How can I display my SIM card phone number on my Iridium phone?

Step 1 – Press Menu until you see “Phone Book”, and then press “OK” to select.

Step 2 – Press Menu untill you see “My Phone Number(s)”, and then press “OK” to select.

Step 3 – Your SIM card phone number will be displayed.

Step 4 – Press and hold “C” to exit the menu.

Stream Live

The Streambox Live Service will change how the world captures and receives live video.

Streambox Live Service Key Features:
• Streambox Live Service enables 512 KBPS video feeds to support broadcast-quality SD Video
• Free, easy-to-use, consumer friendly mobile encoding software for mobile phones, Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh computers
• Digital Rights Management – contributors and broadcasters can set video rights for control and video access for live and archived video
• Streambox Live Service supports automated and ad hoc live video routing for playout on Streambox decoders and Streambox Media Player
Streambox Live Service operates seamlessly with Streambox’s industry-leading platform of SD and HD broadcast-quality video encoders, decoders, as well as its complete line of broadcast and distribution servers.

BGAN helps to fix eye's

The shell of an essential eye clinic which will serve 200,000 Tanzanians was built by volunteers from the US, who sent daily progress reports via BGAN.

Around 35 volunteers from the Atonement Lutheran Church in Kansas City travelled to Mwanza, Eastern Tanzania, to construct the clinic structure as part of a project being coordinated by International Health Partner TZ-US organisation.
The volunteers supplied many of the building materials themselves and worked in an area where mobile broadband proved extremely useful for keeping in touch.

Blogs and photos were sent via a Thrane & Thrane BGAN terminal.
Charles Powell, a physician and church member who travelled with the group, says the BGAN service was a useful asset. He would take a BGAN terminal on another such trip as it was ideal for emergency use when local services are unavailable.
“We found the service to be reliable, in distinct contrast to the wireless service available locally. For our purposes, this was a definite advantage,” he said.

“Although we were located near a metropolitan area the system could have worked equally well in remote regions. Data exchange rates were acceptable and we were able to share our connection by using a simple wireless access point,” said Charles.
“This allowed me to upload and download email to my Blackberry device whenever the satellite link was running and I was able to exchange daily updates from the hostel we were staying, while another church member kept the blog updated with very little difficulty.”

These updates recorded the setting up of a makeshift eye clinic in an existing facility next door where the volunteers’ resident doctor saw around 30 local patients a day.

Source: Inmarsat

Iridium Openport Video

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oMe0P4WoZk&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_profilepage&fs=1]

"Around The Americas" Sailing Expedition

Iridium Press Release -

Iridium Satellite LLC (Iridium) will be providing satellite communication equipment and services for the “Around the Americas” sailing expedition, which got underway from Seattle on May 31, 2009. An Iridium OpenPort® high-bandwidth marine satcom system has been installed on the expedition’s 64-foot steel-hull sailboat, Ocean Watch. The system is providing voice and high-speed data connections throughout the 13-month, 25,000-mile circumnavigation of the North and South American continents.

Around the Americas is a research expedition that will collect scientific data and test new methods and equipment – all to raise awareness of the precipitous changes that are occurring in the earth’s oceans and to promote solutions to mitigate those changes.

Ten scientists from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory (UW-APL), the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO), RMR Co., MIT Sea Grant, NASA and Western Washington University have placed a diverse suite of instruments onboard Ocean Watch to monitor polar science, weather, jellyfish populations and solar-energy reflection, among other conservation projects.

“Since Iridium is the only service that can provide voice and data coverage throughout our entire voyage, Iridium OpenPort will serve as our primary communication device and critical lifeline to the outside world,” said Around the Americas expedition leader Mark Schrader. “This high-performance system will give us access to enhanced-bandwidth satellite voice and data links between ship and shore during the course of our voyage/expedition. The Iridium OpenPort terminal will enable us to transmit reports, blogs and images to the thousands of people who will follow our voyage on the Internet, as well as speak to our families during this long journey.”

Greg Ewert, Iridium’s executive vice president, Global Distribution Channels, said, “Iridium OpenPort is a breakthrough product for the maritime market, as it is the only truly global high-bandwidth mobile satellite system. The Iridium OpenPort system has gone through a rigorous testing program, both onshore and afloat on a variety of platforms. As a result, it has a robust, proven system that operates reliably in the marine environment, even on smaller vessels with high-dynamic rolling and pitching motions.”

Ocean Watch will sail around the American continents in a clockwise direction, transiting the Northwest Passage, sailing down the East Coast, around Cape Horn, and back up the West Coast, returning to Seattle in July 2010. Notably, this will be one of the first times a sailboat has navigated through the Northwest Passage from west to east.

Over the course of the voyage, Ocean Watch will visit 30 ports in 11 countries where the crew will host media events and educational programs for local schools to educate citizens about issues affecting conservation of the earth’s oceans. A real-time map of the voyage can be found at www.aroundtheamericas.org, as can information on Ocean Watch, the crew, the expedition’s partners and more.

The Iridium OpenPort terminal has three independent phone circuits and a separate high-speed data port with scalable rates of 9.6 to 128 kbps. The lightweight, omni-directional antenna array is about the size of a typical small boat radar radome. It contains no moving parts, which greatly reduces cabling, installation and maintenance costs.

Source: Iridium Satellite LLC

Streaming video at a low cost

I have spoken about the streambox in one of my first posts. Streambox allows you to stream video via satellite at a much cheaper price due to the video being compressed or only sending what needs to be sent across therefore only needing to use slower Internet connections. If you combine this technology with the BGan unit then you have a very strong combination.

“With a compact and rugged design, advanced video compression, and ability to transport high-quality pictures over a variety of low-bandwidth IP networks, the Streambox solution gives our newsgathering staff much greater flexibility in delivering live coverage from around the globe. Using this flexible, yet powerful kit, our first response teams will be able to get set up quickly and transmit better-quality pictures, faster than before, as events unfold.”

— BEVAN GIBSON
Technology Executive
Sky News, British Sky Broadcasting

View the review of the SBT-9500 encoder

Iridium 9601 SBD Modem

This is a small satellite modem designed for embedded applications. Easily integrates into a wide variety of applications that require remote access. Ideal for monitoring, alarms, and tracking. Includes RS 232 serial interface and optional developer kit. Low latency for delivery. Available to registered Iridium partners.

Features:
Small form factor
RS 232 Serial interface
Global coverage
340 bytes per message
SMA Antenna Connector to connect to small omni directional L-band antennas
Simple AT Command interface

Specifications:
Length: 106.4mm
Width: 56.2mm
Height: 13mm
Weight: 117g
Operating temperature range: -30 C to +60 C

More info

Iridium Executive Appointed Multiple Leadership Posts

Iridium Press Release:

Iridium Satellite LLC (Iridium) announces that Donna Bethea-Murphy, vice president of Regulatory Engineering for Iridium, was elected chairman of the board of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), the leading trade association for the satellite industry. Bethea-Murphy already serves as a board member of the Mobile Satellite Users Association (MSUA), a trade association advancing the interests of the mobile satellite industry, and was recently appointed as vice chair of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) World Radiocommunication Conference Industry Advisory Group 3.

“Iridium’s strong regulatory position in the U.S. and internationally significantly contributes to our ability to meet our customers’ needs,” said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. “Donna leads our regulatory and policy efforts at the FCC, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other key forums. In this new leadership position within the SIA, she can play a key role in shaping national legislation and policymaking that not only supports the goals of Iridium but of the entire satellite industry.”

Prior to joining Iridium, Bethea-Murphy was senior director of Spectrum Policy at PanAmSat Corporation. Before that, she served as director of Technology and Regulatory Affairs for AirTouch Communications, and has held key positions at the FCC with responsibility for domestic and international satellite and terrestrial wireless policy.

Source: Iridium

Tweet Tweet

More and more people are starting to use Twitter which is a micro blogging social networking platform. According to Inmarsat, users of BGan are starting to ‘Tweet’ from remote locations on some interesting topics ranging from US troops in Afghanistan to hikers in the Amazon jungle.

“CNN‘s Mike Boettcher and his son Carlos are embedded reporters with US troops in Afghanistan – both are sending short messages on Twitter to support blogs and other reports.”

“From the depths of the Amazon jungle, to the highest paved road in North America, BGAN also supported the tweeting of Dan Terdiman on his latest road trip.”

Twitter users are also comparing notes about BGAN and the applications from partners it supports. And you can now catch up on the latest tweets from Inmarsat on Twitter too.

Sources: Inmarsat on Twitter, CNN’s Mike Boettcher on Twitter, Amazon Walkers on Twitter.

Inmarsat turning 30

On 16 July 1979, Inmarsat was created by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to ensure mariners had reliable communications at sea, we have been recognised internationally as pioneers.

They introduced their first land mobile services in 1989, followed by aeronautical services in 1990. The same year they launched the first of their own satellites, now part of an 11-strong fleet.

Always connected
Today their mobile broadband voice and data services, delivered globally over their latest-generation I-4 satellites, allow you to stay always connected, wherever you are on land, at sea or in the air.

And Inmarsat continue to be innovators, looking ahead to the launch of our Alphasat I-XL satellite, currently expected in 2012, and beyond to the next generation of Inmarsat satellites, the I-5s.

Source: Inmarsat