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Remote cameras are useful to wildlife conservationists, but their closed (or non-existent) networking limits the opportunities for tracking animals around the clock. The Instant Wild project’s cameras, however, are designed to rely on the internet for help. Whenever they detect movement, they deliver imagery to the public through Iridium’s satellite network. Anyone watching the cameras through the Instant Wild iOS app or website becomes an impromptu zoologist; viewers can identify both animals and poachers that dedicated staff might miss. Maintenance also isn’t much of an issue, as each unit is based on a Raspberry Pi computer that can run for long periods on a single battery. The Zoological Society of London currently operates these satellite cameras in Kenya, but there are plans underway to expand their use to the Antarctica, the Himalayas, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

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Source: Cambridge Consultants, Edge of Existence

After earning top marks from the FCC for its broadband performance, ViaSat has added yet another feather to its cap in the form of a Guinness World Record. According to the august organization, the ViaSat-1 satellite, which powers the 12 Mbps Exede Internet service, is the highest-capacity communications satellite in the world. The reason for the accolade? The orbiting spacecraft apparently provides around 100 times the throughput capacity of a Ku-band satellite and ten times that of a Ka-band, which adds up to more capacity than all North American communication satellites combined at the time of its 2011 launch. While its broadband service still has latency issues, the folks over at ViaSat must feel pretty confident of its recent accomplishments; the company is currently looking beyond its rural customer base and venturing forth into other enterprises, such as in-flight WiFi. Better watch your back, Gogo.

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Source: ViaSat

On the same day that Dish’s new satellite broadband service kicks off, partner Hughes is upgrading its own offering with even faster speeds. HughesNet Gen4 offers downloads of up to 15 Mbps to the 19 million (or so) Americans who can’t get high-speed fixed-line broadband services. $50 a month will get customers 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload with a 20GB data cap, while $80 a month offers a 30GB limit and 2 Mbps upload — but for high-rolling hermits, $100 a month gets you the full 15 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up and a 40GB allowance. Current users wanting in on the action aren’t excluded from the program, and can register their interest at our More Coverage link.

Continue reading Hughes updates its HughesNet satellite broadband with Gen4 service

Filed under: Internet

Hughes updates its HughesNet satellite broadband with Gen4 service originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avanti has been beaming satellite broadband to Europe for awhile, but it’s been tied to a subscription through carrier deals. That’s a tough sell to customers who, by definition, don’t want to be tied to anything — which is why the company just launched prepaid satellite internet access for the continent. Although the Ka-band service’s 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream speeds won’t have anyone dropping their 330Mbps fiber anytime soon, the pay-as-you-go strategy will let travelers and rural dwellers get broadband in a pinch, no matter how spotty terrestrial access might get. Imagine Skype calls during Swiss ski vacations and you’ve got the gist of it. Carriers will resell the data in healthy doses of 1GB or larger, and Avanti is adamant that there won’t be any nasty throttling surprises waiting in store. While exact prices will depend on partners, the provider isn’t waiting for those details before it covers much of the Old World: its upcoming HYLAS 2 satellite (what you see above) will share the speed with Africa, the Caucasus region and the Middle East as of August 2nd, making it almost too easy for us to update Google+ in Georgia.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

Avanti launches prepaid, Ka-band satellite internet access, wants us Yelping from the Alps originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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