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AT&T CruiseCast satellite service halts activations, will refund customers

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 3:51PM

It wasn't too hard to see this one coming after reports of "financial difficulties" and a potential early demise starting cropping up last month, but it looks like AT&T's CruiseCast in-car satellite service is now officially done for. According to RaySat COO Mike Grannan (AT&T's partner in the service), all new activations have now ceased, and existing customers will soon apparently be able to get a refund for the cost of installation, de-installation, equipment and service. For those keeping track, the service just launched in June of this year and, while no installed base numbers seem to be available, it doesn't appear to have caused much more than a blip on the radar, with it hindered in part by a hefty $1,300 up-front cost.

European Space Agency launches flood-predicting, earth monitoring satellite

by Laura June posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 12:01PM

On Sunday (the first of November) the European Space Agency launched a new satellite from a Russian rocket. This one, named the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite has a few very important jobs to do. For the next 3-5 years, the satellite will gather data about the circulation patterns in Earth's oceans and the moisture in its soil. The collected information will hopefully be used to forecast weather patterns such as droughts and flood risks. Check out the video after the break for a detailed explanation and a peek at the satellite of love itself.

[Via Inhabitat]

Continue reading European Space Agency launches flood-predicting, earth monitoring satellite

Toshiba announces touchscreen notebooks, netbooks for Windows 7 launch

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 14th 2009 at 2:21PM

Toshiba's just announced a couple new lappies -- and a whole host of refreshes -- in anticipation of the Windows 7 launch later this month. The big news here is definitely the touchscreen models: The Satellite U505 (due out November 1) is a 13.3-inch, 5 lb device with an MSRP of $1,049.99, while the Satellite M505 (street date October 22) has 14.4-inches of real estate and an MSRP of $949.99. Both come with the touch-ready LifeSpace software package that includes Bulletin Board (some sort of organizer with to-do lists, calendars and the like), and ReelTime, which apparently "helps you find files based on when they were opened using a visual history." Tosh is promising to ship Windows 7 devices with minimal software running in the background -- which is important if you want to retain performance increases that the new OS might provide over Vista.

Also included in this batch of lappies are new Satellite A500s (optional Blu-ray, Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion II Ultra CPU, discrete graphics options, a 16-inch HD Edge-to-Edge display on select models, starts at $589.99), Satellite L500 Series (displays ranging from 14 to 17.3-inch, Turion II and Athlon II CPU, hard drives up to 500GB, starting prices range from $504.99 to $579.99), Satellite P500 Series (18.4-inch HD TruBrite display, Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion II processors, Blu-ray in some models, starting at $799.99), Satellite L500 Series (up to 17.3-inch display, up to 500GB HDD, and various processor options, starting at $504.99), the Qosmio X505 with an 18.4-inch display and optional 64GB SSD / 320GB HDD dual-drive configuration priced at $1,899.99, and finally the mini NB205, a 10.1-inch netbook with a nine hour battery life, up to 250GB HDD, and five fabulous finishes including Sable Brown, Frost White, Indigo Blue, Posh Pink and Onyx Black (starting at $399.99). PR after the break.

[Via Hot Hardware]

Read - The new Satellite U500 Series
Read - The new Satellite M500 Series
Read - The new Satellite A500 Series
Read - The new Satellite P500 Series
Read - The new Satellite L500 Series
Read - The new Qosmio X500 Series
Read - The new mini NB200 Series

Continue reading Toshiba announces touchscreen notebooks, netbooks for Windows 7 launch

AT&T CruiseCast service partner says it's 'business as usual' despite 'financial difficulties'

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 8th 2009 at 5:52PM

It only just officially launched in June of this year (after fairly long build-up), but it looks like AT&T's CruiseCast in-car satellite service may not exactly be in the best of shape. As Twice reports, calls to service provider RaySat yesterday resulted in a recorded message saying that the company would no longer be supporting CruiseCast activations "moving forward," and that it wouldn't be fulfilling any more equipment orders any longer either. Curiously, the company is now singing a completely different tune today, saying that while it is "working through financial difficulties," as of right now the service is "up and running, and it's business as usual." For its part, AT&T seems to be remaining mum on the whole matter, but phrases like "financial difficulties" and "business as usual" in the same sentence are rarely a good sign, so we'll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Read - Twice, "AT&T CruiseCast Stops Activations"
Read - Twice, "AT&T CruiseCast Service Continues"

EU's new EGNOS GPS system goes active

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 4th 2009 at 11:44PM

The EU's Galileo satellite positioning project has been lost in a haze of paperwork for a while, but there's finally some positive news to report: a "precursor" system called EGNOS launched last week, which will provide free positioning over most of the 27 EU states. The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, as it's charmingly called, consists of three satellites, four control centers, and around 40 positioning stations, all of which combine to take signals from US GPS satellites and enhance them to provide position information that's accurate to six feet, compared to around 60 feet for GPS alone. That means satnavs in Europe are going to get more accurate overnight, as most major brands are already EGNOS-ready -- too bad better navigation won't keep drivers in the UK from careening into rivers and damaging bridges.

Toshiba launches new Satellite netbooks in the US and UK

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 29th 2009 at 2:34PM

We know you love nothing more than a Toshiba Satellite laptop announcement, so listen up: the company has just announced two new CULV ultraportables of the UK and stateside market: The Satellite T135 (or the T130 as it's known overseas) is a 13.3-inch beauty with options including either an Intel Pentium, Celeron single core or Celeron dual-core CPU, up to 3GB of DDR3 RAM, and 250GB harddrive. The Satellite T115 (or T110 in the UK) sports an 11.6-inch display, either an Intel Pentium or Celeron single core CPU, and up to 4GB of RAM and 500GB harddrive. What's more, the kids over at Laptop Mag have given the T135 the old once-over and found it to be a pretty good deal: "for slightly less than the competition," they said of the $709 review unit, you're getting "good performance and a stylish design." Perhaps the single touchpad button and the quiet speakers will be a turn-off to some, but it takes all kinds, right? Look for the T135 and T115 on October 22nd, for $599 and $449 respectively -- their UK counterparts should hit the streets on the same date, priced from £429.
Read - Toshiba Satellite T130/T135 and T110/T115 CULV ultraportables debut
Read - Toshiba Satellite T135 review

Iridium to merge with GHL, get back into sat phone game

by Darren Murph posted Sep 28th 2009 at 9:34AM

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.

Toshiba lights up the streets with Satellite U500 Ducati

by Darren Murph posted Sep 4th 2009 at 10:54AM

Ducati may have its roots firmly planted on the highway, but the high-end label certainly isn't scared of stepping out from time to time. After gifting firms like SanDisk and Sony Ericsson with the right to use its name on various gizmos, the motorcycle maker is now linking up with Toshiba on a special edition laptop. The Satellite U500 Ducati is a 13.3-inch ultraportable equipped with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 (512MB), an Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 and 4GB of RAM. Naturally, the primarily white device will boast its fair share of Ducati badging, but seemingly lacks the company's trademark desmodromic valve actuation. Precise pricing information wasn't made public, but you can bet only those with more money than sense will take interest when it ships later this month in Italy.

Toshiba adopts Blu-ray for laptops, completes shame circle

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 2:52PM

First Toshiba caved on Blu-ray for the home, and now they're taking the sad show portable. The once-great defender of the HD-DVD crown has begun adopting the format for its laptops, bringing the discs to the P500 (a member of the Satellite family). The system -- which was released originally in June sans Blu-ray -- sports an 18.4 inch (1920 x 1080) display, HDMI REGZA link, a Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and a slew of the standard ports and wireless radios. The laptop will be available in October, irony comes standard on all models. [Warning: read link is a PDF]

[Via Pocket-lint]

Walmart's $348 17-inch Toshiba Satellite L355 reviewed: surprisingly awesome

by Darren Murph posted Aug 13th 2009 at 6:51AM

Looking for an ultra-cheap machine to take to school, are you? If you couldn't care less about extreme portability, Toshiba's shockingly inexpensive Satellite L355 (S7915) could be just the thing. $348 at Walmart nets you a 17-inch display (1,440 x 900), a 2.2GHz Celeron 900 CPU, Vista Basic, 3GB of RAM, a 250GB (5400RPM) hard drive, 8x DVD writer and GMA 4500M integrated graphics. The 7-pound machine was recently tested over at Laptop Mag, and critics were noticeably stunned at just how well the machine performed. The display was bright, the keyboard was more than adequate and the six-cell battery managed to hang on for over 2.5 hours in real-world testing. All in all, reviewers felt that the rig was perfectly suitable for handling schoolwork and other basic tasks, and save for the omission of a webcam, they couldn't find any huge beefs given the uncharacteristically low MSRP. 'Course, if you already snapped up that $298 Compaq, maybe you should just plug your ears here and pretend this whole thing never happened.

CSR debuts SiRFstarIV location-aware architecture, kisses slow fixes goodbye

by Darren Murph posted Jul 28th 2009 at 8:27AM

Nary half a year after snapping up SiRF, CSR is already tooting its horn about an all new SiRFstar architecture. The predictably titled SiRFstarIV technology takes quite the leap over its three-pronged predecessor, all but promising to nix those annoyingly long location fixes that are all too common on existing PNDs. The new location-aware, self-assisted, micro-power tech enables devices to be continually aware of location without requiring network aide; furthermore, there's hardly any power drain to speak of, which ought to please smartphone owners who can literally watch their battery meter drop with GPS enabled. CSR's first SiRFstarIV product is the GSD4t receiver, which is optimized for mobile phones and "other space and power-sensitive consumer devices." We're told that samples of the chip are shipping out now, with mass production slated for October and device integration happening shortly thereafter.

"Flying laptop" spacecraft could "transform" in space, sort of

by Donald Melanson posted Jul 22nd 2009 at 5:41AM

Impressive as they are, satellites and space probes aren't always the most versatile pieces of equipment once they're up in orbit. A new satellite developed by researchers from the University of Stuttgart's Institute of Space Systems looks set to shake things up in a pretty big way when it launches in 2012, however, even if it's not quite the "transforming" space probe that you might be imagining. Described as a "flying laptop," the satellite promises to pack a vast array of instruments and sensors, including cameras, multispectral imagers, star trackers, and GPS receivers, to name a few, all of which can apparently be completely reconfigured on the fly in space. That, the researchers say, could let the satellite switch from, say, an atmospheric pollution sensor to a near-Earth asteroid detector, an even open up some new commercial possibilities, with different groups able to rent out the satellite to perform various tasks.

TerreStar successfully completes first call on new satellite

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 20th 2009 at 1:37PM

Remember that giant satellite TerreStar launched a few weeks ago, TerreStar-1? It's now up and running, which means we're that much closer to tiny smartphones that blur the boundary between "satellite phone" and "sexy" -- something that we can't really say has ever even come close to happening before. In addition to completing its first call on the all-IP network provided by TerreStar-1, the company has notified the FCC and Industry Canada that it's now in compliance with the final milestones required for certification, so there's a fighting chance these guys could meet their goal of launching commercially this year. James Bond, your cellphone awaits.

Toshiba's new Satellite M500 and U500 mid-tier laptops "shine" in the flesh

by Paul Miller posted Jun 25th 2009 at 9:24PM

You know, at one point chrome accents and glossy plastics were novel additions to previously staid consumer electronics -- now they make us want to punch a hole in the nearest smarmy LCD display. While HP has tried its best to be the worst offender in its consumer line, Toshiba is really giving it a shot with the M500 and U500 series laptops -- the U500 is pretty outlandish, but at least it offers a ribbed, almost-desirable matte surface of sorts, while the M500 (pictured) makes everything else look tame in comparison, and has the plentiful finger smudges to prove it. Both of the laptops offer chrome trim, overdone speaker grills and light-up accents. The textured trackpads are probably a love it or hate it thing; in fact, most of these "style" choices could be termed as such, but we're sure you've ascertained by now where we stand. Sure, the so-called general consumer apparently eats it up, but the charm is lost on us. On a gentler note, the M505 we looked at was running Windows 7, something we more commonly see being demoed on a touchscreen PC or something otherwise Windows 7 specific. Obviously it's not shipping with that OS yet, but the pining is palpable.

Gallery: Toshiba's new Satellite M500 and U500 mid-tier laptops "shine" in the flesh

Toshiba's still not done, rolls out new Satellite L Series laptops

by Donald Melanson posted Jun 24th 2009 at 4:34PM

Not sold on Toshiba's new NB205 netbook or one of its many new Satellite laptops announced earlier this week? Don't worry, 'cause Toshiba's just announced four more Satellite models, all of which fall under its budget-minded L Series line. Those include the 14-inch Satellite L510/L515, the 15.6- and 16-inch Satellite L500/L505, and the heavyweight 17.3-inch Satellite L550/L555, each of which pack either AMD Athlon or Turion, or Intel Pentium or Core 2 Duo processors depending on the configuration, along with integrated graphics or ATI's discrete Radeon 3100, a 10-key numeric keypad on the 15.6-inch and larger models, a minimum 2GB of RAM and 250GB hard drive, and Toshiba's trademark "Fusion" finish on the whole lot of 'em. Best of all, starting prices range from a reasonable $550 to $650, and all are apparently available to order right now.