United and Continental plan to roll out in-flight Wi-Fi during 2012 (Digital Trends)

Digital Trends – Announced out of Chicago earlier today, United Continental Holdings announced a partnership with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to bring in-flight Wi-Fi access to passengers of over 300 United and Continental flights starting around the middle of 2012. The satellite-based Wi-Fi technology will eventually cover the entire fleet of planes by the end of 2015. According to officials at the company, Panasonic’s Ku-band satellite technology offers faster speeds than air-to-ground connectivity which is the technology used by Gogo Inflight Internet service. Some of the companies that use Gogo’s service include U.S. Airways, American Airlines, Delta, AirTran and Virgin America.