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Comment by ArlenBales | Hacker News Reader

As a hiker who likes to spend many nights camping out in the remote wilderness, this will be a blessing but also a curse. I'll be able to stay connected to family and friends, and have emergency services and information available if necessary, but at the same time I'll have Hacker News and Reddit distractions - but inevitably this is the way the future will be, so it's time to get used to it.

At least when going on a cruise I won't have to pay for their shitty expensive satellite Internet.

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This service won't do that. This is not for satellite phones, that would be Iridium (or more accurately, Iridium NEXT which will come online soon), this is for fixed installation or perhaps vehicle based broadband. It'll require a fairly substantial, sophisticated, and expensive antenna (think pizza box sized) to use, and a lot of power as well. This won't connect directly to handsets. It'll be helpful for providing broadband internet access to remote or less developed locations, it'll be helpful to set a cost/performance baseline across the globe for broadband service, and it'll also likely be useful in providing broadband service for various vehicles such as planes, boats, and automobiles, if they are large enough to have the spare power and area to run the antenna.

Answering the only question that matters, thanks.

What you want is an Iridium 9575 handheld phone, or the model that they release when the Iridium NEXT constellation comes fully online and they start turning off the old satellites. This is not going to be for handheld satellite phones or things that weigh less than maybe 7-10 kilograms.

Yup, but apply the same thought to sailing boats and the GP’s point stands. Could be great for search & rescue (EPIRB is incredibly slow, this could maybe be used to build an alternative system?), but could also compromise the feeling of remoteness.

GP is talking about hiking - big difference in a 300g satellite phone vs the size and weight of what you can mount on a 30' sailboat.

Yes obviously, but sailing is similarly remote from civilisation, you’re a small group with nobody else nearby. So the changes would be similar, except that it’s trivial to mount on a boat so the changes the GP was thinking about actually apply to that scenario. (But with a solar-powered battery-buffered LTE antenna with satellite backhaul, it could apply to hikers without them having to carry around an antenna)

This is where I would love my old Samsung's "ultra power saving" mode. Nothing but calls and texting on a black and white screen. Almost a week of battery life.

What phone is that?

My S7 had it, and so does my S8. Very cool feature that I haven't seen in other phones.

My S7 has that. In my area (with good coverage) it lasts 9 days! in standby.

The Nokia 3310.

Besides, this is gonna have big impact for ppl who travel on planes frequently!

You know how how much i desire internet connection everytime i travel long distance flights.

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