Apple iPad to kill in-flight movies: Jetstar

Jetstar chief information officer (CIO) Stephen Tame believes Apple's iPad tablet may end airlines providing in-flight movies and television to stave off boredom.

Speaking to ZDNet.com.au, Tame said the tablet "may lead in the future the end of airline in-flight entertainment systems".

"A lot of airline customers do this now with iPods [and] MP3 players; however, the usage take-up was limited by size of the screens," he said.

Tame, who would be waiting for mark II of the tablet before he purchased one for himself, said the new platform would move Apple's App Store "from toys to true functional business and consumer applications".

The larger screen size, when compared to the iPhone, would "significantly change the capability of available applications", he said.

The iPad tablet was unveiled in San Francisco yesterday. There are two models, one of which was confirmed to be available in March by an Australian Apple spokesperson.

Only the Wi-Fi version has been confirmed for Australia. The Wi-Fi and 3G iPad would be available in April in the US and could not be confirmed for down under.