As the description of the phone would suggest, the Blackcomb is meant for outdoorsmen and adventurers, including those that enjoy sailing, climbing, skiing, biking, snowboarding, kayaking, etc. And since most of these activities occur out in the middle of nowhere, where a cellular signal is usually never to be had, the Blackcomb will come with satellite connectivity for making phone calls and checking email, as well as calling for help in the instance of an emergency.

According to AllThingsD, Adaia consists of 16 employees, where around half of them are from Nokia. It’s taken two years to make the prototype of the Blackcomb, and the company expects to begin testing out the device later this summer. Interestingly enough, the design of the phone was inspired by topographical maps, and the unique rigid design allows for a firm grip on the device, according to the company. However, they’re not letting go of the look of the phone just yet — the teaser image above is all we get.

As for price, the Blackcomb won’t be cheap. It’ll be more expensive than a typical top-tier smartphone, but the company says that it will cost less than all the phones you’ve had to buy as replacements for broken ones. They certainly do make a valid case, and the company is marketing this new phone as the solution to rugged devices.

The Blackcomb is planned to be released at some point later next year, and specific details about the phone aren’t yet known, including the screen size, and the hardware on the inside. However, if the phone isn’t releasing until next year, the hardware that’s running the phone now will certainly be obsolete by the time 2014 rolls around. Then again, rugged smartphones usually don’t come with the latest and greatest hardware in the first place, but if we really wanted a rugged device, we’d rather get an iPhone 5 or an HTC One with an OtterBox case and call it a day.

The project was created in HTML5, and it’s a result of the efforts between Google partnerships with the US Geological Survey (USGS), NASA, and Time Magazine. The satellite images collected over the years are from Landsat, which is the longest-running satellite program ever when it comes to snapping photos of the Earth, with over two million images taken so far.

Of course, not every image was used. Google actually had to sift through those couple millions of images to find the best ones (909 TB of data to be exact). After that, they created a huge image of the Earth (one for each year), which rings in at 1.78 TB per image. With 28 years, that’s a total of 49.84 TB of imagery in this project.

Google was kind enough to offer up some animated GIFs ready to view right away of various hot spots on Earth, including Dubai, Las Vegas, and the Columbia glacier retreat. And yes, Timelapse will allow you to visit your hometown to see what it looked like from the sky back in 1984. It’s certainly surprising to see how much the Earth has changed over the last 28 years.

The FCC is now reportedly looking at an alternative for providing Internet service on aircraft. What the FCC is considering is the repurposed of some satellite airwaves in a proposal that is expected to move forward today. QUALCOMM is trying to get the FCC to free up some the airwaves currently used by the satellite industry.

This plan is still in the very early stages and while the FCC is set to vote today, that vote will only be to open the possibility up to public comment. Any actual implementation would likely be years away. QUALCOMM has reportedly been trying to get the FCC to make this move since 2011.

Internet speeds provided by the satellite service is expected to rival that of the speed provided by current ground-based solutions. QUALCOMM has a vested interest in pushing the FCC to approve this plan because it is the main equipment maker for airborne Wi-Fi networks and other companies are expected to bid on the new satellite airwaves and purchase the required hardware from QUALCOMM. Pushback the satellite industry is expected to be strong as many companies in the satellite industry hope to provide hardware and services for airborne Internet themselves.

[via Wall Street Journal]

The project has to be approved by NASA, but if the school gets clearance, the satellite will have a planned launch date sometime later in 2014. The CubeSat satellite that St. Thomas More students have planned will be designed to take photographs and temperature readings, and have them beamed back to the school on Earth.

The concept of the CubeSat was first developed in 1999 by Cal Poly and Stanford University. Since then, over 75 CubeSat satellites have launched into space, most of which have been made by colleges and universities, but never before by an elementary/intermediate school. The entire school is taking part in the project including the kindergarteners.

Once NASA approves the satellite, they will provide the school with a mobilized “clean room” to make sure that the construction phase is met with strict guidelines and standards that NASA follows themselves. The space agency will also provide an antenna to the school that will allow them to receive the photos and temperature readings that the satellite sends back.

The satellite will either be launched into space on a rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, or it may be launched as cargo from Kazakhstan to the International Space Station, then placed into orbit from there. The total cost of the satellite is said to be around $10,000, and it is expected to remain in orbit for at least nine months.

[via Sun Gazette]

About six weeks ago, a small Russian satellite was apparently destroyed when it collided with orbiting space junk created when the Chinese destroyed a satellite in orbit in 2007 using an experimental anti-satellite weapon. The Russian satellite that was destroyed by the Chinese junk was the Ball Lens In The Space or BLITS satellite.

The collision that destroyed the satellite likely occurred on January 22. According to scientists, this is the fourth known collision of an active satellite with orbiting debris. Scientists report that collisions with orbiting debris and satellites occurred in 1996, 2007, and 2009. The accident in 2009 occurred when a nonfunctional Russian military satellite collided with a United States telecommunications satellite.

One of the biggest debris producing events that ever occurred happened in 2007 when the Chinese destroyed an orbiting satellite creating about 3000 pieces of orbiting space junk. NASA estimates that the orbiting cloud of debris surrounding the area contains about 500,000 objects bigger than a marble and 22,000 larger than a softball. NASA believes that in orbit around the planet are hundreds of millions of small pieces of junk at least 1 mm in diameter. Even these tiny pieces can seriously damage satellites or even the International Space Station because they orbit at about 17,500 mph.

[via space.com]

The satellite, which is operated by the Canadian Space Agency, measures in at 0.9 x 0.65 x 0.35 meters, and can operate non-stop, unlike telescopes on the ground. As it orbits space about 500 miles above our blue marble, the satellite snaps pictures to the tune of hundreds every day. The images are then transferred to researchers located at the University of Calgary.

The satellite is equipped with a Maksutov telescope (5.9-inch, f/5.88 aperture), and is powered by solar panels. Stabilizers work via miniature reaction wheels, while magnetorquers slow things down when momentum gets to be too much. Stability is required, according to the official NEOSSat website, because the device’s telescope is used as a framing camera, having to stay in the same spot at times for up to 100 seconds.

The telescope is built without moving parts, meaning that it wasn’t at risk of damage when launched into space. It was launched via the PSLV-C20 launch vehicle from the Indian Space Research Organization. Although, the NEOSSat is boasted as te first space telecope dedicated solely to hunt out asteroids close to Earth.

[via CNET]

Says Ergen: “I don’t want to kill ads. I think advertising is great. I am very aware of the multiple revenue stream in television, subscription and advertising. But I also don’t want to put my head in the sand. As an example, Hulu did a good job. You can pick an ad that is relevant to you. With the Hopper, we have technology that allows you to pick an ad relevant to you. But the broadcast industry is slow to adapt to that.”

He then went on to detail that he’s trying to show networks how they can make more money from targeted commercials by providing advertisements relevant to the subscribers, as well as less commercials overall. He used Hulu as an example, pointing out that subscribers can select the advertisement they want to see, rather than being forced to watch something they have no interest in.

This follows a lawsuit against Dish Network by multiple networks, including Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC, with Fox stating that the feature constitutes copyright infringement as well as undermining the industry. On January 22, CBS claimed that Dish Network had deliberately hid the AutoHop feature during negotiations, something it is trying to use to get permission to file a counterclaim of fraud against the company.

Landsat 8 rode on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket hurdling at 1,700 mph into space. In fact, the rocket burned so much fuel in a short amount of time, that less than five minutes after lift-off, the rocket weighed 25% of its original lift-off weight. One the satellite gets settled in space, it’ll cruise along at around 428 miles in a polar orbit.

The Landsat program is a joint venture between NASA and the US Geological Survey. NASA essentially provides the rockets and the technology to get the satellite up and running, while the US Geological Survey takes all of the images that are collected and turns them into information and data that everyone can interpret.

Over the next three months, NASA will be operating the satellite to make sure it functions as necessary. Then, after all operations appear steady, NASA will hand over the satellite to the US Geological Survey, where’ they’ll take over control of the spacecraft in order to collect information about the planet.

[via Space.com]

DARPA calls its new initiative the Phoenix program, and they’re looking to spend around $180 million to test technologies that will retrieve working parts from dead satellites and use them elsewhere. Essentially, DARPA wants to save money overall, and increase the return on investment with all of its satellites.

Essentially, DARPA will launch a robotic mechanic into space with a toolkit that will be able to mine dead satellites for parts. There would then be a separate launch of multiple mini-satellites, where the robotic mechanic would then connect the mini-satellites to the old satellite parts to create a whole new satellite of sorts.

The Phoenix program is actually already under way, and DARPA has given contracts to several companies to develop new technologies that will eventually be able to scrap old satellites for its parts. The agency is also seeking new proposals from interested companies starting next month. The first test that will find out whether the program will work or not will come in 2016, when it launches a demonstration mission to one of 140 dead satellites that DARPA has picked out for this mission. It’s a new technique that’s never been done before, so while we’d love it if the program went off without a hitch, there’s always the possibility that it might not work, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed hoping for the best.

The satellite is being shut down due to a gyroscope that broke, which the USGS announced on December 21. The gyroscope cannot be repaired, and thus ends the Landsat 5′s long life. The satellite’s decommissioning won’t be instant, however, with the USGS stating that it will take place over most of 2013. The unit has made in excess of 150,000 trips around the Earth.

The Geological Survey’s Director Marcia McNutt offered this statement. “Any major event since 1984 that left a mark on this Earth larger than a football field was likely recorded by Landsat 5, whether it was a hurricane, a tsunami, a wildfire, deforestation, or an oil spill.” The Landsat legacy won’t die with the Landsat 5, however.

The USGS has another observational satellite in orbit, the Landsat 7, which was launched in 1999. Likewise, there are plans to launch another dubbed the Landsat 8 in February. The first Landsat satellite, the Landsat 1, was launched in July of 1972. Says Anne Castle of the Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, “This is the end of an era for a remarkable satellite, and the fact that it flew for almost three decades is a testament to the NASA engineers and the USGS team who launched it and kept it flying well beyond its expected lifetime.”

[via USGS]

These images were gleaned over the course of 312 orbits, and required 2.5TB to store. They represent every surface on Earth; nothing was skimped over or missed. The lights captured represent a whole spectrum of visible lights: reflections from the moon, electric lights in cities, wildfires in the Australian outback, gas lights on boats, and more.

How did they capture such high-quality nighttime images? Via VIIRS, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. This sensor detects various wavelengths, including almost-infrared to green and back again. Filters are used to draw out the dimmer lights that otherwise wouldn’t be noticed, such as collections of boats out to sea.

Said NOAA researcher Steve Miller: “For all the reasons that we need to see Earth during the day, we also need to see Earth at night. Unlike humans, the Earth never sleeps.” Some images captured include the power outages that resulted from Hurricane Sandy. Says one NOAA program scientist, the capabilities of VIIRS to gather data will “take forecasting weather events at night into a much higher level.”

[via NASA]

PrimeTime Anytime allows subscribers to record prime time shows (hence its name), while AutoHop gives an option for skipping commercials on certain recordings. Fox requested a preliminary injection to block these two features, concerned about the effect it will have on advertising revenue. According to a statement published by Dish Network, District Judge Dolly Gee ultimately rejected Fox’s request.

Says the announcement, the block was rejected for several reasons, a few of which were related to copyright. The ruling stated that the use of PrimeTime Anytime does not infringe on Fox’s reproduction rights and that users cannot be held liable for infringement, and neither of the two features fall under unauthorized distribution. About AutoHop specifically, Judge Gee ruled that the feature doesn’t violate Dish and Fox’s 2010 RTC agreement’s Video-on-Demand provision, but that it does “likely violate” the RTC agreement in general. Fox, however, hasn’t provided any proof that it has been harmed by the feature.

Dish’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel R Stanton offered this statement. “Today’s ruling is a victory for common sense and customer choice … The ruling underscores the U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘Betamax’ decision, with the court confirming a consumer’s right to enjoy television as they want, when they want, including the reasonable right to skip commercials, if they so choose.”

[via Dish]

Didn’t know that the Falcon 9 rocket was also carrying a satellite? You’d be forgiven, considering that it wasn’t talked about all that often before the Dragon’s launch last night. The plan was to have the satellite launch into orbit after leaving Earth’s atmosphere on the back of the Falcon 9, but apparently, the OG2 missed its target because of the engine loss.

Orbcomm said in a statement today that the satellite was launched into a lower orbit than what was intended – NBC News reports that instead of the planned 350-by-750-kilometer orbit, the OG2 satellite is now in a 203-by-323-kilometer orbit. Orbcomm said today that it, along with engineers from the Sierra Nevada Corporation, are currently in contact with the satellite to see if they can get the OG2 to rise in orbit, and if such a move is even possible in the first place.

This was the first of 18 OG2 satellites that will be carried into space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. By mid-2013, 8 more of these satellites will be in space, while the rest will be carried out of Earth’s atmosphere by 2014. The first satellite launch is off to something of a rocky start, so here’s hoping that the subsequent 17 launches will go a little bit better.

The new service is called DishNet and it will offer two main packages. The cheapest plan will cost $39.99 per month and it will offer 5Mbps down and 1Mbps up internet access with a 10GB data cap. You can bump the speeds up to 10Mbps with a 20GB data cap for $49.99 per month. However, in order to get these prices, you’ll have to sign a two-year contract and bundle the internet plan with at least Dish’s “America’s top 120″ TV package or any other TV plan that’s more expensive.

You’ll have to pay equipment fees, but installation can be free for both new and existing Dish customers if they bundle up with a TV package. Otherwise, installation will cost $99. That’s not a bad price to pay anyway, seeing how installation fees for other companies can cost upwards of $200 to $300.

DishNet will be available nation-wide, but its aimed and focused on rural areas that don’t have access to high-speed broadband internet. The data caps are definitely a bummer, seeing as other internet service providers usually provide a more generous cap (especially in the city) or no cap at all even. However, if you’re not one to download and stream a bunch of video content, we think you’ll be fine with the small data caps.

[via The Verge]

The Humax Freesat+ with <free time> HD Digital TV Recorder (HDR-10000S) has a 500GB hard-drive (1TB is an option), twin tuners, HDMI, optical digital audio, ethernet, and two USB 2.0 ports. There’s also a digital card slot and SCART/RCA for older TVs. It’s expected to hit UK shelves later in September, priced at £279 ($444).

However, Sagemcom, Philips and Manhattan are all signed up to produce their own PVRs, which will also feature <free time>. The service includes a new “Now & Next” UI, for quickly finding something to watch straight away, and a Showcase section that recommends shows to watch in the coming days or on-demand. Recordings, meanwhile, are automatically organized into boxset-style groups.

Freesat also expects to add further on-demand services in the future, including movies and music, though unlike the basic free-to-air service they will be paid options. Smartphone and tablet apps are also in the works, which will turn the devices into remote controls, as well as allow for recordings to be set remotely.

Dish Network has been offering satellite broadband in certain parts the United States through a partnership with a company called ViaSat. Reports are coming in that Dish Network is preparing to launch a nationwide satellite broadband network. The broadband network would use a satellite from Dish Network sister company EchoStar according to people familiar with the situation.

The specific satellite Dish Network is tipped to use for the nationwide broadband network is called EchoStar 17 and launched on July 5. That particular satellite is able support download speeds of 15 Mbps. Sources indicate that initially packages are expected to offer downloads of 5 Mbps to allow the system to take more capacity.

Sources claiming knowledge of Dish Network’s plan say that Dish and EchoStar will be able to handle about 2 million new Internet customers with the new broadband offering. The service is expected to launch in late that September or early October and will cater mainly to rural America. Dish Network’s deal with ViaSat is only available in areas east of the Mississippi River and on the West Coast. The new satellite broadband service will augment Dish Network’s existing partnership giving it nationwide coverage.

[via Bloomberg]

What is believed to be two separate pyramid complexes may have been discovered using satellite imagery. The complexes are located about 90 miles apart. The satellite images show unusual groupings of mounds that have unusual features and orientations. The features were discovered by a satellite archaeological researcher named Angela Micol from Maiden, NC.

One of the sites is in upper Egypt 12 miles from the city of Abu Sidhum along the Nile River. This site has four different mounds each with a larger triangular-shaped plateau. At this particular site, the two larger amounts are roughly 250 feet wide with a pair of smaller mounds measuring roughly 100 feet in width. The entire complex is arranged in a clear formation with the large mound extending the width of 620 feet, nearly 3 times the size of the Great Pyramid.

90 miles north of the first site near the Fayoum oasis is the second pyramid complex believed to contain a four sided truncated mound approximately 150 feet wide. This particular site has a distinct square center, which is unusual for a mound of the size. 1.5 miles southeast of an ancient town called Dimai three smaller mounds were discovered in a very clear formation similar to the diagonal alignment of the Giza Plateau pyramids. Micol says that both sites discovered using Google Earth images have been verified as undiscovered by Egyptologist and pyramid expert Nabil Selim. The next step after the discovery using satellite images will be field research.

[via Discovery]

The images taken by Landsats are analyzed from different points along the visible and invisible light spectrum, which contain enough data to accurately detail the quality of large areas of farming land, grassland or forests. According to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Landsat satellites have been able to provide us with a critical perspective of the world, including how it’s changed over the past four decades and how it continues to change.

The most recent Landsat that was sent into orbit was Landsat 7 in1999. The next generation Landsat Data Continuity Mission satellite (LDCM) is scheduled to be launched next year, and features the most recent thermal infrared sensors and imaging equipment, making it a much more advanced orbiting observatory that will join the rest of the Landsat family currently in space.

[via Space Ref]

AMC Networks was removed from Dish Network service early Sunday morning after the contract with the satellite provider expired without a new agreement. Dish has long maintained that AMC was charging fees that were too high for the low-rated channel. AMC points out that Dish could not have dropped its service over poor ratings because The Walking Dead is the highest-rated scripted drama on cable TV.

I have to agree with AMC and if I was a Dish Network customer I would absolutely change to DirecTV to get AMC back, specifically for The Walking Dead. I think this has more to do with AMC offering its programs on Internet and Dish Network playing hardball trying to get lower prices and more exclusivity on AMC content. AMC wanted to triple the fees it charged carriers to $.75 per subscriber over the next 4 to 5 years. I guess fee increases are expected when you have three of the most popular shows on TV.

[via Chicago Tribune]

The company has yet to hear back from the FCC regarding its plans, but it’s still moving on head and trying to lock hardware down. Qualcomm will make use of Enhanced Geostationary Air Link (EGAL) technology to be able to provide both terrestrial and satellite modes on the 2 GHz/AWS-4 band.

DISH acknowledges that investing in Qualcomm while developing the solution this early is a risk, but also said that it’s “critical” that the company moves forward if it wants to remain competitive. DISH is also hoping to target “specialized markets” across the United States with satellite connections, most likely those unable to get decent internet access from traditional services.

Kazakhstan is also home to Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome, which is used for the country’s space program and used for international obligations too. As a result, Russia is unable to carry out its commitments until the issue is resolved: “Due to this we are simply unable to carry out not just our own but international obligations.”

Is the matter really about where debris lands? According to Kommersant, Kazakhstan could be wary of Russia not signing a new lease agreement due to the construction of a new cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East territory. That would potentially lead to less reliance on the current facility, with Kazakhstan potentially losing out on $115 million per year. The current lease is set to expire in 2050.

[via PhysOrg]

The Elektro-L weather satellite captured the image from 22,369 miles away, although it has been tweaked slightly. The images that NASA usually throw up are apparently “boring”, so near-infrared imagery has been overlaid on this photo to provide a swath of browns and oranges.

The below video is comprised of around 350 shots, with one taken every 30 minutes, and 0.62 miles fitting into each pixel. Make sure to peep the time-lapsed video below to get a sense of how small and insignificant we really are.

[via Laptopmemo]

This is great news for LightSquared as they gather their things and begin anew thinking of ways that they might save their business now that the FCC has essentially given them the big hand in the face. The rental fee LightSquared is asked to pay quarterly is $29.6 million USD, difficult for a company that’s not currently allowed to function or offer up data connectivity for sale. LightSquared has said they will use the extra time to once again focus on obtaining regulatory approval for its project as soon as possible.

Inmarsat had previously said they’d shut down LightSquared if they did not cooperate under their agreed terms, noting their payment being late under the first phase of their written agreement. LightSquared responded by noting that Inmarsat, in turn, did not fulfill all it’s agreements either. Inmarsat spokesman Chris McLaughlin noted the following on the subject:

“We complied with everything they asked us to do [including] alternating stripes of L-band spectrum.” – McLaughlin for Inmarsat

Since this disagreement, LightSquared did make an outstanding payment of $56.25 million. LightSquared now seeks to continue their deal hinging on their ability to get in good with the FCC or substantially change the way they run their connections to data. Have a peek at the timeline below to follow this story back to the beginning!

[via ComputerWorld]

Traditional business logic says that if there is more competition, prices will decrease. Nevertheless, even with Netflix, Hulu, and other services putting a kind of pressure of satcasters that they have never seen before, prices are going up. NPD said the average increase is about 6% per year. By 2015, it said it expects the average bill to go up to $123 per month. It will be within the next year or two that it eclipses the $100 mark.

Most of the blame was attributed to content providers and licensing fees. So channels like ESPN, Disney Channel, TLC, whatever it may be, are now more expensive for cable and satellite operators to license. And do you think that affects them at all? Not at all; they just pass that cost on to the consumers. “As pay-TV costs rise and consumers’ spending power stays flat, the traditional affiliate-fee business model for pay-TV companies appears to be unsustainable in the long-term,” NPD warned in its analysis.

[via VentureBeat]

It may seem like this number will only continue to climb at higher rates, but it’s believed that the cable-cutting momentum will slow after content creators lessen the level of access and increase prices for distribution. And while there will still be people who cancel their pay TV services, the number who sign up for new service will offset that, leading to net increases in subscriber rates, perhaps fueled by newer enticing offers to gain first-time customers while increasing rates on long-time subscribers.

Some have said the notion of cord-cutting for Web video is a myth, and that it isn’t something to actually worry about yet. These numbers from Convergence Consulting, though, show that it is more than a myth. The other obvious fact is that Netflix is the biggest driving factor for cord cutting, with 21.7 million Netflix streaming users at the end of 2011.

[via BusinessWeek]

TomTom apologized for the glitch today, which it attributed to a leap year bug in the GPS receiver software from a third-party supplier. Customers from the UK, Australia, Denmark, and Switzerland were among the first to experience the glitch. Most users were unable to receive any GPS signal, while other had intermittent access.

The company hasn’t directly specified which sat-nav units have been affected, but instructions for the software update have been posted for the Start 20/25, Via 110/120/125, the Via Live 120/125, the Go Live 820/825, and the Go Live 1000/1005/1005 World. You can check out the support page here.

DirecTV, like a number of other cable and satellite providers, already had an iPad app that allowed subscribers to stream select live TV content. But the catch is that users need to be connected to their home WiFi network – and that network has to be powered by the same company as their TV service. In other words, the app is treated like a second cable or satellite box, not an on-the-go service.

The new DirecTV mobile offering takes it a step further, but of course the content that can be streamed from anywhere is on-demand videos, not live TV. In addition, the selection only includes full-length movies, not TV show episodes. Cable and satellite companies are continuing to be extremely conversative when it comes to streaming content, but they do realize they need to offer something in order to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu.

[via VentureBeat]

DARPA are hoping that the satellites, aimed to cost around $500,000 each, would allow crucial mapping information to be sent in less than 90 minutes. In a statement, the agency said:

We envision a constellation of small satellites, at a fraction of the cost of airborne systems, that would allow deployed warfighters to hit ‘see me’ on existing handheld devices and in less than 90 minutes receive a satellite image of their precise location to aid in mission planning.

Right now, the plan consists of 24 satellites that would be able to stay in Earth’s low orbit for around two to three months before burning up on re-entry. DARPA say the plan would require manufacturers to take advantage of rapid production techniques currently used in the smartphone industry.

Right now the U.S Military makes use of unmanned drones in order to provide reconnaissance, although DARPA argues that drones cannot cover large areas of land without extensive refueling. The other problem is that there simply aren’t enough drones to go around to all the armed forces, and bandwidth requirements makes it difficult to get images back to the front line. DARPA have invited manufacturers to discuss the plan, and have organized a “Proposers Day” on March 27th.

[via BBC]

A study from TDG entitled Making Ad-Supported VOD Work found that video-on-demand services from cable and satellite companies accounted for only 1% of all TV viewing in the country. TDG senior analyst Bill Niemeyer noted that satcasters “are investing significant resources in TV Everywhere (TVE) but have ignored the fact they have a potentially viable ad- and revenue-generating on-demand platform already in place in over 50 million U.S. homes in the form of VOD.” He said it’s a glaring problem and one that Netflix has been exploiting.

In fact, in the fourth quarter of 2011, TDG estimates that Netflix subscribers in the US watched 80% more hours of streaming video content than all cable/satellite video-on-demand content combined. Niemeyer suggests that broadcasters need to find a better way to market and monetize their existing on-demand infrastructure. Right now most subscribers simply don’t realize they have access to, for example, Comedy Central On Demand. The worst part, though, is the lack of content available in these channels. They’re also fragmented, making content discovery difficult on the user end. It’s no wonder services like Netflix and Hulu are able to grab money from consumers who are already existing cable or satellite subscribers.

The content could then be shot out over its high-speed fiber-optic network for people to watch. Filings show that Google is seeking to register a C-band receive-only earth station along with a Ku-band receive-only earth station, both near its data center. That application outlines the 4.5 m satellite dish array along with permission to access transmissions from satellites, including Intelsat 9, which carries international television programming.

The data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa is a few hundred miles away from Kansas City, which is the city Google selected last year for its massive fiber optic project. That project will see the city wired for high-speed fiber-optic Internet service. The building of that network was delayed in part due to arguments over where Google could run fiber-optic cables on the existing network utility poles.

[via DataCenerKnowelge]

The plan involves a small satellite that would be placed in orbit and then catch up to the defunct or damaged satellites and capture them. The satellite is dubbed CleanSpace One and will have some sort small arm to reach out and grab the old satellites, and then store them inside itself. The janitorial satellite would then launch itself, and its worthless was cargo back into the atmosphere where it would burn up. This sounds like a good idea, but a better idea would seem to be a satellite that could remain in orbit and simply fling debris or other satellites into the atmosphere without killing itself.

CleanSpace One is a small satellite that reportedly wouldn’t cost that much to put into orbit. The first version will be placed in orbit, and the Swiss will use it to destroy Switzerland’s own Swisscube or its cousin Tlsat. Both of those satellites are 61 cubic inches in size. The team developing the cleanup satellite hopes that eventually they can turn the project into a commercial enterprise with ready-made systems for other customers to use to deorbit satellites when they are no longer needed.

[via Business Insider]

That satellite is designed for high-accuracy laser measurements to test aspects of Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The spacecraft is set to launch at 10:00 GMT from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. The Vega rocket is also packed with sensors to monitor all aspects of its first flight, though sensors are important if the first flight happens to fail. The data will be used to determine what caused the failure so it can be addressed.

The rocket will be used to launch satellites that way less than 2.5 tons each. The rocket has four stages with the first three burning solid fuel and the fourth stage using a liquid fuel allowing the rocket to be stopped and started repeatedly to achieve precise orbital insertions. BBC reports that the failure rate for maiden launches of new rocket systems is 58%. In exchange for taking this big risk with the satellite payloads, all the organizations that have satellites on the rocket for the maiden flight are getting the ride for free.

[via BBC]

The salvage attempt itself will be technologically complex, requiring multiple specialists teams to operate on the vessel simultaneously. Most immediate – aside from search & rescue looking for any remaining survivors – is a team from SMIT, which has been tasked with removing in excess of 2,300 tonnes of fuel still onboard.

Although experts say the risk of a spillage is low, there are concerns that if the Costa Concordia slips into deeper water then removing the fuel will be made far more complex. Anti-spill booms have been put into place around the ship.

Beyond that, a fleet of ships will winch the cruise ship upright again, potentially using inflatables progressively placed underneath its body to help tip it back to the correct orientation. That will only be possible once the full extent of the puncture damage underneath is understood, however. The salvage project as a whole is expected to extend across a period of months or more.

[via BBC]

The satellite was seen to be falling towards the Earth at a rapid rate, easy to imagine since this bulky monster weighs in at a cool 14-tons. The satellite is currently falling towards the Earth heavy-side down, as Legault describes in his statement to the press. This might lead one to believe that this was the reason for the failure of the hardware, its solar panels deployed but dead, the whole bulk on the wrong side, away from the sun. Bigtime bummer for Russia – and certainly for whoever’s house this satellite lands on.

The actual uncontrolled fall into the atmosphere is placed somehwere between the 15th and 16th of January, 2012, but it’s certainly on its way to a fiery doom right this moment. Holger Krag, deputy head of the European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office, at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, had a bit to say about the situation, especially regarding the hit on land (or water.) In regards to reports popping up that the satellite might be hitting any place specifically at this moment:

“This is, of course, nonsense. It can come down at any place. [And because the Earth is 73 percent water covere,] there is a rather small chance that there would be a land impact. Relax. The likelihood of somebody being hit is enormously low. It is way smaller than to be struck by lightning. If you have a thunderstorm above your city you would also not worry too much.” – Krag

No worries!

[via Space.com]

Ran Cheng of CASTC made a formal commitment this week that Beidou service would be free and remain free to all through the future. Chinese workers are currently seeing to the fact that this system must be operable with the US GPS system in the future as well as the forthcoming EU Galileo network and Russia’s already in-place GLONASS. This first service is currently working for the area inside 84 degrees to 160 degrees east longitude, 55 degrees south latitude to 55 degrees north latitude: greater China.

Meanwhile it’s been reported that “excitable” members of the Pentagon have decried the creation of a satellite network by China, saying that if there were a war that China could destroy the USA’s GPS network with minimal effort. The Register is also reporting the the USA also has plans for satellites to monitor orbital war, this certain to clash with China’s ability to do the same. Time for Star Wars, anyone?

[via The Register]

The gigantic aircraft launch system is being called Stratolaunch. The aircraft launch system is still in the design stages at this point, but the beast would have a wingspan wider than a football field and need a runway at least 12,000 feet long. Allen would invest in the area of $200 million from one of his funds into the project. The aircraft would have six engines from a Boeing 747 hanging underneath the wings along with the landing gear from the normal passenger aircraft.

As you can see in the concept drawing the aircraft would be a twin-boom design. In the center of the massive jet would be a rocket booster that would be dropped at an altitude of 30,000 feet with its satellite payload. The rocket would then use boosters to fire the satellite into orbit. The wingspan of the jet is 385-feet and when fully loaded it would weigh 1.2 million pounds. If the project is successful there are expected to be many customers lining up to save big compared to a traditional satellite launch that can range from $30 million to $200 million.

[via WSJ]

Anyone who uses GPS has had the frustration of not being able to get an accurate location reading under trees, indoors, and under cloud cover. The new generation of satellites is said to be much more powerful allowing the devices to get readings when they previously could not. The new-generation satellite also uses a common band that is shared with other countries so GPS devices can work wherever you are.

The best part though is that the new satellites have better accuracy than older versions. The new satellites have the ability to determine your location within roughly one meter whereas the older satellites needed had a range of about ten feet. This is the first satellite in the US upgrade plans. The new satellites also have military uses with signals that are harder to block. This satellite will not be used in space. The first satellite of the Block III units to go into orbit will not be delivered until May of 2014.

[via Huffington Post]

This is actually a satellite dish cleverly disguised as a chair. The SatPlus Sat Chair has a dish and a LNB hidden in its design. The chair works like a 60cm dish and is made for balcony and the ruses. It might be the perfect thing for picking up channels at the campsite too.

The chair weighs in at 5 kilos and will cost you about 242 euros. It’s not clear what satellite networks it will and won’t work with. You will obviously still need a converter to view the programming. We also wonder what would happen if you sit on the chair. I suspect someone’s bum would block the signal as effectively as heavy clouds.

[via SatEuropa]

The app itself is free, however, you still need to purchase one of Iridium’s satellite phones to act as the hotspot access point to share the satellite data connection with your iOS devices. And as you may have heard at some point in time, satellite phones and service aren’t cheap. The phone itself will cost about $1,000 to $1,500 while the bandwidth is charged at $1 per minute of usage.

But if you’re the seafaring kind where data connections are shoddy if existent at all and you must stay connected, you can at least do so now and still be connected on your iOS device. Iridium also recently launched its AxcessPoint WiFi hotspot apps for the BlackBerry, Mac and Windows laptops.

[via Engadget]

However, the same day that the commander, Gen. Robert Kehler, announced the hack attempts the government of Australia also announced that they did not ask the U.S. before allowing China to access a ground station used in Western Australia that is also used by NASA. The same thing may have happened in the case of the hacking attempts on the two other satellites.

Kongsberg Satellite Services owns the ground station in Norway, which in turn is owned 50/50 by a private Norwegian defense firm and a Norwegian state company. Kongsberg Satellite Services denied that any interference with U.S. satellites happened through its ground station. A commission investigating the satellite hacks has said that the attacks have not been traced back to China, but the techniques used appear to be Chinese.

[via WSJ]