APEX Editor's Blog

Sony is concerned that some companies that duplicate and distribute 8mm and Hi8mm video tapes for inflight program use may be employing previously used Video8 and Hi8 8mm tape, and is recommending that only new and unused cassettes be used. In a letter to stakeholders, obtained by the APEX editor’s blog, the company says its [...]

Hot on the heels of inking a deal to buy end-to-end IFE content management and technical services firm Post Modern Group, Global Eagle Entertainment is letting the world know that further acquisitions in the IFE space are in the cards for the company as it looks to lead consolidation in the industry. Speaking to the APEX [...]

As more and more people grow accustomed to gaining their information, news, and pop-culture from strictly digital sources, DTI Software’s eReader for embedded and portable inflight entertainment systems has gained traction in the market. The eReader is currently available with 12 airlines, but this number is expected to double by 2014, DTI Software president Patrick [...]

Wireless inflight entertainment systems brought a rupture to IFE hardware suppliers and are now jolting IFE content service providers, but the future affect on CSPs is unclear and debated by the industry. Global Eagle last November announced a deal to acquire Row 44 and Advanced Inflight Alliance (AIA), creating a company that sells both IFEC [...]

Like many of us, Paramount Pictures’ senior VP, non-theatrical distribution Joan Filippini regularly finds herself using her iPad while watching TV (and keeping her smart phone within arm’s reach). “It’s become almost instinctual to be entertained every second of the day,” she tells the APEX editor’s blog. That’s one of the main reasons why there is [...]

While talk of pulling the plug on Big Bird made headlines the world over during the bruising 2012 presidential election campaign, the big yellow chap lived to fly another day. And with the announcement that Montreal-based Skeye Inflight Entertainment and Ensemble Media Limited have entered into a licensing agreement with Sesame Workshop, Big Bird and [...]

UK Presenter Jonathan Ross first coined the term “Asian Invasion” in 2006 when he used it as the title for his hugely popular BBC series on modern Asian cinema. Since then, the term has taken on a life of its own and been used to define several wildly different cinematic movements throughout the region. In [...]

Paramout believes its movie, “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away” is a perfect choice for inflight audiences. I interviewed VP Non Theatrical Sales Mark Horton to find out what inflight audiences can expect, and to get Paramount’s thoughts on bringing 3D movies to passengers, and wireless streaming to passengers’ own devices. 1) Canadian entertainment company Cirque [...]

Etihad Airways’ new television commercial features the voice of the late Bobby Darrin crooning the smoky jazz club standard, Beautiful Things, as Etihad’s beautiful passengers visit beautiful places around the world. The commercial began airing on television stations in Australia, China, Germany, India, Japan, Nigeria, the UK and the United States on 4 March, after a [...]

Singapore Airlines claims it now offers the “best games available on IFE”, after adding classics like Fallout and Worms to its collection of more than 80 games. The new ‘Red Eye Collection Games’ debuted in early February on Krisworld, the carrier’s Panasonic-built IFE system which uses software firm GUE Tech to enable passengers to play [...]