Checking In

There's a lot going on right now, technologically speaking, that impacts business travel. So I decided to put together a roundup of tech tidbits for all you Blackberry types (most of you, I know).

Know your notebook

Business travelers rely on flight time to catch up on laptop work. But if you own a Dell or Apple laptop, it's time to check our whether recent battery recalls could affect your inflight productivity.

Last month, Dell announced a massive recall of certain laptop models because of overheating batteries. Korean Air promptly issued a ban on powering any Dell laptop — as well as Apple's ibook or Powerbook — with batteries when in flight (fliers are welcome to use power ports). Bolstering its super safe reputation (remember Rain Man's airline preference?), Qantas also issued a similar restriction. While the Korean Air ban apparently applies to all Dell notebooks, Qantas says it's only banning batteries in offending models. Check to see if yours is on Dell's list or Apple's. So far, U.S. carriers don't seem too concerned about combustible batteries. US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wonder says: "We've heard about this, but we're not doing anything.''

Bring on the noise

A little-noticed item from August 31 could herald the beginning of the end for inflight civility, at least in the opinion of most frequent fliers I know. Irish budget carrier Ryanair and Australian airline Qantas (again) say they'll have technology for airplane cell-phone use up and running by next year. Passengers will be allowed to text message, e-mail, and, yes, talk, on their cell phones on board, all at rates similar to international roaming charges. E-mails and text-messaging will be accommodated through fliers' phones or devices such as Blackberrys. So far, almost no U.S. airlines have announced planes for inflight voice calls, The Times of London reports, as most have "expressed reluctance to the idea.''

Newest travel essential

Let's say travelers feel they'd be risking their lives making calls and forcing other passengers to listen to their conversations in such close quarters as an airliner cabin. That might mean more power to Treos and Blackberrys, with their built-in keyboards. But oh, how tiny those keyboards are. One business traveler says a lot of his traveling friends have started checking computer keyboards in their luggage, to use with a handheld device for writing longer documents. If the onboard cell technology does take off, wouldn't it be better to hear keyboards clicking in unison than to people squawking on cell phones?

Write to: Barbara Correa at bboydstoncorrea@yahoo.com.

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