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In a recent post, the folks at Starwood Hotels mention that a Jetsons-style suitcase may soon be following travelers through the airports, obeying their every voice command. The crazy suitcase - called Fido - is the brainchild of Peter Yeardon.

From The Lobby:

Fido uses motion robotics and voice recognition technology to actually FOLLOW YOU through a concourse using programmable voice commands, including laser sensors that will keep it from crashing into passing travellers and to recognize and navigate uneven terrain.

But for all of Fido Luggage’s utter brilliance in conception, even if it reaches the mass market stage it will, most likely, be banned from airports as autonomous, motorized luggage could create a security nightmare.

Personally, I think any inanimate object that obeys commands and moves is just a little creepy. I prefer my machines to sit nicely on my desk and stay where I can keep an eye on them. But maybe that’s just too many episodes of Battlestar Galactica talking.

According to the Guardian, KLM has been ordered to pay a flier for forcing him to give an onstage presentation for the World Health Organization conference in jeans, T-shirt and sneakers due to his luggage not arriving in time. KLM is appealing the verdict.

Study Warns Cell Phones Could Cause Airliner Crash:

Lifting the current ban on use of cell phones aboard airliners could pose the risk of a major accident, according to a new engineering study. More info here.

Airlines grapple with a carry-on crisis (San Jose Mercury News):

According to Jane Engle, repoprting for the Los Angeles Times, in 1998 the Association of Flight Attendants filed a petition with the Federal Aviation Administration wanting the FAA to set and enforce a maximum size for carry-ons. The FAA said no. More notes from the article:

“Thousands of injuries linked to carry-on baggage occur each year,” the union said in the petition.

The one bag plus a personal item rule seems is now enforced only sporadically. Bag size limits are left up to each airline, so what flies with Continental may not be appproved by United.

Some airlines are increasing onboard storage. American Airlines recently installed deeper bins on its MD-80 fleet to allow bags to be stored with wheels facing out, making room for more bags.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, said he wants fliers to be limited to one carry-on item of a fixed size. The idea of installing templates at checkpoints to block oversize bags was also raised.

Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition said “It would kill the business traveler,” he said. “It would add to the complexity and chaos of business travel today.”

My take is that carry ons are fine, it’s the people that take 20 minutes of standing in the aisle fussing to get them stowed that are the problem. Severe limits on aisle clogging should be seriously looked at. Have a checkpoint with a simulated airline interior and a stopwatch. Time travelers on how long they take to get their rear ends into their seats. Anyone taking more than 15 seconds gets their bag checked…

In his column this week, Imagine It: The Sun, Some Ancient Ruins, You With No Laptop (subscription required) Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal writes of his vacation trip sans PC. Bottom line is that thanks to his Blackberry and iPod he “didn’t miss” his laptop and claims the experience convinced him that “even some short, light-duty business trips could be conducted without a laptop.”

Mossberg used the enhanced BlackBerry 8700c phone which will soon be sold in the U.S. by Cingular, and found that it served well as a Web browsing device, but Cingular’s BlackBerry Internet Service mail storage at a paltry 25 megabytes was far too limited.

The $30 iPod Camera Connector allows you to download your pictures onto the iPods hard disk and is a workable backup and viewing solution.

Since both items are more convenient to use on a plane compared to a laptop (and much lighter to carry) I’m eager to see if this combination of tools will catch on with travelers.