Astra
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Astra's latest mission to deliver NASA weather satellites ends in failure
Rocket startup company Astra has suffered from a second launch failure this year as it failed to get to orbit with a pair of NASA satellites on board
Astra's cubesat launch for NASA ends in failure
Astra's cubesat mission for NASA has ended in failure after the rocket stage separation went haywire.
Splice's music creation plans are going on sale for Black Friday
Newcomers can get $20 off a 12-month Sounds+, Creator or Creator+ subscription.
Launch startup Astra reaches orbit for the first time
Astra has reached orbit for the first time, making space more accessible for satellites and other small payloads.
Splice launches new Creator plans with exclusive plugins and educational videos
Astra and Beatmaker are the company's first VSTs, but the Skills lessons are the star of the show.
Space startup Astra's first orbital rocket launch ends prematurely
Rocket startup Astra's first orbital launch bid ended sooner than expected after its vehicle threatened to go off-course.
World's largest ARM supercomputer is headed to a nuclear security lab
Most supercomputers are focused on pure processing speed. Take the DOE's new Summit system, which is now the world's most powerful supercomputer, with 9,000 22-core IBM Power9 processors and over 27,000 NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs. But processing performance isn't everything. Last year, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced The Machine, its prototype for a supercomputer built around blazing fast memory. It's meant to churn through tons of data, though it can handle it's fair share of high performance computing (HPC) jobs.
Astra: no one can hear you refuel in space
Astra is an endless runner in space that uses just two buttons. The art style is reminiscent of Galaga and similar retro arcade games. Your mission is to fly the Astra spaceship as far as you can into deep space while picking up fuel points and avoiding fuel voids. An interesting mechanic in Astra is that the more you move your ship left and right, the faster you deplete your fuel. When you have no more fuel left, the game is over. Astra is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 7.1 or later and costs US$0.99. Controlling your spaceship is very easy and feels appropriately responsive. Players tap the right side of the screen to use the ship's right jets and propel themselves to the left. Likewise, they tap the left side of the screen to activate the left jets and push the ship to the right. You have a limited fuel supply and you are tasked with trying to get as far as you can before running out. It is also possible to run out of fuel on one side's jets before the other, which will send your ship hurtling in one direction. This also makes it harder for you to get the fuel points that help you continue on your journey. When out of control, it is easier to for you to run into fuel voids that drain your fuel. This increases the difficulty of Astra in an interesting way. Still, you can regain full control of your ship if you manage to hit enough fuel points, though this can be difficult to pull off. Astra also increases in speed as you venture further into space. This made it more challenging and felt like the player was naturally progressing in the game. Astra does not feature any music of its own in the game nor any sound effects. This means that you can play your own music, which accents the gameplay and the arcade look. The lack of sound also meant that when played without adding your own music, controlling the ship feels more relaxing. It was really nice to see two different ways of playing the same game just by turning on and off your own sound. The neon light color pallet is exciting and looks really great against the dark space background. The colors pop out and it adds a touch of fun to the simple mechanics. Astra is also integrated with Game Center, which is a great feature for friendly competitions for the highest score. With a really nice art style and an intriguing use of no sound, Astra is a beautiful game that offers players a way to relax while retaining some excitement. Astra is available on the App Store for US$0.99 and definitely worth trying out.
SES ASTRA satellite experiences technical anomaly, enters retirement
Satellite failures aren't completely unheard of or anything, but it's always a sad day when a dutiful bird loses its wings. SES ASTRA's ASTRA 5A -- the former SIRIUS 2 operating at 31.5 degrees East -- has experienced a "technical anomaly" which has led to the end of the spacecraft's mission. The outfit has already switched a significant part of its traffic to another ASTRA satellite, with German cable operators specifically mentioned as businesses affected. It's tough to tell at this point what the eventual results from all of this will be, but here's hoping it doesn't set back any potential HD expansion.
Satellite TV turns 20 in the UK
You know, we could just aimlessly fire off unnecessary congratulatory remarks about the 20th birthday of satellite TV in the UK, but instead, we'll use this as a launching point for somewhat of a rant. A score ago, the ASTRA A1 lifted off in order to eventually provide direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV service to "small" dishes across Europe. Today, we're simply baffled and appalled by the lack of progress. 20 years later, Americans can tune into well over 100 linear high-def channels via satellite, yet Europeans are still wondering if HD is just a figment of someone's imagination. What gives, Europe? Why the refusal to provide your people with the next level in quality programming? The source content is already out there, and we're sure DISH Network and DirecTV would be happy to share contact information if need be. We're happy for your 20 year party and all, but who throws a shindig in 2008 without at least a few dozen high-def stations on tap?
MTVNHD headed to France via SES ASTRA
MTVNHD -- the international variant of MHD Palladia -- promised to continue its quest for European domination, and France is next to go, but not on Numericable. Hooking up with SES ASTRA's satellite capacity, the network's bringing music and children's programming to HD CanalSat subscribers at some unspecified future date. so it could be today, tomorrow, next week or later but yes, France, you will soon be ignoring the same extremely limited content loop others have been experiencing for some time now.
TNTSAT expands reach in France, going HD in February 2009
TNTSAT, a digital terrestrial free-TV offer via the ASTRA satellite system, has just found its way into 750,000 domiciles across the beautiful French countryside. For those unaware, the service targets regions where TVs cannot receive signals from terrestrial transmitters, and it offers viewers the "full range of French digital terrestrial free-TV channels over the ASTRA satellites, allowing a 100% coverage of France." But that's not all that's being announced today: TNTSAT HD is being launched on February 15, 2009 alongside the launch of free DTT channels in high-def being available on ASTRA; those eager to get a jump on things can expect around ten more SD / HD TNTSAT receivers to become available before the year's end. And to think, we heard that France wasn't exactly rushing to adopt HD back in May -- guess there's nothing like a little kick in the pants to get things going.
ASTRA sees 30% increase in HD channels over three months
We usually try to skim right over meaningless gloating from companies, but ASTRA's latest back-patting is actually something worth a round of golf claps. As you all well know, Europe suffers from a comparative dearth of HD options when eyed beside the USA, but it seems as if that disparity is fading. Over the past three months, the ASTRA satellite system has increased the amount of HD channels it carries to 55 -- a 30% boost. The bird beams out offerings for carriers like Sky (UK), CanalSat (France), Premiere (Germany), Digital+ (Spain), Viasat (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland), Canal Digitaal (Netherlands), etc. According to Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA, the "rapid growth in the number of HD channels clearly shows that HDTV is taking off in Europe." We hope you're right, sir.
SES ASTRA tardily trumpets 12 channels of HD Olympics across Europe
There's nothing here that wasn't apparent already, but SES ASTRA is just now getting around to boasting about a dozen HD channels that it's hosting to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Ready for an exhaustive list? The channels broadcasting the Olympics in HD include for the UK, BBC HD, for France, France 2 HD and CANAL+ HD, for Germany, ANIXE HD, for Poland, TVP HD, for the Slovak Republic, STV3, for the Netherlands, 1 HD, for Belgium een HD, for Spain, TELEDEPORTE HD, for Sweden, Viasat HD and SVT HD and for Austria, ORF HD. So yeah, if you somehow missed this for the first week of the Games, at least you're clued in now.[Image courtesy of Beijing 2008]
ARTE HD launching on SES Astra July 1
SES ASTRA's at it again, this time adding ARTE HD's German programming starting July 1. Francophones can look forward to their edition in HD at a later date, but for now this brings the total number of HD channels on ASTRA up to 35. Unfortunately there's not a cool sports event tie-in like Euro 2008 for this launch but fans of culture and the arts (yeah, sure) should have plenty to check out in HD.
ORF HD launches on SES Astra May 1
SES Astra doesn't seem to have trouble filling Sat.1 and ProSieben HD's transponder, its latest HD channel is German speaking broadcaster ORF HD. Scheduled to kick off May 1, it should offer all of ORF1's HD content including all 31 UEFA EURO 2008 matches.That's a good number, since SES Astra and SES Sirius now offer a total of 31 HD channels via satellite including BSkyB, BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, Canal+, M6 and others, with plans to reach 100 channels by 2010. Astra and ORF will team up on marketing the new channel and could possibly add more HD programming in the future, which should hopefully bring the end to any more HD contraction stories out of Europe.
Canal Digitaal gears up to launch its first HD channels in Dutch market
As the European HD changes continue to roll out, along comes news that Canal Digitaal is getting set to launch its first HD channels in the Dutch market. Details are fairly scarce at the moment, but we are hearing that National Geographic HD and Discovery Channel HD will indeed be landing in April, and negotiations are still ongoing to throw Dutch Classic Music Channel BravaHDTV into that mix. Reportedly, the HD tier will cost a stiff €9.95 ($15) per month after the first free month that's provided to all that wish to accept, but here's to hoping that becomes a bargain as more channels are added in.[Thanks, Richard]
Spain gets first HD channel on ASTRA: Sogecable's Canal+ HD
Nearly 15 months after ASTRA first promised to bring HD to Spain, the nation's first high-definition channel has gone live. Canal+ HD -- which is part of Sogecable's digital pay-TV package Digital+ -- has launched on ASTRA and promises to deliver "premium movies, series and sports events such as the 2008 European Soccer Championship whose 31 matches will be broadcast all in HD." To promote (and likely celebrate) the occasion, SES ASTRA and Sogecable have entered into a partnership to trumpet its new offer, which will include "joint commercial and marketing activities for retailers, customers and the TV viewers." Counting the addition of Canal+ HD, ASTRA now broadcasts some 29 HD channels across Europe, and of course, it couldn't close out a press release without boldly proclaiming that it "expects to transmit 100 HD channels" by the end of 2010. Trying to keep up with the Joneses, we presume?
Astra touts boost in HD channel offerings, expects more to follow
It wasn't too awfully long ago that Astra was tooting its own horn about 20 extra HD channels hitting the European front, but not only did the company maintain its word, it exceeded expectations as well. In a recent announcement, the satellite provider boasted that it is now broadcasting 26 high-definition channels across Europe, including BSkyB, Discovery, National Geographic, and The History Channel from the UK, CANAL+, M6, and TF1 from France and Premiere, and ProSieben, Sat1, and Anixe from Germany. As if this weren't good enough (it never is), Astra is also planning to match DirecTV's recent claim and offer up 100 HD channels -- but it'll likely be closer to 2010 before Europe reaches the coveted milestone.
Astra promises 20 additional HD channels for Europe, Spain
While receiving new HD channels on American soil is certainly exciting news, we get extra giddy each time an overseas destination gets struck by HD goodness. While Poland just received another boost to its HD lineup, Europe and Spain are now set to receive 20 additional HD channels of their own. According to Ferdinand Kayser, president and general manager of Astra, Europeans will receive a bevy of new HD channels such as "Discovery, ProSieben, BBC, Sky, SAT 1, Premiere, Canal Sat and Anixe" before the year's end. While dates aren't as certain on the Spanish front, Astra still plans to deliver these same channels to Spain in the near future, and also stated that the Spanish High Definition Forum is alive and well within their country. Now, when can we North American chaps expect a similar announcement?
