Virgin lets messaging fly

Even before in-flight broadband connectivity catches on widely, some airlines are allowing passengers a limited form of instant messaging, reports USA Today.

Intraflight messaging allows instant text communication between passengers on the same flight. When Virgin America takes flight this week, one of its key features will be intraflight messaging.

It is part of the in-flight entertainment system that Virgin America calls Red, after the colour of its planes' tails.

In April 2006, after a five-year review, the Supreme Court approved changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) that went into effect on 1 December 2006, reports SC Magazine.

One of the more significant changes to the FRCP is the requirement that corporations and other parties involved in federal litigation must make available certain electronic messages and records as part of the discovery process.

While many companies will not have a problem producing e-mail archives for discovery, very few will likely have the ability to produce conversations that took place over instant messaging (IM) networks. With IM having attained the same level of adoption as e-mail and telephone in the workplace, the lack of control, management and archival of these communications will present problems and liabilities to corporations who do not take action now.

Mumbai-based Micro Technologies has come up with products that help thwart thefts, warning users of impending disasters, warranting their immediate attention through SMS, e-mail, or on landline, reports Techtree.

One of the company's products, called Micro Vehicle Black Box, is an anti-theft messaging security system that helps users detect any kind of unauthorised access to their vehicles. The intelligent box senses smoke and events like forcible intrusion, and immediately intimates these events to the vehicle owner's mobile telephone, according to Dr P Sekhar, chairman and MD of Micro Technologies.

Another product of the company, Micro House Security System, is used to alert users of unauthorised entry to their premises. Again this is done through an alert message.