Dec 28

DirecTV 3D broadcasts coming in early 2010?

Posted in: firmware update, FirmwareUpdate, satellite, Today's Chili

Finding itself with a wealth of a additional bandwidth thanks to a new satellite going up today, DirecTV may have already decided its first big addition will be 3D. Citing the always popular unnamed sources, HD Guru says we should prepare for a CES announcement that the bird will be up and running by March beaming down a collection of movies, sports and TV shows in 3D HD, requiring only a firmware upgrade on existing set-top boxes to tune into the new stations. UK satellite provider Sky has already tipped its hand about 2010 3D plans, with a newly freshened HDMI spec expected to ease things along and nearly every manufacturer either already producing compatible displays or planning to announce them in less than a week there’s very little doubt remaining about whether broadcast 3D is coming home this year, only how and when.

DirecTV 3D broadcasts coming in early 2010? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 17

Google Unveils Google Earth for 2010 Audi A8

Posted in: Google, gps, navigation, satellite, Today's Chili

Google_Audi_A8.jpg

Google announced that with the new Audi A8, Audi will be the first car manufacturer to build Google Earth services into a vehicle’s entertainment system.

The service gives drivers 3D satellite imagery, terrain information, and other geo data relevant to their current location. It also combines seamlessly with the car’s existing Audi navigation system. In addition, it lets drivers hook into Wikipedia for more location information, and displays Panoramio images for additional views.

The Audi A8 also gets Google Maps and Local Search for finding business listings. It connects into a desktop account; drivers can look something up on a PC, send the info to the car, and then navigate there. Pretty slick.

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Dec 01

TerreStar Genus satphone gets beamed into an FCC lab

Posted in: att, qwerty, satellite, Today's Chili, Windows Mobile, windows mobile 6.5, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.5

That projected Q1 2010 availability window for AT&T’s first dual-mode satphone (and first satphone, period, for that matter) is looking pretty dang obtainable now that Elektrobit — the device’s manufacturer — has secured FCC approval. As you can tell from the laboratory mugshot here, TerreStar’s Genus is a pretty unassuming-looking Windows Mobile smartphone, which is pretty amazing when you consider that it’ll more or less guarantee you coverage anywhere in the most ridiculously remote regions of North America and surrounding waters. Test documentation confirms that it’ll be ready with US HSPA out of the gate, so if you can hold out for a month or two and stomach some likely hardcore plans and per-minute / per-megabyte charges, get ready to impress your co-pilot in the midst of that next offshore race.

TerreStar Genus satphone gets beamed into an FCC lab originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 16

Sezmi’s low cost cable / satellite premium TV alternative launches in L.A.

Posted in: cable, dvr, hdtv, ota, satellite, Television, Today's Chili

Ready for yet another way to watch TV? Sezmi has just gone on the air in Los Angeles, offering its unique blend of premium OTA and internet delivered video to a few limited trial users. $5 a month brings whatever local networks you can pull in, basic IPTV (YouTube, OnNetworks, podcasts) and internet VOD (CinemaNow) access, while throwing an Andrew Jackson on top of that adds “more than 100 cable TV networks,” delivered via antenna. According to the L.A. Times that doesn’t include any channels from the Disney or Fox family like ESPN, regional sports networks or premium movie channels, but if those are already stations you’re avoiding, it’s a cheaper option than most cable TV plans. Other than the allure of sticking it to the current distribution model, the 1TB DVR package includes a rather unique UI to aggregate and even seek out new shows for you from those varied sources, while maintaining individual profiles for different users. The three month trial has just the right price — free — so even with little info on how much high definition Sezmi’s network can handle or what areas or channels will be added next, it’s at least worth a look.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

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Sezmi’s low cost cable / satellite premium TV alternative launches in L.A. originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 16

Toshiba ‘Space Chair’ ad redefines armchair viewing (video)

Posted in: ad, advertising, LCD, LED, satellite, space, Today's Chili, Toshiba, video

There’s something wrong when an advertisement is more memorable than the product. Nevertheless, here we have Toshiba’s Space Chair ad campaign promoting its new 2010 REGZA SV LCD TV series, Toshiba’s first with LED backlight and local dimming. The campaign will later expand to include a second take featuring the Satellite T Series of 11-hour CULV laptops set for introduction in 2010. The ad follows the journey of “an ordinary living room chair” to the edge of space before falling back to Earth where the ground crew relied upon a GPS beacon to locate the craft. A few facts about the shoot:
  • A helium balloon lifted the chair and Toshiba’s own IK-HR1S ultra-compact 1080i camera to a height of 98,268 feet above terra firma
  • FAA regulations required that the weight of the rig had to be less than four pounds
  • The chair is made of biodegradable balsa wood at a cost of about £2,500
  • The rig was launched in Nevada’s Burning Man Black Rock desert
  • The temperature dropped to minus 90 degrees at 52,037 feet
  • The chair took 83 minutes to reach an altitude of 98,268 feet and just 24 minutes to fall back to earth

Truly amazing stuff. Now buckle up and click through for the show.

Continue reading Toshiba ‘Space Chair’ ad redefines armchair viewing (video)

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Toshiba ‘Space Chair’ ad redefines armchair viewing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 03

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

Posted in: satellite, Today's Chili
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.

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AT&T CruiseCast satellite service halts activations, will refund customers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 03

European Space Agency launches flood-predicting, earth monitoring satellite

Posted in: europe, satellite, space, Today's Chili

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

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European Space Agency launches flood-predicting, earth monitoring satellite originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 14

Toshiba announces touchscreen notebooks, netbooks for Windows 7 launch

Posted in: laptop, multitouch, netbook, satellite, Today's Chili, Toshiba, touchscreen, windows 7, Windows7

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

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Toshiba announces touchscreen notebooks, netbooks for Windows 7 launch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 04

EU’s new EGNOS GPS system goes active

Posted in: gps, navigation, satellite, Today's Chili

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.

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EU’s new EGNOS GPS system goes active originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 30

ATT, TerreStar Launch Satellite Phone

Posted in: att, satellite, Today's Chili

AT&T Terrestar Genus Phone.JPGAT&T and TerreStar on Wednesday jointly launched the Genus, a Windows Mobile smartphone that will connect to AT&T’s network, and, when out of range, can connect to the TerreStar satellite network.

The phone looks virtually identical to the Electrobit reference design that debuted in April, which is based on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and a 2.6-inch 320-by-240 touchscreen.

One caveat, however: although our earlier story claims that the phone does not need an external antenna, that’s not totally true: if you’re traveling outside the continental 48 states, you will.  The coverage area also formally includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Genus will launch in the first quarter of 2010 for an unspecified amount for enterprise and government customers. A consumer version is also planned, to launch sometime later in the future.

TerreStar successfully completed in-orbit testing on its TerreStar-1 satellite in mid-August, and is currently completing its integration with its ground-based beam forming system and its IP network. That also implies that the satellite capabilities won’t work on the other side of the globe in China, for example.

AT&T said that its monthly invoice will include the customer’s cellular voice
and data service charges, the satellite network access subscription
feature charge and the satellite voice and data roaming charges.

The phone will use GSM/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA. In conjunction with Windows Mobile, users will have 100 Mbytes of memory available, with microSD support for additional storage. Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and vanilla GPS. There are also some interesting extras: a light sensor, a 2.5-mm stereo headphone jack, a SIM connector, and a 3.0-Mpixel camera. Finally, TerreStar claims that the phone will include a VOIP app, an interesting addition.

Potential customers should be warned that using the satellite capabilities to place calls will have a disastrous effect on battery life, however: talk time will be up to 5 hours using GSM, but only 1.3 hours via satellite. Likewise, standby times will be between 150 to 170 hours with GSM, and between 34 to 40 hours with satellite. Presumably, there’s an option to turn the satellite radio off when not in use.

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