iPhone owners who want to expand their coverage into the remote regions of the Earth now actually have an option that will allow them to do just that. Satellite communications provider Thuraya has announced the new SatSleeve which serves as a dock of sorts for Apple’s iconic device.
Users simply slide their iPhone 4 or 4S (an iPhone 5 model is coming soon) into the SatSleeve and they can instantly begin sending and receiving calls from anywhere within 140 countries from around the globe. That includes far flung locations such as the Himalaya, Karakoram, Sahara Desert and more.
The SatSleeve comes with its own built in battery pack which will extend the life of the phone’s battery nicely. Thuraya rates the Sleeve for 48 hours of standby and an additional 4 hours of talk time with a 2.5 hour recharge time. A built-in emergency “SOS” button allows adventurers to place a call for help to a predetermined number, even if they don’t have an iPhone docked in the sleeve. This adds a nice safety net for those traveling in the backcountry that is not unlike a SPOT communicator. A free SatSleeve app grants access to all of the device’s capabilities.
MSRP for the SatSleeve is $500, so obviously this isn’t cheap technology. A version that supports data over satellite is expected in the fall as well. Depending on price and capabilities, that might be worth waiting for. Still, this looks like a great option for iPhone users and I’d love to hear how well it works. I can’t be the only one who read about this however and immediately thought “Well that’s one way to improve AT&T’s coverage.”
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Cool idea, but it makes your iPhone look kind of goofy.
I think it looks fine, although it is more important to get the functionality over how it looks. I'd want the data version though, although that would add a lot to the bill.
I like it! The reception is one of the down sides of the iphone, I would be stoked to have something like this… Maybe wait till the price goes down a bit tho. 🙂
Yeah, especially since the cost of using the satellite connection can go as high as $8 per minute depending on your location. 😉
Great idea; too bad it's just for Iphones.
It's probably easier to build it for the iPhone. It is the best selling smartphone in the world and models haven't varied much. There are so many different types of Android phones, it is much more of a challenge to create a sleeve for all of them.
I feel like a Mac store! I have a Canadian iPhone, an American iPhone and an iPad. I'm constantly downloading music to iTunes.
http://the-daily-iphone.blogspot.com/
No satellite phone coverage in the America's? Really?