Neowin News Feed for: Satellite

Amazon to acquire Globalstar in major satellite connectivity expansion

Pradeep Viswanathan — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:38:01 +0000

Amazon is acquiring Globalstar to build a next-generation direct-to-device constellation that can deliver continuous connectivity for consumer, enterprise, and government customers. Read more...

Is your carrier blocking Samsung's life-saving satellite features?

Paul Hill — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:20:01 +0000

Samsung is retroactively enabling satellite SOS on older Galaxy phones. But depending on your carrier, you might be left without full data access. Read more...

SpaceX inks new deal with Airtel to bring Starlink internet to India

Aditya Tiwari — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 16:16:02 +0000

Starlink Internet is making its way to India as part of a new partnership with telecom giant Airtel. Read more...

Vodafone makes world's first satellite, no network video call on standard phone

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 06:10:01 +0000

Vodafone has made history by placing the world's first satellite video call in an area without coverage on a regular smartphone. Read more...

Man creates his own satellite to take space selfies with Earth

Aditya Tiwari — Sat, 30 Nov 2024 13:30:01 +0000

Former NASA engineer Mark Rober has created a new satellite to take Space Selfies with the Earth in the background. Space X Falcon 9 rocket will deploy the SAT GUS satellite into Earth's orbit. Read more...

Japan sends the world's first wooden satellite into space

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 12:58:01 +0000

The world's first wooden satellite developed by Japan, heads to space to test the durability of the material. Read more...

Apple's Roadside Assistance via Satellite feature is now available in the UK

Steve Bennett — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 13:34:01 +0000

Following its launch with the iPhone 14 in the US, Apple has expanded its Roadside Assistance to the UK. Read more...

T-Mobile and Starlink successfully tested wireless emergency alert (WEA) via satellite

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 05:08:02 +0000

Thanks to Starlink's satellites, T-Mobile users will soon receive emergency alerts on their phones even without cell service. Read more...

Prototype mission of Amazon's Starlink rival a success, Bezos is about to challenge Musk

Martin Hodás — Sun, 26 May 2024 10:14:02 +0000

Amazon achieved 100% success with its Kuiper prototype satellites that are supposed to compete with SpaceX's Starlink. The test spacecraft will now lower its orbit and burn in the atmosphere. Read more...

After photos from the battlefield, Musk denies that SpaceX is selling Starlink to Russia

Martin Hodás — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 09:10:02 +0000

Ukrainian intelligence confirmed that Russians are using Starlink at the front line in Ukraine. SpaceX denies a possibility that the Russian military obtained its terminals legally. Read more...

Google and AT&T invest in beating Starlink in satellite-to-smartphone technology

Martin Hodás — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 10:56:01 +0000

SpaceX is not the only company trying to enable regular phones to connect directly via satellites. Major U.S. tech and telecom companies now invest in Starlink competitor with the same technology. Read more...

Apple extends Emergency SOS via satellite for another year for iPhone 14 users

Steve Bennett — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 10:34:01 +0000

Apple has announced that it will extend free access to Emergency SOS via satellite for another year for all existing iPhone 14 users who activated their device prior to today in supported countries. Read more...

New ESA weather satellite sends back its first image of Earth with remarkable detail

Aditya Tiwari — Sat, 06 May 2023 05:26:02 +0000

European Space Agency has released the first image of Earth clicked by its MTG satellite that launched last year. The satellite is capable of scanning the entire Earth disc in just 10 minutes. Read more...

Motorola's latest gadget enables satellite messaging on any smartphone

Aditya Tiwari — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 11:24:01 +0000

If you want satellite communication on your existing smartphone, your wait has finally ended. Motorola's Bluetooth-powered dongle lets you send text messages via satellite in areas with no network. Read more...

Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite now available in the UK, France, Ireland, and Germany

Justin Luna — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 10:40:01 +0000

Emergency SOS via satellite is now available for iPhone 14 users in the UK, Ireland, France, and Germany. The feature allows people to call for help even if they don't have cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. Read more...

Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite is now available in the U.S. and Canada

Paul Hill — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:30:01 +0000

Apple's iPhone 14 line-up can now use Emergency SOS via Satellite in the U.S. and Canada. The company said that it will launch the feature in France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK next month. Read more...

TWIRL 3: Rocket Lab to attempt launch of delayed mission

Paul Hill — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 20:16:02 +0000

There are four planned rocket launches this week, two from SpaceX, one from Rocket Lab, and another from the Chinese National Space Administration. Rocket Lab's mission was delayed from last week. Read more...

TWIRL 2: SpaceX's Starship SN10 could take flight

Paul Hill — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 20:12:01 +0000

There are three rocket launches expected this week. Rocket Lab is launching several satellites, Iran is re-attempting to launch its Pars 1 satellite, and SpaceX will try to land Starship SN10. Read more...

Arianespace Vega rocket fails shortly after launch, Spanish and French satellites lost

Ather Fawaz — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 05:58:01 +0000

After igniting its upper stage eight minutes after liftoff, the Vega rocket lost nominal speed and went on a degraded trajectory, taking with it the Spanish and French payload onboard. Read more...

Microsoft is taking cloud computing to the next frontier - space

Abhishek Baxi — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:42:01 +0000

Microsoft has announced Azure Space to evolve Azure for the mission needs of the space community as it grows in innovation with far lower barriers of access for public & private-sector organizations. Read more...

UK launches four nanosatellites to space, two have a supercomputer onboard

Ather Fawaz — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 04:22:02 +0000

Built by Spire, these four nanosatellites will track shipping movements. Two of them have a supercomputer to predict arrival times with ML algorithms, the other are meant to act as relays for comms. Read more...

Sony's new receiver LSIs for wearables support both L1 and L5 bands while consuming only 9 mW

Ather Fawaz — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 07:42:01 +0000

Set for release in September 2020, Sony's upcoming LSIs support both L1 and L5 bands, and are set to boast the industry's lowest power consumption for dual-band positioning operation at only 9 mW. Read more...

Virgin Orbit's first end-to-end orbital test flight terminated after an in-flight anomaly

Ather Fawaz — Tue, 26 May 2020 07:20:01 +0000

Following a clean release and ignition of LauncherOne's engines, an anomaly in the early stages of flight caused Virgin Orbit to terminate the first end-to-end flight of its orbital payload. Read more...

SpaceX rival, OneWeb, files for bankruptcy due to COVID-19

Paul Hill — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 09:46:02 +0000

OneWeb has announced that it's filing for bankruptcy. The firm was responsible for launching several internet-providing satellites but the economic situation caused by COVID-19 caused it to fail. Read more...

Europe's telescopes can handle broadband satellite interference

Paul Hill — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 11:28:01 +0000

A paper has looked at the expected effect of internet satellites on telescope astronomy. It said the issue is manageable and that the first and last hours of the night will be impacted most. Read more...

SSTL announces Lunar Pathfinder comms satellite with a launch due in 2022

Paul Hill — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 12:50:01 +0000

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has revealed its Lunar Pathfinder mission which will give lunar missions affordable communications satellite. NASA is one expected user of the Lunar Pathfinder. Read more...

Apple is surreptitiously working on satellite technology, according to a report

Ather Fawaz — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 14:10:01 +0000

As per a report by Bloomberg, the Cupertino giant has hired a top-secret team of venerable professionals from satellite and aerospace industries to potentially beam data directly to devices. Read more...

Facebook confirms it is working on internet-beaming satellite dubbed Athena

Jay Bonggolto — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 10:42:02 +0000

The satellite-based internet project was first revealed in May by a filing with the Federal Communications Commission. Set for launch in early 2019, Athena is meant to deliver internet from orbit. Read more...

SpaceX's plan to provide internet using satellites gains FCC approval

Jay Bonggolto — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 06:48:01 +0000

SpaceX has received the Federal Communications Commission's approval for its plan to provide a high-bandwidth low-latency internet solution to consumers using a network of over 4,000 satellites. Read more...

SpaceX seeks Starlink trademark for satellite broadband service

John Keefer — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 22:32:02 +0000

It is a subject that CEO Elon Musk has broached before, but an August trademark filing shows that a planned constellation of satellites focused on broadband service may be getting closer to reality. Read more...

China marks significant progress on its BeiDou satnav network

Paul Hill — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:06:01 +0000

China's BeiDou satellite network now works with a new chip that enables the system to pin a device's location accurately to one or two metres, putting it on par with the EU's Galileo satellite system. Read more...

A new satellite tracking system could help eliminate airplane disappearances

Jett Goldsmith — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 19:50:01 +0000

Two US companies are working on a new satellite tracking technology which will allow an airliner to be tracked from nearly anywhere in the world, bypassing the limitations of current tracking systems. Read more...

India proposes legislation to ban unapproved map and satellite data

Jack Wilkinson — Fri, 13 May 2016 00:56:01 +0000

India is working to introduce legislation that would ban map or satellite data of the country unless they are approved by the government. Incorrect map information will also be prohibited. Read more...

Toshiba shows off new Windows 10 notebooks with dedicated Cortana button

Andy Weir — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 17:26:01 +0000

Toshiba new notebooks designed for Windows 10 include affordable laptops and massive beasts with 17.3-inch screens and 4K resolution - and each one has a dedicated keyboard button to access Cortana. Read more...

Facebook wants to bring free internet to Africa

Vlad Dudau — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 10:10:01 +0000

Facebook is supposedly partnering with Avanti, a British satellite operator, and together they plan to bring free, or at least very affordable, widespread internet access to large swathes of Africa. Read more...

Toshiba launches a $329.99 Windows 8.1 convertible with a 360-degree hinge

Andy Weir — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 15:08:01 +0000

Toshiba has unveiled the Satellite Radius 11, a low-cost notebook-style PC with a touchscreen that folds over 360-degrees for 'tablet-style' usage, along with up to 4GB RAM, 32GB SSD and full HDMI. Read more...

Google buys a satellite company, continues its hardware expansion

Brad Sams — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 01:15:48 +0000

Google has announced that it will be buying Skybox Imaging for $500 million and will use the IP to improve its maps and eventually to deliver Internet to remote parts of the world. Read more...

Google investing $1bn to bring Internet worldwide via 180 satellites

Brockman Davis — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 14:56:16 +0000

Google is reportedly spending $1bn to bring internet access to unconnected areas of the Earth via satellites. The project will use high capacity low-orbiting satellites to bring internet worldwide. Read more...

Bing Maps adds new 'Top of the World' and satellite images

John Callaham — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:40:41 +0000

Microsoft has added new images to its Bing Maps service, including a lot of updated satellite-based images and new "top of the world" imagery which also has bathymetry data. Read more...

Toshiba announces Satellite U845t budget touchscreen Ultrabook

Tim Schiesser — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 03:30:25 +0000

Another Windows 8 laptop has been announced before the show has even kicked off, and this time it's the $800 Toshiba Satellite U845t budget Ultrabook packing decent specs for the price Read more...