ARINC Introduces eFlyBook(TM) for General Aviation

Pilots and mobile devices, like Tablet PCs, are a natural fit. A frequent form factor requested by pilots is about the size of an 8” slate, like the LS800, with a screen viewable in direct sunlight.

Although this eFlyBook isn’t a Tablet PC, it does seem to give pilots exactly what they are looking for in size and functionality. It is 1/2 x 6 x 9; and at less than $1,100, the price seems to be about right when you factor in a 12 month digital subscription to FAA charts, terminal procedures, and other docs.

From the eFlyBook press release (via Business Wire):

ARINC Incorporated today introduced a breakthrough in display technology that facilitates the use of electronic documents in the general aviation cockpit. ARINC eFlyBook(TM) is a self-powered electronic library that stores and displays enroute charts and other essential documents on a glare-free screen of “electronic paper.”

eFlyBook stores all of the digitized US terminal procedures, enroute charts, the complete airport facility directory and FAR/AIM documents–with room to spare for user-installed documents. Unlike laptop screens, the eFlyBook display remains sharp, clear, and legible under all cockpit lighting–even direct sunlight. Based on new “persistent display” technology, the screen requires very little power and no backlighting. The display can run during long hours of flight over several days on a single charge.

ARINC demonstrated eFlyBook this week to thousands of aircraft owners and pilots at the world’s largest general aviation venue–AirVenture 2006, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

eFlyBook combines two revolutionary technologies: award-winning chart viewing and compression software developed by MyAirplane.com, and the slim, portable “iLiad” eReader developed and manufactured by iRex Technologies of the Netherlands, a spin-off of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands.

“ARINC eFlyBook finally delivers on the promise of electronic documents for the pilot. It far exceeds the usability of laptops, tablet computers, or PDAs, whether in the cockpit or elsewhere–it is actually usable under real flight conditions,” stated Rolf Stefani, Senior Director of the ARINC Technology Innovation Center, who is himself a private pilot. “With eFlyBook, FAA enroute charts and other documents become easy to store and locate, easy to interact with and update. And the screen makes them as easy to read as regular paper documents, even in direct sun. Pilots have to see it to believe it.”

The pencil-thin eFlyBook is smaller, lighter and less expensive than conventional laptops and tablet PC’s used in cockpits today. It features easily accessible memory for user-installed documents in multiple formats via a PC-USB connection. It also provides for the use of SD, CF and USB memory cards and devices. A simple and intuitive stylus-based screen interface retrieves and displays documents easily. The “electronic paper” screen also captures and stores handwritten notes from pilots using the stylus.