IMS will then be merged into a single entity.

The Wencor announcement raises many more questions than it answers, starting with how one product range will accommodate both digEplayer and the more capable but physically similar PEA. Informed sources suggest that there will probably be three product lines differentiated by screen size – 7in, 8.9in and 10.4in – and functionality. If that proves to be the case, today’s digEplayer and PEA identities could soon be a thing of the past.

Other questions relate to the application of PEA technology to the semi-embedded digEsystem, currently in development, and the continuing involvement, if any, of eDigital, the Californian company originally responsible for the industrial design of digEplayer.

Also to be clarified are the future roles of present IMS CEO Alan Pellegrini and APS founder Bill Boyer. Under the new structure, current IMS chairman Joe Renton will be CEO, with Wencor CEO Brent Wood acting as chairman of the combined operation.

The new company will retain its original locations in Utah and California. Reflecting the present APS and IMS product lines, it will offer a range of wireless and portable media systems, digEsystem, content and data management services, and a new set of content applications. “We will exploit our ability to touch the aircraft daily to refresh content,” says Renton, “and we will complement our current content applications by combining video, audio, text and Web-based services in a way never before seen in an IFE system.”

The new content applications are to be announced at September’s WAEA show in Hamburg.