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‘Satellite’ Stories

NPD estimate points to $200 cable bill by 2020

Mark Raby, Apr 10th 2012 Discuss [3]

In a study that potentially seems too forward-thinking to be useful, analyst group NPD has determined that eight years from now, the average cable or satellite TV bill will be $200 per household. In 2011, it was $86. Of course, there are viable questions about whether or not cable as we know it will even exist that far in the future, but the point of the study is to show that increased competition is not at all driving down the cost of pay TV. Read The Full Story

Convergence Consulting Group report: 1,000,000+ people cut cord for Web

Mark Raby, Apr 4th 2012 Discuss [1]

Last year, services like Netflix and Hulu provided enough entertainment for more than a million people in the US to cancel their cable or satellite TV subscriptions. That brings the total number of people who have made such a move to 2.65 million since 2008. These are people who specifically said they canceled pay TV service because they were switching to Web-based video options. Read The Full Story

DirecTV iPad app update adds streaming on demand

Mark Raby, Mar 21st 2012 Discuss [0]

DirecTV has rolled out a new app for the iPad that gives users the ability to stream movies on demand, from anywhere that has a data connection. The app gives users unfiltered access to titles from HBO and Showtime, along with some original DirecTV programming as well as other pay TV networks. The new app also integrates social connectivity, allowing users to share what they're watching. Read The Full Story

DARPA toys with on-demand disposable satellites

Ben Kersey, Mar 15th 2012 Discuss [0]

DARPA are said to be looking into the possibility of using cheap, disposable satellites to provide reconnaissance and data to soldiers. The satellites would be deployable with the “press of a button”. The idea is to provide backup when existing satellites would not be in position, or would take too long to re-align. Still, DARPA's idea of "cheap" might differ from everyone else's. Read The Full Story

TDG report compares cable video-on-demand to Netflix

Mark Raby, Mar 5th 2012 Discuss [1]

So, before there was Netflix, there were dedicated digital cable channels that allowed cable subscribers to watch various TV shows and movies for free, usually with some sort of ad-supported structure. Right now, if you're like most cable users in the country, you're probably thinking, "Oh yeah, that's right. There are on-demand channels that I can access from my cable box." The problem is you never actually go there to watch anything. And here are some numbers to prove that. Read The Full Story

Google seeks permission to build 4.5-meter satellite dish array

Shane McGlaun, Feb 21st 2012 Discuss [0]

Before you get too excited, Google is not looking to start its own search and for extraterrestrial life. The photo you see here is of a SETI array that happens to look much like what Google is seeking to build near its data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Rather than searching stars for signs of life, it appears Google wants to use its satellite array to receive content feeds from broadcast networks. Read The Full Story

Swiss plan to orbit a satellite to kill old satellites

Shane McGlaun, Feb 16th 2012 Discuss [22]

It has always been rather ironic to me that the space surrounding the earth doesn't actually have a whole lot of space thanks to the hordes of satellites in orbit. Other than satellites that are actually working, there is a bunch of debris flying around orbiting the Earth that sometimes crashes in the other satellites that are in use, destroying them and making even more debris. Scientists in Switzerland have a plan to clean up junk that's in orbit around Earth. Read The Full Story

European Vega rocket set for maiden voyage

Shane McGlaun, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [1]

Europe is set to launch its new Vega rocket for the first time. This new rocket is a satellite launcher that is designed to carry multiple satellites into orbit and place them into precise orbital locations. The rocket is 30m tall and on its first flight will be carrying nine different satellites. The most interesting of the satellites looks like a metal disco ball with highly effective reflectors on its outer surface. Read The Full Story

Costa Concordia satellite photos show extent of salvage challenge

Chris Davies, Jan 18th 2012 Discuss [28]

Satellite imagery of stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia has been released, showing the $570m vessel languishing on its side off the Tuscan coast as rescue and salvage attempts continue. The shot, from DigitalGlobe, was taken on January 17, though the Italian coastguard has apparently paused its rescue work after the ship subsequently shifted, the BBC reports. "Instruments indicated the ship had moved" a spokesperson said. "We are in the process of evaluating if it has found a new resting point to allow us to resume. For the moment, we cannot even go near it" Read The Full Story

Amateur photographer videos Russian Mars Probe plummet

Chris Burns, Jan 6th 2012 Discuss [9]

While the man may be a so-called amateur when it comes to photography and videography, he's a veteran skywatcher, and he, Thierry Legault, has caught something rather intriguing in his lens. What you're about to see is a slightly fuzzy video of no less than the Russian Federal Space Agency's failed attempt as launching a Phobos-Grunt probe to the planet Mars, it's incomplete November initiated mission ending here as it screams back towards the Earth. Once it was launched in November, it failed to depart for Mars (presumably because it was being fussy, as no additional details have been shared,) and has been stranded in orbit ever since. Read The Full Story

Beidou satnav system promises free SMS messaging and location data worldwide by 2020

Chris Burns, Dec 27th 2011 Discuss [18]

You read that right, folks, the representatives speaking for the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said this week that their Beidou satellite navigation system is currently operational and will have free, global coverage in place by the year 2020. This system Beidou, otherwise known as Big Dipper, will be providing both location data and SMS messaging to any device that can utilize it for free. Beidu is working right this minute mainly in China and the group says that global coverage is in the works for full working operation inside 8 years. Read The Full Story