Boeing

Boeing Selects ScreamingMedia to Supply Online Content to Airborne Travelers

In a move that will dramatically enhance consumer access to in-flight news and travel-related information, Boeing has contracted with ScreamingMedia, Inc., to provide the Connexion by Boeing service - and the global flying public - with customized, destination-based content.

Under the terms of the agreement, the value of which was not disclosed, ScreamingMedia will aggregate licensed content - including worldwide, national and local news, sports and features - from more than 3,000 publications in its global digital content network, then filter, deliver and instantaneously integrate it into the Connexion by Boeing ^SM service. As a result, passengers using Connexion by Boeing will have online access to local destination guides, restaurant listings, hotel information, rental car and transportation information, entertainment listings, cultural events and more.

"This content complements our full Internet/company intranet access and infuses the Connexion by Boeing service with the time-sensitive data you need to stay informed in a global manner," said Ric VanderMeulen, director of strategy and marketing for Connexion by Boeing. "Secondly, it allows us to provide regional, customized content using a forward-looking technology solution."

ScreamingMedia will provide Connexion by Boeing with its own network content, and also will use its technology solution software to deliver pre-contracted third-party content. ScreamingMedia's ContentEngine technology will parse, normalize, process, customize and integrate content as part of the delivery process. Connexion by Boeing will then use the acquired destination and news content to supplement the live television and radio content and flight-specific information provided to passengers during flight.

"This is an unprecedented deal in the content-solutions space, and an enormous deal for ScreamingMedia and all our affiliates: our investors, our providers, our current clients and our partners," said Kevin Clark, chief executive officer of ScreamingMedia. "As the leader in the content-solutions market, it is ScreamingMedia's intention to take the industry in new directions. This deal marks the first time a leading aerospace company will provide real-time destination-based content on a massive scale. The fact that we are Boeing's content solutions provider of choice is indicative of our market-leading position."

For enterprises and media companies with their own content resources, ScreamingMedia technology services provides the company's core infrastructure platform and tools, to enable customers to power the aggregation, syndication, processing and integration of content across their own web and wireless networks.