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Iridium AxcessPoint turns your satellite phone into a mobile hotspot
Hello there traveler. Have you discovered that you sorely miss being connected to the internet while wandering the desert or adrift at sea? Sure, you could buy a satellite modem, but after dropping a cool grand on a satellite phone you're probably not looking to break the bank just to check your e-mail. Iridium's new AxcessPoint may be just what you're looking for. Sure, the $200 asking price for this deck-of-cards-sized device isn't exactly chump change, but it's far cheaper than other solutions. Simply plug it into a compatible Iridium phone and you've got an instant mobile hotspot. Yes, the speeds are going to be of the sub-dialup variety and you'll have to fork over $1 for every minute of data used, but it's a small price to pay for being able to check your latest Groupon offers while floating in the middle of the Sargasso Sea. Check out the PR after the break.
Iridium to merge with GHL, get back into sat phone game
Aside from pushing out around one phone per year (at best), Iridium Satellite really hasn't had a major impact on the market over the past ten years. 'Course, that's probably because it's hard to have much impact after seeking bankruptcy protection in 1999, but we digress. Starting tomorrow, new life will be breathed into Iridium thanks to a merger with publicly traded GHL Acquisition. If all goes to plan, the merger will add over $200 million to the company's bank account, enabling it to pay down debt and develop a next-generation network of satellites to be launched in 2014. Furthermore, $160 million will be raised by issuing another 16 million shares at $10 a pop, and a new label (Iridium Communications) will be thrown on for good measure. Only time will tell if the world really is ready to adopt satellite phones en masse, but if TerraStar's latest deal is any indication, we'd say chances are good halfway decent.
US and Russian satellites collide in 'unprecedented' accident
A US Iridium satellite has hit a defunct Russian satellite in an unprecedented space collision. The crash occurred some 790km (491 miles) over Siberia on Tuesday, according to NASA, and produced a "massive" cloud of debris. About 600 pieces are being tracked from the debris field in hopes of understanding the risk they present to other satellites and the international space station. The Russian craft was identified as the 950kg (2,094 pound) Cosmos 2251, a communications relay station launched in 1993 and believed to have been non-operational for the last 10 years or so. The Iridium telecommunications satellite was estimated to weigh about 560kg (1,234 pounds). Unsurprisingly, its loss is expected to have "minimal impact on Iridium's service," according to a statement made by the company. When asked who was at fault, NASA responded dryly: "They ran into each other. Nothing has the right of way up there. We don't have an air traffic controller in space. There is no universal way of knowing what's coming in your direction." Gulp.
Iridium introduces smallish 9555 satellite phone, shows people holding it
It's just as tough to believe that Iridium is still around and kicking today as it was last February, but regardless of our assumptions, it's not stopping the aforesaid company from doling out an all new satellite phone that's somewhat smaller than most of its competitors. Aside from enabling argonauts to make and receive calls from some of the most remote locales in world (Attu, Alaska, anyone?), the 9555 includes a retractable antenna, illuminated, weather-resistant keypad, SMS support, programmable international codes for automatic dialing, a speakerphone, mini-USB port, up to 4-hours of talk time (30-hours in standby) and a currently undisclosed price tag. Look for this one from Iridium service partners beginning next month, and if you so choose, you can have a look at these very intense professionals enjoying one below.[Via MobileTechNews]%Gallery-35019%
Merovingi 2008 Fashion Awards now running
Running until the 26th, the 2008 Merovingi Fashion Awards are on now. If that name seems familiar it may well be because Gabriel Merovingi (Sebastian Oxide in SL) and Australian based Merovingi Group ran them last year, as well. This year the show is fund-raising for Doctors Without Borders, and the National Cancer Society. The prizes for the category winners this year include L$ and Apple hardware.
Name that pet
Picking a pet's name is always one of the decisions I like best in WoW. It's creative and interesting, and if done right, it can bring lots of smiles to you and your friends. Naming your own character is also fun of course, but even in light of the name-changing feature, it still feels so permanent to me. With your pets, you can name more than one, and there's always the possibility that in the future you'll get to find some new and incredibly awesome pet and get to think of a name for that one too. Excellent pet namers even have special synergy between their hunter and pet names -- a creative feat which is at once challenging and simple.Mania's Arcania has an interesting little feature: in addition to all her other hunter and pet information, she's started a sort of "contest" called "Name That Pet," where hunters can submit pics of their pets for public inspection, and we all get to help them think of names for them. The latest pet in the series presents an great opportunity for hunter-pet name synergy: an owl tamed by the tauren Hawkspirit. In her blog, Hawkspirit's player shows how her owl finally reached 70, but still doesn't have a name, and Mania is here to help her out.If you're interested in pet names, check it out and apply your naming genus.
Iridium Next: plans for next-gen satellite network
Although nothing is set in stone, everyone's favorite why-aren't-they-dead-yet satellite communications firm, Iridium, is starting to sketch out its next gen satellite network, titled, obviously enough. Iridium Next. Looking to go far beyond mere satphone calling and the like, Next might well include environmental monitoring, sat-photography, GPS, and a 10Mbps "broadband" mesh network. It'll cost Iridium about $2b when they light it up on or before 2016, but don't worry, you're sure to continue paying a buck or two a minute for taking advantage of that network, too.
