Flying, A Social App For Frequent Flyers, Unveils The “Flying.display” Hardware Device

I love it when a software startup ventures into connected hardware, even if that hardware is a tad pricey and might not even see the light of day. Enter Hamburg-based Flying.com, maker of Flying, an iOS app for frequent flyers that competes with Munich-based Mileways.

The Flying app lets you keep track of your flights and those of friends, and receive useful information such as the departure time and your airtime, amongst a raft of other travel-related features. Now the company is getting into the hardware game with its “Flying.display”, a wall-mountable display that connects with your Flying account and displays your flights along with those of colleagues or friends from your network.

The “Flying.display” is being aimed at companies who would like to add the device to their offices to keep staff in the loop, as well as frequent flyers who might want to put it into their homes. The hardware itself looks pretty cool, and consists of two bright LED panels connected by an illuminated and interactive light tunnel.

The light tunnel displays the actual status of the flight (upcoming, in the air, or approaching final destination), while the LED panel shows the flight’s most important information updated in real-time in case of a delay or canceled flight. The latter is said to reflect the “essence” of airport displays, which may or not be a good thing depending if you’ve ever been stuck in an airport after a canceled or seriously delayed flight.

Sadly, however, the “Flying.display” is only in the first prototype phase and, based on demand, will go on sale proper this summer. “We first want to test the market and get feedback on the product,” Panos Meyer, managing director of Flying.com, tells TechCrunch. “We have already first orders. It’s a bit bootstrapped, but we try to be efficient in this phase.”

Meyer says the price for the basic version will be below €1,000, but that a lot of the details are dependent on user feedback. “We can also build a smaller version to be priced around €500,” he adds.

Potential customers can be notified as soon the final product is available by sending an email to display@flyingfrom.to