Yahoo! Mail at 30,000 feet
As promised, I’m back with some actual news. Earlier this morning passengers embarked on a special preview voyage from NYC to SF on the all-new BetaBlue (from JetBlue). The special Airbus is especially notable given that is equipped with in flight Wi-Fi access to Yahoo! Messenger and Mail. That’s right … you’ll be able to stay connected even when you are in the air! If you look really close at the Blackberry you can almost make out the BetaBlue startup screen.
Reports from media on the flight are already starting to circulate, so be on the lookout. Below is a Yodel post from SVP, Brad Garlinghouse, that gives more details.
Here are some photos of the launch event at SFO (courtesy of Jeremy Johnstone):
Ryan K.
Community Manager
Yahoo! Mail
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Yahoo! Mail and Messenger fly sky high
by Brad Garlinghouse
If you thought surfing live TV with a seatbelt securely fastened about your waist was cool, try popping off an instant message, SMS or email at 30,000 feet! Yahoo! is partnering with JetBlue, RIM, and LiveTV (the JetBlue subsidiary that makes that seatback entertainment possible) to take our global email and IM leadership (and our promise to keep friends and family connected) to new heights – literally.
You might have heard the news by now, but as we speak, JetBlue Flight 641 is flying from NYC’s Kennedy Airport en route to San Francisco, equipped with an onboard wireless network that lets passengers use Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger in flight for free. Known as BetaBlue, the Airbus A320 is the first domestic plane to offer such a service. And it’s a six-month test we hope will expand.
For the last couple of months the Yahoo! Mail and Messenger teams have been working hard to develop custom, lightweight versions that perform particularly well with the bandwidth considerations of a high-altitude network. If you have a WiFi-enabled laptop, you can log on and find all of the basic email and messenger functionality. You can also check your Address Book, send text messages, and connect with your Yahoo! contacts as well as those using Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger. You can even have your Messenger status link to a map that lets friends on the ground track exactly where your flight is at that moment!
The other big news, especially for Crackberry addicts like me, is that, on BetaBlue, you’ll be able to check Yahoo! Mail and Messenger on your WiFi-enabled BlackBerry (the 8820 and Curve 8320) — though you still need to turn off the cellular transmitter.
How does it work? The service uses an FCC-licensed air-to-ground spectrum owned by LiveTV. It provides coverage in the continental U.S. above 10,000 feet and connects with 100 air-to-ground communications towers.
Last week I had the chance to take BetaBlue for a spin to preview our project with JetBlue founder Dave Neeleman, LiveTV CEO Nate Quigley, folks from RIM, and a handful of media. We headed off from JFK, got up to cruising altitude, and fired off some messages. As this is still a beta service, we are excited to work with our partners to make this an ideal consumer experience and look forward to hearing what BetaBlue customers have to say.
Unfortunately you can’t request to book passage on BetaBlue — it’s luck of the draw. But if you arrive at your gate and see our logo emblazoned on your plane, you’ll know you’re in for an entertaining ride.
Brad Garlinghouse
SVP, Yahoo! Communications & Communities
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- 23 Comments
December 11th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Sounds great! What about with an iphone via wi-fi (set to non-cellular airplane mode of course)?
December 11th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Lee,
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That might be possible if the iPhone had an option to turn wi-fi on while remaining in Airplane mode … but I just tried and that isn’t possible :(
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Hopefully soon,
RyanK
December 11th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
This is nice…to a point. Why offer restricted access to the internet?
December 11th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I think that todays blog was very infomitive to adults and to children.. Keep posting wonderful things on the blog.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:02 am
Hi
How to change YahooBeta to Yahoo?
Please
December 12th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Sounds kool. Is there a way to access this “custom, lightweight versions that perform particularly well with the bandwidth considerations of a high-altitude network” from elsewhere (such as WiFi Hotspots)? The article states, “If you have a WiFi-enabled laptop, you can log on and find all of the basic email and messenger functionality”
December 12th, 2007 at 7:20 am
I WHANT TO NEW MORE INFORMITION ABOUT THIS
December 12th, 2007 at 10:13 am
If it doesn’t work with an iPhone, it should still work with an iPod Touch, considering that there is WiFi and no cellular issues, yes?
December 12th, 2007 at 10:51 am
iPod Touch does work to a degree – Y!M in the Air does require Flash to work, but m.yahoo.com is accessible.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:17 am
My three year old Treo 650 with its WiFi SD card will work just fine. Try that iBrick!
December 12th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
get a life!!!
December 12th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
iBrick? are you 5 years old. If you u don’t like the thing just shutup about it. You dont have to whine about to everyone!
December 12th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
M.,
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The restricted access is because of the overall bandwidth constraints for the network.
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RyanK
December 12th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Philip,
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You can always access those versions by going to m.yahoo.com, but unless you are on a VERY slow connection you will probably be happier with the standard versions.
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RyanK
December 12th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Namus,
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I’m not sure how the settings work on the Touch. You can check by enabling “Airplane Mode” (assuming there is one) and seeing if the wi-fi shuts off. Given the lack of cellular technology there may not even be an airlplane mode setting.
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RyanK
December 12th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
LOL at the Apple Cultists whose feelings are hurt. Aww, I know it must hurt to have paid all that cash and be way behind the times.
Here’s what the iPhone can’t do, yet a 3 yr old Treo can.
iBrick can’t:
Can’t swap out battery midday
Can’t add memory (8GB SD card <$50)
Can’t text more than one person at a time
Can’t instant message
Can’t send pictures, videos, sounds via SMS
Can’t edit or save Word, Excel, Powerpoint
Can’t search phone book or song lists
Can’t record video
Can’t play Web pages with Flash
Can’t play third party games
Can’t download contacts from old phones
Can’t turn contact lists into e-mail distros
Can’t support secure mail: Blackberry/Good
Can’t use a VPN for secure communications
Can’t voice dial
Can’t launch apps with speech
Can’t smart dial
Can’t use Bluetooth stereo headsets
Can’t access a fast, 3G network
Can’t switch carriers
Can’t watch live TV
Can’t control your Slingbox
Can’t be used as a home theater remote
Can’t listen to Internet Radio
Can’t run Linux (http://hackndev.com/forum/3)
December 12th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Wow. I actually feel bad for iPhoneDied. He clearly is dying to buy an iPhone but can’t afford one. Why else would he post something like that? How sad for him. Maybe someone will get him one for Christmas?
December 13th, 2007 at 6:11 am
this is extra with Yahoo mail.
But i am not able to login yahoo mail
December 13th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Fortune magazine laughs at wannabe corporate iPhone users:
***Top 10 reasons IT won’t support the iPhone***
1 Doesn’t natively support push business email or over-the-air calendar sync. … The iPhone can sync with Microsoft’s Exchange and IBM’s Lotus Notes over IMAP and SMTP ports, but your server and security admins have to configure their infrastructure to do so or purchase a mobile gateway from Synchronica or Azaleos….
2 Doesn’t accommodate third-party applications, including those internally developed. … This is a showstopper for companies with enterprise mobility initiatives that require line-of-business applications like mobile sales force automation or an industry-specific application like mobile claims…
3 Doesn’t support securing data on the device through encryption. There is no way for a company to natively secure the data on an iPhone with file or disk encryption…
4 Can’t be remotely locked or wiped in the event of a lost or stolen device. …there is no way for IT to lock a device if — scratch that, when — users call the help desk and explain that they left their non-password-protected iPhone behind in a taxi…
5 Lacks a hard keypad that provides feedback, which isn’t ideal for rapid and accurate input. … Many respected journalists have come to the conclusion that ultimately the keyboard “is a nonissue,”
but only after five days of use. In speaking with enterprise-class mobile device users on a daily basis, the vast majority have found that they need some form of tactile feedback from their QWERTY or numeric keyboards. …
6 Has limited service provider support and its carrier lock-in inhibits flexibility. …To date, Apple has officially announced four exclusive carriers for France (Orange), Germany (T- Mobile), the UK (O2), and the United States (AT&T). Outside of these countries, the iPhone isn’t available yet…
7 Comes with a premium price tag. …Sourcing analysts rely on corporatewide discounts when they place a bulk order with their carrier, but AT&T will not sell the iPhone to business accounts — only consumers. Because the iPhone is purchased directly by the user, there’s no taking advantage of the discount. Moreover, IT is stuck in an endless loop of reactively supporting the device, which limits the ability to provide best-in-class service….
8 Is only the first generation. …even Apple FanBoyz admit that there are some weaknesses they’d like to see fixed in future generations, like making it easier to activate the device, improving the battery life and sound quality, and, most importantly, allowing it to connect to higher-speed networks (3G) …
9 Lacks a removable battery, so when the battery kicks it, so does the device. … Apple does not sell replacement batteries for the iPhone. So when the battery dies, so does worker productivity….
10 Lacks case studies of firms that have deployed it enterprisewide. There is one known large enterprise that supports iPhones companywide, and it is Apple itself. Beyond that, we haven’t heard of many enterprises that have embraced the iPhone as a corporate device. And, as tough as it is to admit, the most trusted advisors to IT operations professionals aren’t industry analysts, journalists, or even the vendors themselves; it’s your peers…
December 13th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
How does that old saying go…me thinketh thou doth proesteth too much?
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Say what you want about the different features, but the 3 year old Palm Treo:
can’t make countless people (tech enthusisats or not) green with envy :)
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RyanK
December 29th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I try to be an Apple fan, but my PCs do so much and my daughter still can’t enjoy all the things we’ve been doing for years.
They have been enjoying Macs for years, but my son in law also gets them for free from his company. Nice perk, heh?
Vista’s a bust, in my opinion, but I really would love to enjoy both worlds. PCs and Macs.
But alas, not yet.
A.
December 30th, 2007 at 6:13 am
I CAN,T LOG INTO MY MAIL OR THE INTERNET.IT KEEPS ASKING ME FOR A PSSWORD
January 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I was very upset when yahoo decided that we can no longer send pictures from our cell phone to our yahoo email so I havd to open a hotmail account just to get my puctures from my cell phone.>>> So why did they do that one?????
Nadine