Since the release of Iridium GO! (¹) There were two different pages of subscription (for free) to messaging service, and two applications (iOS/Android) to connect to the Iridium devices. Now there is only one application : Iridium Mail & Web app to connect to the router Optimizer, either Iridium GO! Read more …
Category : Communication
Iridium GO! keeps its promises [Update]
Since its announcement last February, the GO! is expected to come from dealers at the beginning of this month. Company E SAT gave me one to conduct some tests. Although too late to perform these tests at sea, the Quai des Antilles on the Ile de Nantes offers a wide sky clearance also than the deck of a boat, enough to connect satellites of all-round. Two types of test were conducted : requests and receipts of GRIB weather files from an iPad featured with Weather4D PRO app, functions related to the telephony from an iPhone.
Iridium GO! in the Buren Rings on the Quay of Antilles. An invitation to travel ?
IsatPhone 2 the new Inmarsat satellite phone [Update-2]
The war is open between the two leading operators worldwide satellite phone. After the announcement of GO! by Iridium (¹), this is IsatPhone 2 by Inmarsat.
Inmarsat will deliver its new mobile satellite phone on March 24 next. IsatPhone 2 target the high end market of satellite telephony. Described as "a fine device combined with a feeling of high quality", it has additional options and more features than the previous model IsatPhone Pro (²), such as GPS tracking, emergency button or the receipt of calls with the folded antenna. Read more …
With IsatHub, Inmarsat promises to connect - much - faster [Update]
After the announcement with great pump of the GO! by Iridium few month ago, but not yet available, Inmarsat has introduced IsatHub at CommunicAsia show which just closed its doors in Singapur. The competition is tough between the two industrial, but unlike Iridium more oriented towards mainstream users, Inmarsat is aimed primarily at a professional market.
IsatHub is a WiFi hotspot allowing to connect all mobile devices to Inmarsat satellite network. No need cellular towers, IsatHub provides aworldwide connectivity to your tablets and smartphones.
Read more …
Iridium GO! promises to connect you – nearly – anywhere
We read in the news
Global satellite company aims at the consumer market with Iridium GO!™ : pack it for camping or world travel (¹).
In all public places where you can connect wirelessly to the Internet today, Wi-Fi is not yet ubiquitous. And if you are a boater, backpacker, pilot, camper or someone who spends a lot of time in nature, the chance to connect to cyberspace in some remote locations is almost impossible. It is not just data. Try making a cellular phone call in such places !
Sharing of connection 3G / 4G [Update]
In coastal navigation, sometimes it is easier to connect to 3G cellular network to get a WiFi connection with an access point to earth. Cellular antennas are more numerous on the coast and on the Islands. But as you follow my recommendations carefully (¹), I have no doubt, you have an iPad WiFi 3 G without a subscription, that is to say without a SIM card, and you are right. So how do ? Read more …
Install a WiFi network onboard
Request more frequent from boat owners is for the installation of a WiFi reception onboard. The proliferation of computers, tablets and smartphones on boats incentive to maintain a connection with the Internet, even navigation. Exchanging emails, monitor social networks, receive weather files, and many other reasons lead to an uncontrollable addiction. C’est la vie !
I have already mentioned on my website, in chapter about means for receiving GRIB files, some available solutions : Read more …
IsatPhone Pro versus Iridium (continue)
As promised in my post on 15 July, here are the results of the comparative test conducted aboard "Prince d'Oc" for our trip from Port Leucate to Dubrovnik.
Thanks to the loan of a full IsatPhone Pro, with cradle and external antenna (big thanks to PYG @Voilier_xhosa, who sent me all this from Belgium), and the presence of a similar facility Iridium on board Olivier's boat : Iridium 9575 with fixed external antenna Sailor, we were able to test in real use.
Prince d'Oc en route to Croatia
Iridium NEXT the future
The use of Iridium takes a growing place among offshore sailors. Safety at sea to join his family at all times, or be able to contact a medical emergency, arguments are often raised by purchasers. In addition, satellite phone offers data services to send and receive text messages and emails, and especially to query GRIB weather files. Unfortunately, to date the available bandwidth for data exchange is extremely low, do not allow more than 2400 bits per second on average to use from a mobile phone. Only large fixed installations, out of reach of the average boater, offer data rates up 128 Kbps.
And tomorrow ? Iridium Communications Inc., based in McLean, Virginia (USA), announced in June 2010, launching a major program of development of a constellation of new generation, coming gradually replace the current : Iridium NEXT. Read more …
IsatPhone Pro versus Iridium, choose which ?
I just read, in the last issue of Voiles et Voiliers dated May 2012, a comparative Inmarsat-Iridium that leaves me unsatisfied. Quite interesting on the form, it has many approximations on the bottom, and does not allow the reader to form an opinion on elements of accurate and quantitative comparison. On the other hand, no offense to Francis Xavier Ricardou, software solutions for Mac have long existed and are well proven : just to see the number of participants provided with Mac or iPad at ARC 2011. I will try to contribute complementary, I hope, inform potential buyers. Read more …