JetBlue’s got a new plane: The BetaBlue. So if it’s “beta,” then what is it testing? In-flight e-mail and IM services. The company has equipped one of its planes with an onboard wireless network, and through partnerships with Yahoo! and Research In Motion plan to give flyers the opportunity to keep up with e-mail and chat with their friends while in flight.
We’ll get to the catch quick, since it’s significant: Only WiFi devices will work with this. So this either means you have a WiFi-enabled laptop, or you have the BlackBerry 8820 or 8320, the only WiFi handsets. You won’t be able to surf the full web, but access to personal and corporate e-mail will be granted.
If you have a cellular-only BlackBerry, you’re stuck with Yahoo! email only. So no, you can’t just check your corporate email with the onboard WiFi connection. You could, though, set up a Yahoo! Mail account and have your POP3 mail forwarded there. It’s a sneaky little workaround, but if you really need to check your email in-flight and don’t have a WiFi BlackBerry, it’s really your only option.
The plane will take its inaugural flight on Tuesday morning, making the cross-country trip from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to San Francisco International Airport. After that, “BetaBlue” will be added to JetBlue’s regular flight lineup; a company representative told CNET News.com that there will be no way to specifically request the messaging-equipped plane, nor will any additional fee be charged for the service.
If successful, there’s a chance the offering could be expanded.
