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Platinum Member Username: NydasPost Number: 19760 Registered: Jun-06 | AT&T Has Satellite Based Smartphone Posted by Ed Hansberry, Sep 23, 2010 12:30 AM Wow. It is like 1999 all over again. In 1999 satellite phones were all the rage because they were going to work when every other cell phone died as a result of Y2K. The only thing that died were satellite phones for consumers. Flash forward over a decade later and AT&T is ready to give it another go. Despite AT&T's claim that they cover 97 percent of American's, they certainly don't cover 97 percent of America. The only way to get instant total coverage of America's landmass, as well as quite a distance offshore, is to use satellites. If you have $799, you can get a TerreStar Genus according to SkunkPost.com. Coverage seems to be the same as it is for GPS devices. It won't work indoors and there cannot be anything blocking the view of the southern sky like trees, mountains or buildings. That is a problem for the average person, but easy to accommodate if you are someone that spends all or most of their time outside. Park rangers, emergency crews, fishermen or vagabonds could all make use of such a device. The phone is actually a dual mode device. It works on AT&T's existing network and can switch to the satellite network as the need arises, though that switching ability will cost you an extra $25 per month. The data plans aren't cheap either once on the satellite. It will cost $5 per MB, so you don't want to be watching your Slingbox video feed while camping in northern Montana on this thing. SMS messages are 40i½ each, so keeping up with your Twitter following isn't a great idea either. |
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Platinum Member Username: NydasPost Number: 19771 Registered: Jun-06 | The phones are both costly to buy and costly to operate. Only people with genuine business needs would get hease. Like everything computer and communications related, the prices will come down. |
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Moderator Username: AdminPost Number: 8668 Registered: Dec-03 | TerreStar GENUS Cellular/Satellite Smartphone |