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As the latest airline to begin offering free in-flight Wi-Fi, Continental has announced their plans to allow passengers to have limited wireless access. The service will be similar to the Jet Blue service and allow passengers to use e-mail or instant messaging. Sadly web browsing and even downloading attachments will not be allowed.

A bit of good news does come with the Continental announcement, after you get board checking your email you will be able to amuse yourself by watching TV. The LiveTV service will offer 36 channels through DirecTV, first class passengers will be able to view for free while the economy-class passengers will have to pay $6.

In-flight Wi-Fi seems to be nearing a necessity as we have seen recent announcements coming from other airlines such as Southwest and Jet Blue. Lets just hope these limited services take note and begin to offer a full experience similar to Virgin and American Airlines.

Via [TechCrunch] Via [CrunchGear]

Southwest Airlines has announced they will begin to test in-flight Wi-Fi as of the summer of 2008. Following on the heals of JetBlue and American Airlines, they are the latest to announce the start of a testing period. The access is a satellite-delivered service that will be provided by Row 44, who claim to be the current leader in airborne broadband communication. Initially the testing phase will be on just four planes and will allow passengers access to e-mail, music, shopping and virtual private networks.

Row 44 is also preparing to work with Alaska Airlines this Spring. In addition Virgin America is also promising in-flight access. Maybe in-flight Wi-Fi will be a good thing and catch on, hopefully the in-flight use of cell phones will remain a no-go. As of now the roll-out date for Southwest has not been announced.

Via [Switched]