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Virgin America has teamed up with Google to take cloud computing to new heights with the Day in the Cloud Challenge – the first-ever online puzzle challenge that can be played in the air and on the ground. At the time of this release, filed from 35,000 feet from one of Virgin America’s WiFi enabled planes, thousands of people flying and on the ground have already gone online to compete in the unique 24-hour challenge. As the first and only airline to offer Gogo® In-flight Internet on every flight, Virgin America is offering guests on all of its flights today complimentary WiFi to join in the fun. The all-day gamer challenge showcases how people are increasingly using web-based services like Google Apps to connect and work together “in the cloud,” wherever they have access to the internet – even on a Virgin America flight at 35,000 feet.

“As the only carrier based in Silicon Valley and now with WiFi on every flight, Virgin America has fast become the airline of choice for tech-savvy road warriors,” said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America. “Teaming up with Google Apps for an in-flight and on-the-ground live game is a fun way for us to celebrate what our guests already know: cloud computing is changing how we all travel, work and live for the better.”

This May, Virgin America became the first and only airline to offer Gogo In-flight Internet on every flight. The carrier also offers standard power outlets – so guests can stay connected longer. Google Apps allow people to use the web to share collaborative documents, email and photos with family, friends and co-workers online “in the cloud.”

As part of the larger Day in the Cloud Challenge, guests on two specially designated Virgin America commercial flights are currently competing live at 35,000 feet above the California coast for an additional prize: the chance to win everyone on his or her flight a free netbook, and of course – bragging rights for life. Right now commercial passengers and a few all-star guest gamers on Virgin America Flight 920 (SFO-LAX) and Flight 921 (LAX-SFO) are competing against each other in the ultimate sky-high gamer showdown.

The LAX-SFO versus SFO-LAX flight show-down is just one element in the 24 hour-long Day in the Cloud Challenge. The game went live at 12:01am today and will run until 11:59pm on June 24. The top five game scorers competing in the air and on the ground will receive A Year in the Cloud Prize Package that includes free flights and free in-flight WiFi from Virgin America, a netbook computer and 1 terabyte of online storage from Google for email and photos. The questions for the challenge will range in level of difficulty, so everyone from the novice to the expert puzzle master can take part in the fun. Participants can still register and play today at: Day in the Cloud Presented by Google Apps & Virgin America - June 24, 2009.

“People are increasingly using web applications wherever they are to connect with one another, whether it’s through shared photos, collaborative documents, or video chat,” said Bradley Horowitz, Vice President, Product Management at Google. “We look forward to seeing how people use in-flight WiFi and web tools in creative new ways to stay connected as they travel.”

With power outlets at every seat and fleet-wide WiFi, guests on any of Virgin America’s 100 daily flights have the option to surf the Web, check e-mail or log on to their corporate VPN – all from the comfort of their seats at 35,000 feet. The Gogo® service is available for $12.95 for daytime flights of over three hours, $9.95 for daytime flights of less than three hours and $7.95 for handheld devices. In November 2008, Virgin America launched Gogo® In-flight Internet on its first flight with a first ever “air-to-ground” video stream to YouTube Live – YouTube’s first official real-world user event. Self-directed videos from some of YouTube’s highest-viewed stars premiered on the RED™ system on planes across the country and were posted to the carrier’s YouTube channel in November 2008 – where they received more than one million views.