Gogo is now testing its newest Text & Talk technology, a service that will allow texting and calling during on airplanes. This is a discovery as people usually lose coverage high up.
Gogo Inflight Internet hopes to launch the new service that will let plane passengers to receive and send messages, as well as, make calls while thousands of miles above the ground.
Gogo is popularly known especially for regular U.S travelers. The company is a major provider of Wi-Fi and Digital entertainment service for commercial and business aircraft. It now serves 2,000 and more airplanes owned by nine domestic U.S. air carriers and Japan Airlines.
A group of journalists was invited on Friday to have the Gogo Text & Talk app on their Android or iOS devices and give feedback on its performance. Their plane took off from Newark Airport and roamed around the skies of New York State and Connecticut. The entire trip lasted for more than one hour.
While they were miles above the ground, the journalists were asked to send texts and make calls.
Edward Baig of USA Today was one of the participants and he shared his app experience on a report. He tested the new service on two phones: an iPhone 5S and a Google Nexus 5. He said that during the flight, texting was easier done than making calls because for one, the plane's engines were noisy and two, according to the company, only two passengers were really meant to be on call at a time.
Another observation noted was the drop calls experienced by the Nexus 5. Gogo Executive Brad Jaehn explained that the iOS is better developed than the Android app, and that again, during the flight, most of the journalists were making calls.
A survey conducted on the plane passengers showed that 79 percent would recommend the texting service.
Gogo has not yet disclosed the prices of the Text & Talk service but Baig said it is most likely that it would be sold separately from the existing in flight Wi-Fi service.
