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iPad apps and augmented reality: Airlines' top flight tech on show

The latest IT making air travel easier
By Jo Best, Contributor
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1 of 8 Jo Best/ZDNET

The latest IT making air travel easier

After making a splash in the consumer market, iPad apps are now being harnessed by the enterprise.

The sales kiosk, shown here, is powered by an iPad and allows consumers to browse and buy airfares.

Malaysia Airlines has installed a number of the iPad kiosks in its sales offices in Kuala Lumpur to enable shoppers to make transactions without having to wait for a member of staff to become available.

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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2 of 8 Jo Best/ZDNET

The iPad sales kiosk, which was demoed at the Sita Airline IT Summit last week, was based on an iPhone app developed by airline tech body Sita and Malaysia Airlines, and scaled up for the iPad.

As well as buying tickets, users can also track their baggage (shown above) and check in to a flight they've already booked.

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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3 of 8 Jo Best/ZDNET

The kiosk is composed of an iPad screwed into a metal and plastic housing - as seen above.

By using off-the-shelf technology like the iPad, the project took just four weeks to complete.

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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The iPad isn't the only piece of Apple kit that Malaysia Airlines is experimenting with - the carrier, along with Sita, has produced this augmented reality app.

The app, submitted to the Apple App Store last week, lets shoppers see flight deals from nearby airports, overlaid on the iPhone's camera display.

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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Would-be travellers can filter their results by location or price, shown above.

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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High-tech check-in gates were also on display at last week's summit, pictured above.

They are able to scan passports, traditional paper tickets and those held on mobiles...

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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7 of 8 Jo Best/ZDNET

...like this QR code ticket stored on a BlackBerry device.

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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8 of 8 Jo Best/ZDNET

The check-in gate can verify biometrics, such as the fingerprint reading pictured above.

Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com

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