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"Reading Sky Mall not enough to get you through takeoff and landing? Ladies and Gentlemen, start you Kindles! The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that by the end of the year, you should be able to use your personal electronic devices &amp;quot;in all phases of flight!&amp;quot; All that stands between you and your eReader, tablet, and smartphone during takeoff and landing is are formal submissions for safe usage by the airlines.  The ban on personal electronic devices dates back 50 years and since then both airline and personal gadget technology has evolved. In most cases, radio communication interference is no longer an issue, according to an Aviation Rulemaking Committee investigation that was commissioned by the FAA. It remains only for each airline to confirm that its planes can tolerate the interference.  But that doesn&amp;#039;t mean we&amp;#039;re about to enter into a free-for-all in the air. There will be a few general caveats:  Turning on Airplane Mode, which disables phone service, will be strongly encouraged, though it will be at the carrier&amp;#039;s discretion. And if you don&amp;#039;t, you can pretty much count on a dead battery when you touch down.  If a pilot has any concerns about interference during a flight, he has the right to ask that phones be turned off. This is most likely to happen in extreme cases such as landing in very low visibility conditions.  Internet connections will be prohibited below 10,000 feet, so no checking email or web surfing on the way up or down. You still won&amp;#039;t be able to place a phone call. I know, you&amp;#039;re breathing a sigh of relief!  Foreign airlines have their own regulations, although they&amp;#039;re expected to follow suit shortly. When you&amp;#039;re traveling internationally with a US carrier, the rules of the airline you&amp;#039;re traveling on apply.  Laptops will still have to be stowed during takeoff and landing- not for technical reasons, but for physical safety. The FAA is concerned that that they can impede evacuation in an emergency.   Delta was the first airline to submit a plan for approval after completing testing to show that individuals can use electronics during all phases of flight.  On the downside, there goes one of the few downtimes still imposed upon us! You&amp;#039;ll no longer be able to use &amp;quot;I was in the air&amp;quot; as an excuse for not checking email or finishing a report. But just think, you&amp;#039;ll never again have to listen to a kid wail when her PlayStation PSP is torn away before liftoff or landing. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a3287/faa-lifts-personal-electronic-devices-ban/>