Carson says Boeing contracted out virtually all the hardware--the onboard antennas linking the plane to a satellite, which then feeds data back and forth with a terrestrial server, comes from Japan's Mitsubishi Electric, and the internal Wi-Fi gear is from Cisco Systems (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ).
Using the smartphone connection function, simply set up a compatible Toshiba FlashAir SDHC card with an internal wireless LAN to make a Wi-Fi connection.
The premium Kindle Fire HD, with 32 GB storage and 8.9 inch screen, will have two Wi-Fi channels and two internal antennas for faster, smoother transfers.