Hi there,
Came across this interesting little device today:
http://www.iridium.com/products/iridium-go.aspx
Imagine setting it up on top of the glareshield and having SD or FF download textual wx, notams, radar overlay. No mention of speeds but this article refers to 1.5mbps available from 2015:
What could be added to our ‘apps’ to revolutionize flying here in Europe? Wx, tracking, remote blackbox ?
DMEarc
from Wikipedia…
Next-generation constellation[edit]
Iridium is currently developing, and is expected to launch beginning in 2015, Iridium NEXT, a second-generation worldwide network of telecommunications satellites, consisting of 66 satellites, with six in-orbit and nine on-ground spares. These satellites will incorporate features such as data transmission which were not emphasized in the original design.10 The original plan was to begin launching new satellites in 2014.11 Satellites will incorporate additional payload for Aireon, Inc.12 and perhaps cameras and sensors in collaboration with some customers and partners. Iridium can also be used to provide a data link to other satellites in space, enabling command and control of other space assets regardless of the position of ground stations and gateways.10 The constellation will provide L-band data speeds of up to 1.5 Mbit/s and High-speed Ka-Band service of up to 8 Mbit/s.1314
The existing constellation of satellites is expected to remain operational until Iridium NEXT is fully operational, with many satellites expected to remain in service until the 2020s. Iridium is planning for the next-generation of satellites to have improved bandwidth. This system will be backward compatible with the current system. In August 2008, Iridium selected two companies—Lockheed Martin and Thales Alenia Space—to participate in the final phase of the procurement of the next generation satellite constellation. On June 2, 2010 the winner of the contract was announced as Thales Alenia Space, in a $2.9 billion deal underwritten by Compagnie Française d’Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur.15
In June 2010, Iridium signed the largest commercial rocket launch deal ever, a US$492 million contract with SpaceX to launch tens of Iridium NEXT satellites on multiple Falcon 9 launchers in 2015–2017 from Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 3.16 The 66 operational satellites in the constellation, plus six on-orbit spares, 70 satellites will be put in orbit by seven launches of 10 satellites each on the Falcon 9, plus two of the 800 kilograms (1,800 lb) Iridium NEXT satellites on a single launch17 of the an ISC Kosmotras Dnepr rocket, beginning in 2015 and completing the refresh of the entire constellation by 2017, as of August 2012.13
Iridium was always great in predicting its own glorious future. Current Iridium is extremely narrow band and expensive. Only SBD is reasonably priced but that is slower than slow and needs dedicated applications to be of any use.
Does the panel see an aviation future for this?
The Iridium Go is an interesting product but the product presentation is very misleading. The data rate of Iridium is so low that you can not connect your smartphone and use it as usual. You will need tailor made applications which can handle this low bandwidth.
In addition the monthly fees are rather high. Here are some prices: Link
So far I do not see the application scenario. For real in flight Internet you need something more sophisticated like the King AeroWave 100 or similar. For weather updates you are probably better off with a specialised solution like Garmin GSR56 , Avidyne MLX770 or my ADL120
Apparently you can have unlimited data for €125pm.
However the speeds are very very slow. The speed is listed as 2.4kBits/s.
So following the maths that’s 2400 bits / second
Divide by 8 to get Bytes
= 300 bytes per second.
Divide by 1024=0.292969kb per second.
*60 seconds=
17.58KB per minute.
1MB = 1024KB
So 1024/17.58 = 58 minutes to download a 1MB file.
I think I’ve gotten that correct.
That’s at max speed of the connection, and actual speed will probably be slower.
That’s essentially useless except for very specialised and customised, tasks.
The data speed is 2.4 Kbits/s This is the same data speed of all other Iridium & Inmarsat Satellite phone services. Iridium are launching their NEXT satellite in 2015-2017, and when available the Iridium GO! will support 3G data speeds.
3G data speeds would make it an interesting proposition. Especially so if you could have unlimited data and essentially eliminate roaming data costs while on the ground. Having said that, by 2017, 3G speeds will probably seem incredibly slow.
Edited to try and sort the quotes and hyperlink. All the buttons for those seem to have disappeared on me, so I’d to figure out how to do it manually!
Yes yes, 2400 Bd as we used to say. It is not as slow as you seem to think: I bet your typing speed is 3% of that, at best. Indeed 9 characters per second is quite impressive for a typist. So no, it is not absolutely slow. For transmitting e-mail, and METAR’s and such, if cleverly coded in 7-bit text format, quite sufficient. You may however say that for_the_volumes_of_data we are used to nowadays, it is slow – but that says more about our data addiction. I am sure said addiction is carefully supported by the big bandwidth suppliers.
And of course the rates cited are ridiculously expensive for that transfer rate; still they apply them, so there must be a market. Who then is the clever one?
There is a number of products out there which provide Iridium-based mobile data. Usually wifi, this one seems to provide GPRS or even 3G but of course any 3G-level speed won’t be achieved.
2400bps is fine for textual stuff and for prepacked graphical data (radar images etc) but it will fall over the moment somebody emails you their ex-iphone selfie which will take 5 hours to download 
I am amazed that Iridium managed to deliver such a crappy data rate, for the $ billions spent on the system – roughly 1975 sort of level. Still, they have good marketing, targeting aggressively all sorts of vertical markets. And, unlike Thuraya, they are capable of communication with customers.
I must admit that I use the DeLorme inReach for texting, METARs, TAFs, tracking etc but it has no voice or e-mail option.
I really must start saving for an ADL120 – or persuade Sebastian to offer a huge re-sellers discount
I wonder if one could make some sort of narrow beamwidth directional downward (or forward down) pointing antenna that could use the existing cell phone structure for data while in the air over populated terrain?
Don’t forget 2400bps is the maximum. If you have no external antenna you will experience less.
