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Name that tune at 30,000 feet

STEVE HUETTEL
Published April 26, 2004

Long gone are the days when canned music, airline magazines and in-flight movies were the only entertainment provided for air travelers.

In the age of satellite TV on board, Delta's low-fare division, Song, has a new twist on fighting boredom at 30,000 feet: music trivia.

Song recently finished installing in-flight entertainment systems in the seat backs of its 36 aircraft. Besides 24 TV channels (like competitor JetBlue), Song's touch-screen system lets passengers guess the answers to 600 music questions.

Some examples: What's Queen Latifa's real name? Who wrote Manic Monday by the Bangles? What band is Michael Stripe the front man for?

Passengers compete against each other and the clock. The faster you pick the right answer, the more points you rack up. At the end of each 20-question round, the screen displays your score and the winner's.

Delta is upgrading the system to include pay movies on demand and 10 new video games, including Bookworm, Bejeweled and Alchemy.

Oh yes, the answers to those music questions: Diana Owens, Prince and REM.

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