New York – Want to get email on your iPhone or BlackBerry in the middle of the ocean, or in the Arctic? Now you can — but it’ll cost you.
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Satellite phone network Iridium is launching a box, about the size of a cigarette pack, that connects to an Iridium phone. The box produces a Wi-Fi hotspot that smartphones and tablet computers can connect to. The phone relays that connection to satellites overhead.
Iridium says the data speeds will be slower than dial-up, but they should be good enough for meaningful use of email.
Iridium Communications Inc. says the AxcessPoint will cost less than $200, but it needs to be paired with a phone that costs about $1,000. The data connection will cost about $1 per minute.
You should have seen the Sat-phones up-until afew years ago – the smallest was the size of a small suit-case and cost $5 – 10k!
Will it work in the catskills? My Sprint phone kept losing it’s signal constantly…