Little Desktop in the Sky
I was bouncing around the web this fine holiday and came across this photo of something that is reminiscent of the kinds of things we show all the time here on jkOnTheRun:
Photo by Qole Tech
Pretty cool, no? The photo is by Qole Tech. One thing of note — it looks like the keyboard is a Bluetooth keyboard, and if so, using that Bluetooth radio on the plane is a big no-no.
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Indeed, that’s a rebranded ThinkOutside Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth keyboard.
Also, it’s not impossible, but it is slightly difficult to turn off the WiFi radio in the N800 without turning off the Bluetooth radio, so they’re both probably on.
However, I have a hard time imagining a little 2.4GHz RF from such a tiny device creating safety problems.
Why exactly is it a no no to have bluetooth turned on when on a plane?
Given that you can safely use your mobile phone midair on planes these days (safe to do, but not all airlines allow it yet), I don´t see a problem with using bluetooth.
I don’t make the rules, just report them.
Heh, it’s not about actual dangers, but imagining dangers and trying to minimize them. The (United States) FAA is crazy paranoid about safety procedures, and one safety procedure is not to allow passengers to use radios.
I haven’t been following the FAA, but as I understand it, it takes a long time for some airlines to get permission to run access points for WiFi, or otherwise allow passengers to use their radios.
In the case of cell phones, flying cell phones also apparently play havoc with ground-based towers. I heard that airplanes have to use on-board microcells to make cellular practical.
The issue with radios (wifi, bluetooth, etc ) is that they can interfere with the aircraft electronics. This is not a myth or an urban legend, it is true. In order for a plane to be safe to use wifi, the aircraft must be tested to ensure that wifi will not cause any problems.
As a former commercial pilot, I have seen cell phones, wifi and even a portable dvd player disrupt aircraft electronics. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.
Please just do what the airlines ask. It really is for your own safety.
Anything that stops my plane plunging from 30k feet to 0 feet is a good thing! Flying is certainly one area where I don’t mind paranoia!
Took the plunge today and picked up an iGo Stowaway BT keyboard for my Viliv S5. Just wish I’d got one a year ago when inventory was being sold off cheap, £17.99 at Play.com here in the UK. Had to pay over twice that on ebay. Ah well, looking forward to my own little desktop!
Yeah, well, I like to be alive, too. I think they’re doing a more than adequate job when hurtling through the air is safer than driving across the country, statistically speaking.
It just becomes bad when the TSA comes and performs security theater. Then, their “safety procedures” are not actually making things safer.
There’s a whole discussion about this on talk.maemo.org, and I posted, this picture to that thread.
Anyway, no worries about breaking any rules. That keyboard may look like a bluetooth keyboard, but it is actually a USB keyboard. You just can’t see the USB cable, as it is transparent and very thin. Or maybe I’m joking. You can’t be sure.
As an aside: Are you sure that bluetooth is a “big no-no” for the airline that I was on? The airline crew asked that all mobile devices be turned off for take-off and landing. I think they also requested that no mobile phones be used during the flight. There was no comment about disabling wifi and/or bluetooth on non-phone devices while in flight. Recent flights that I’ve been on actually make a point of telling laptop users about the power outlets under the seats. They never tell the laptop owners to disable wifi.
The link to this photo was emailed to me, if you want me to remove this I certainly will. We don’t aim to publish anything without permission, it’s just once it’s on a public web site the norm is that the photo-taker wants it public.
I don’t see any USB plugged into either the keyboard nor the N810 so I suspect you’re using Bluetooth which folks should realize is a radio that both transmits and receives and I believe is not allowed, at least in the US.
While I have no doubt that an airplane with poorly insulated electronics could be subject to RF interference from consumer radios, it seems to me that said threat would be ideally considered in terms of signal strength rather than category or standard.
Considering BT is fairly low-power, has anyone actually compared the signal strength to the RF radiation produced by consumer electronics devices that won’t be banned or turned off on flights (practically speaking) – pacemakers, hearing aids, handheld video games, switched power supplies (especially if plugged in through international voltage convertors), electric blankets, etc?
Last year there was a “Mythbusters” episode whereby they tried many forms of transmitting electronics to disrupt a commercial airlines instrumentation. Frankly, NOTHING disrupted the airplane electronics. They enlisted the help of electronic specialists for this episode. At the end of the segment it was “Myth Busted”!
Your comments have only one level of threading; I can’t reply directly, so:
James Kendrick wrote:
“The link to this photo was emailed to me, if you want me to remove this I certainly will. We don’t aim to publish anything without permission, it’s just once it’s on a public web site the norm is that the photo-taker wants it public.”
Not only is the original on a public website, it is also licensed “Creative Commons: Attribution Only” which wouldn’t make much sense if I didn’t want people to repost it, now would it? So relax. It’s OK! I don’t mind a bit more notoriety ;-)
James Kendrick wrote:
“I suspect you’re using Bluetooth which folks should realize is a radio that both transmits and receives and I believe is not allowed, at least in the US.”
We didn’t pass through the US or even fly over it on this flight. So you can tell the Department of Homeland Security to stand down. ;-)