Twitter Gets Satellite Access

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Twitter Gets Satellite Access

Posted by timothy on Sunday February 12, 2012 @08:47PM from the how-to-monetize-per-country-filtering dept.

jimboh2k writes "Satellite operators Iridium and Thuraya have signed on to provide access for Twitter users outside of normal mobile coverage. The service acts like the SMS function already available on the social network, allowing users to tweet during emergencies."

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Really? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:01 · Score: -1

Iridium isn't dead yet? Seriously, by any sane definition it must be regarded as undead at this point, meaning that all your tweets are belong to zombies. Glad the CDC had the good sense to formulate appropriate public health advisories to deal with this obvious threat. More details, including film, at 11.
1. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:12 · Score: 1
  
  I'm the OP. Just kidding, of course Iridium isn't dead. What used to be the company was restructured into a new corporation just as the original company was at the brink of bankruptcy. Funny enough, the restructuring resulted in a brand new shiny company operated out of McLean, VA USA, which just happens to be a cozy territory of various TLAs. Now, anyone with half a brain will understand why this occurred, and will subsequently translate the OP via s/zombies/TLAs/g. The jury is out on which is worse, given the fact that the CDC hasn't yet come up with effective means of dealing with widespread infection from the latter.
2. Re:Really? by Jesse_vd · 2012-02-12 21:16 · Score: 1
  
  Who are these people with half a brain and in what way is their condition related to the zombies?
3. Re:Really? by The+Askylist · 2012-02-12 22:17 · Score: 1
  
  The TLAs will also recognise that allowing Twitter via satphone might, just might be useful when fomenting unrest in various countries.
4. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 22:18 · Score: 0
  
  Most of the second post was serious, but you did catch the embedded joke. Well played, sir.
5. Re:REally? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 23:40 · Score: 0
  
  "@help, stuck under rubble, need rescue"
6. Re:REally? by jonbryce · 2012-02-12 23:56 · Score: 1
  
  Twitter is very useful for letting rescuers know where people are and what problems/dangers they are facing; and for rescuers to let people on the ground know what to do to prepare for their arrival, eg get out of a particular area of flat land so the helicopter can land on it, get outside and wave so that they can find them etc.
7. Re:REally? by Lumpy · 2012-02-13 00:56 · Score: 2
  
  I have an iridium phone. and I would much rather have a GPS in an emergency.
  Iridium phones are like the ultra basic Phones from 1999. it also has crap for battery life so it will be useless in less than 1 day. The Iridium Extreme is the ONLY phone that has a GPS in it as well to send your location to search and rescue, that phone is expensive as hell compared to the basic iridium.
  Instead of doing something stupid like blowing $1000 on a Iridium phone and a basic plan.
  If you really care about safety you will get a http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10820&minisite=10020/ Delorme In reach. as it's affordable and does not require you to spend a few hundred monthly to keep the thing active.
  And you have always been able to "tweet" from an iridium phone. Iridium lets you SMS message. and you can SMS your twitter account. But only the filthy rich or those of us that actually hike in areas without cellphone coverage have Iridium, like my favorite... The wilds of alaska or canada.
  I would rather someone spend the money on a good bug out bag and a small GPS than an Iridium phone.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
8. Re:REally? by arcite · 2012-02-13 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  Iridium is useful in conflict areas where governments/terrorists shut down local cellphone networks. Iridium has its uses. I have one here in Egypt for emergencies, as the cellphone networks were turned off here during the last revolution.
9. Re:REally? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 05:49 · Score: 0
  
  But you are wealthy. The average american cant afford one let alone the average Egyptian, Iraqi,etc...
  Iridium is awesome for the ultra rich, useless for the average and poor.
10. Re:REally? by GonzoPhysicist · 2012-02-13 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  Another option here would be to use a "Spot" devise that emails your GPS cords to someone, the new ones can send a short message along too. They are in the hundred dollar range and subscription is about that much yearly.
  
  --
  horror vacui
obligatory relevant xkcd: by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:04 · Score: 5, Funny

http://xkcd.com/723/
@ISS by BlackPignouf · 2012-02-12 21:05 · Score: 4, Funny

@ISS, taking a dump.
1. Re:@ISS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:30 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know who the user ISS is, or why he would care about you taking a dump, but I don't think Slashdot is the right medium for this message.
2. Re:@ISS by Gwala · 2012-02-12 21:47 · Score: 1
  
  *whoosh*
  
  --
  #!/bin/csh cat $0
3. Re:@ISS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:50 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I don't know who the user ISS is, or why he would care about you taking a dump, but I don't think Slashdot is the right medium for this message.
  Clearly that kind of information is only relevant for your closest friends. So you are indeed right, slashdot is not the right medium. Instead you should do like one of my friends did and post it to facebook instead.
4. Re:@ISS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:57 · Score: 1
  
  Clearly that kind of information is only relevant for your closest friends.
  Be honest. Are you the sort of chap who enjoys a hearty Cleveland steamer?
5. Re:@ISS by subreality · 2012-02-12 21:58 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Meta-whoosh!
6. Re:@ISS by AVee · 2012-02-12 23:37 · Score: 2
  
  That's probably what they hear @IIS when someone takes a dump.
7. Re:@ISS by Sulphur · 2012-02-13 01:36 · Score: 1
  
  Clearly that kind of information is only relevant for your closest friends.
  Be honest. Are you the sort of chap who enjoys a hearty Cleveland steamer?
  I would guess that the "platform" would be very cross after that.
8. Re:@ISS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 02:05 · Score: 0
  
  I don't know who the user ISS is, or why he would care about you taking a dump, but I don't think Slashdot is the right medium for this message.
  Clearly that kind of information is only relevant for your closest friends. So you are indeed right, slashdot is not the right medium. Instead you should do like one of my friends did and post it to facebook instead.
  I think you misspelled "closet friends".
@sahara by arcite · 2012-02-12 21:11 · Score: 5, Funny

@sahara, flat tire, canteen empty, delirious, to follow mirage, please feed Rex.
1. Re:@sahara by Cryacin · 2012-02-13 00:17 · Score: 1
  
  @Elbonia Help! Help! I'm being repressed!
  
  --
  Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
Okay. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:14 · Score: 1

Yeah, that's the first thing I think about in an emergency. Logging on to twitter and posting some bullshit. How useful.
1. Re:Okay. by Zorque · 2012-02-12 21:58 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  In many cases it's been a very useful tool for warning others about impending emergencies, or about letting the outside world know what's going on. It may not get you the help you need but it could save others from having to do the same.
2. Re:Okay. by peragrin · 2012-02-12 23:27 · Score: 1
  
  only because it is an IM service that is actually fully cross platform and quick to use.
  
  --
  i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
3. Re:Okay. by pla · 2012-02-12 23:38 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Yeah, that's the first thing I think about in an emergency. Logging on to twitter and posting some bullshit. How useful.
  
  Well, I suppose that counts as the obvious symmetry to the jackasses who, watching someone burn to death in a wrecked car, will whip out their cell phones - Not for anything so mundane as calling for (never mind actually trying to) help, mind you, but to record it for YouTube.
  
  We've become a society of narcissists and voyeurs. Welcome to the dawning of a new age.
4. Re:Okay. by Goaway · 2012-02-12 23:45 · Score: 2
  
  What's with that "only"?
5. Re:Okay. by rockout · 2012-02-13 00:27 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  There's nothing new about old people comparing "today's society" to the utopia that supposedly existed in their own youth, and proclaiming the end of civilization as we know it.
  
  --
  I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
6. Re:Okay. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 01:17 · Score: 0
  
  What about logging on twitter and posting "I need help, I'm at coordinates X" (especially if you happened e.g. to be hiking when the disaster hit, so people would not know where to search you)? Or if you were lucky, "I'm alive and well, don't worry about me"?
7. Re:Okay. by spectro · 2012-02-13 02:11 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think getting news that your loved ones are ok after one of the biggest earthquakes in history is bullshit.
  Here in Texas, I was driving back from a concert with my Cousin when she got a text from her bf in Chile about the earthquake just a minute after it ended. We were able to get "I'm ok" news from all our family living there within the first hour after the quake thanks to SMS.
  Twitter started as a system where you could send an SMS that would be broadcasted to all your friends (subscribers). In fact you can still register your cellphone and use it to send updates instead of logging in. You can also set it to send you SMS every time specific people you follow posts updates.
  The big earthquakes both in Chile and Japan proved SMS is a very useful form of communication in times of crisis: while voice lines got easily saturated making it almost impossible to talk to someone there, text messages kept being delivered quickly.
  
  --
  HTML is obsolete. It's time for a new, simpler and richer markup language.
8. Re:Okay. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 17:05 · Score: 0
  
  i know right! old people these days
In Space... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:41 · Score: 0

No one can hear you Tweet!
cGOck by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:53 · Score: -1

NIGGER community
@us_sub by SpaceCracker · 2012-02-12 21:58 · Score: 5, Funny

@us_sub, just launched icbm + nuclear warhead. more info on wikileaks.

--
sigo ergo sum
Actually a good match by subreality · 2012-02-12 22:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

I tried hard to be cynical about this, but really it's a pretty good match. Twitter's enforced lo-fi nature makes it a perfect format for a high cost per bit medium like satellite, but it's used in bulk enough to justify access plans with moderate usage instead of trying to milk corporate customers for $1/packet or something. Perhaps the constellation operators have finally found their market.
1. Re:Actually a good match by DamageLabs · 2012-02-12 22:28 · Score: 1
  
  Oh yes, however dumb it seems at first, it is a very good business decision. This will give them a push into some lower tier markets.
  Tweeting from the middle of Atlantic is good for everybody.
2. Re:Actually a good match by Lumpy · 2012-02-12 23:22 · Score: 2
  
  Last time I took the QE-II I was able to use internet. so unless you are tweeting from a container ship or a life raft it's stupid.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
3. Re:Actually a good match by subreality · 2012-02-12 23:47 · Score: 1
  
  trying to milk corporate customers for $1/packet or something
  ... And somehow I remind myself that terrestrial cellular providers are charging $0.20 per packet for SMS. I tried to exaggerate some without being completely ridiculous, but marking up a mere 5x for satellite access is actually quite conservative. That's messed up.
4. Re:Actually a good match by simoncpu+was+here · 2012-02-13 01:24 · Score: 1
  
  I'm from the Philippines, and unlimited SMS and/or calls cost around $8/month. For prepaid plans, SMS costs $0.02 - $0.04 per message, and calls cost $0.15 - $0.30 per minute. Relatively fast 3G/HSDPA costs $1/day for prepaid, or $19/month for postpaid.
5. Re:Actually a good match by jrmcferren · 2012-02-13 04:05 · Score: 2
  
  Actually via satellite SMS is around $0.43 each. Phone calls can be over $1.50 a minute.
  
  --
  sudo mod me up
6. Re:Actually a good match by GonzoPhysicist · 2012-02-13 06:07 · Score: 2
  
  I don't about SMS and what system you're on, but I send emails via the Globalstar and Orbcomm systems and they cost around $0.10 a pop or about $30 a month for unlimited.
  
  --
  horror vacui
wedding dresses by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 22:07 · Score: -1

There are so many styles of wedding dresses, among them ball gown wedding dresses is my favoutite style and I also think that simple wedding dresses are hard to offer a unique look.
Bypassing censorship? by taiwanjohn · 2012-02-12 22:31 · Score: 4, Insightful

Will this allow people in $DICTATORSHIP to stay connected even when their government has blocked normal internet access?

--
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
1. Re:Bypassing censorship? by hcs_$reboot · 2012-02-12 22:50 · Score: 2
  
  in $DICTATORSHIP
  in @DICTATORSHIP, unfortunately.
  
  --
  Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
2. Re:Bypassing censorship? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 22:52 · Score: 0
  
  Depends if the companies owning the satellites are taxing in $DICTATORSHIP or not.
3. Re:Bypassing censorship? by Cryacin · 2012-02-13 00:21 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, didn't work too well for those livng in Zimbabwe. It's now $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Dictatorship.
  
  --
  Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
4. Re:Bypassing censorship? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 01:27 · Score: 0
  
  At least everyone there is a billionaire.
REally? by Lumpy · 2012-02-12 23:21 · Score: 4, Funny

" allowing users to tweet during emergencies"
If your addiction is that bad, please get some help. during emergencies you need to be paying attention to your safety and the safety of others not tweeting "day 14 without any food, no idea where to go, Wish I had a GPS instead of this crap Iridium phone."

--
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Oh really? by Viol8 · 2012-02-13 00:06 · Score: 1

When? Name one example where someones life has actually been saved because someone else tweeted because they couldn't make a phone call to the emergency services.
1. Re:Oh really? by mitoyarzun · 2012-02-13 02:03 · Score: 1
  
  After the 2010 earthquake in Chile, I remember a guy who got stuck in a room and the phone lines were collapsed. The HSPA network was still alive, and he tweeted where he was and that he needed help. I don't know if he would've died, but it surely helped him.
2. Re:Oh really? by kbielefe · 2012-02-13 05:03 · Score: 1
  
  Spoken like someone who has never been in a widespread emergency. Last April several tornadoes tore through our state, knocking out high voltage power lines and a lot of communications infrastructure. The few mobile towers that were still functioning were jammed with calls. 911 was flooded with minor emergencies. It took a couple days to get more than a handful of radio stations on the air, and we didn't have the power to run a TV. We heard that power would likely not be restored for more than a week. Our cell phone batteries were halfway drained when we woke up under these conditions, without the means to charge it.
  Are you seriously going to spend all day wearing down your battery trying to make one phone call? No. You send out a tweet or a facebook post that says you're all right, but communication is terrible and you'll post an update in 8 hours or so.
  Maybe our lives weren't directly saved by social networking, but I like to think saving bandwidth for people with true emergencies helped.
  
  --
  This space intentionally left blank.
3. Re:Oh really? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 09:10 · Score: 0
  
  To give credit where credit is due, SMS is what helped you out there. Not twitter.
4. Re:Oh really? by thegrassyknowl · 2012-02-13 10:03 · Score: 1
  
  Two girls in Adelaide, Australia used facebook to be rescued from a drain they were stuck in. Ok, so they probably wouldn't have died, but...
  http://dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211909/Girls-trapped-storm-drain-use-Facebook-help--instead-phoning-emergency-services.html
  
  --
  I drink to make other people interesting!
Uh huh by Viol8 · 2012-02-13 00:12 · Score: 1

I think you'll find phone calls and 2 way radios are even better at doing that.
1. Re:Uh huh by jonbryce · 2012-02-13 00:27 · Score: 1
  
  For 1 to 1 contact, yes, but not for general announcements and for getting an overall assessment of the situation.
2. Re:Uh huh by Viol8 · 2012-02-13 01:58 · Score: 1
  
  You're kidding, right?
3. Re:Uh huh by jonbryce · 2012-02-13 03:09 · Score: 1
  
  No.
  I'm thinking major natural disaster like an earthquake, not someone calling mountain rescue because they are in difficulties.
Just tried it - works great by lawrencebillson · 2012-02-13 00:38 · Score: 1

I just tried it. It took a couple of tries to register but it works great.
1995 called by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 01:24 · Score: 2, Funny

wants its PAGERS back.
Cheap Ralph Lauren Polo shirt outlet by lgxfly · 2012-02-13 01:57 · Score: -1

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This isn't really new, by raitchison · 2012-02-13 02:45 · Score: 2

SPOT has had the ability to post to Twitter or Facebook via satellite for a while now with their SPOT Connect product.
http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=116
1. Re:This isn't really new, by Tugrik · 2012-02-13 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  Downside to the SPOT solution: It only allows for 41 character on-the-fly tweets (you can do longer if they're pre-defined but those are much less useful). It also goes through their custom gateway and slaps extra formatting and geo-tagging to your tweet that you may not want. So while functional it's of less value than a native 140-character tweet-via-shortcode like TFA talks about. Globalstar (and their SPOT division) need to step up and provide the same functionality, IMHO.
2. Re:This isn't really new, by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 10:24 · Score: 0
  
  Spot uses Globalsat which has poorer coverage then the Iridium network.
  The DeLorme inReach can post to Twitter as well as Facebook and contact GEOS as well.
  The BriarTek Cerebus can do the same
  as well as the Yellowbrick
  and the Shout Nano
  and a whole bunch of other devices on Iridium...
  Welcome to the connected "I have to tell you I just shat in the woods even outside cell coverage" age
3. Re:This isn't really new, by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-17 19:43 · Score: 0
  
  Second downside -- Globalstar is not a global system, as the name implies.
We Are Watching You by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 05:11 · Score: 0

Extra satellite, so folks can be arrested anywhere, world-wide, for their silly Twitters? Hooray! :-(
awesome..but..It appears to be partly broken too by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-17 19:56 · Score: 0

I play a lot outside of cellular coverage, so its nice to be able to stay in touch. Before I have had to use some awful twittermail.com and selective facebook tweet hack. Now i am happy to see the 40404 shortcode hitting the Iridium network.
Seems to work fine, although, the text messages from twitter come in as 404047. Maybe someone mistyped when they provisioned the connection? You can't reply to the message and have to make a new message to 40404. This is an extra headache since the menu interface on the Iridium 9555 is horrid.