Oh! Gizmo

By Evan Ackerman

It’s a sad fact: you can’t get cell phone reception everywhere. I can personally attest that you can’t get it here, or here, and especially not here. If you’re a very busy and important person like I am, this could be a real problem, but Elektrobit has the solution. Their “Satellite-Terrestrial Device” can talk to quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band WCDMA/HSPA, as well as 2G/3G networks, WiFi, and (for what it’s worth) Bluetooth. On top of all that, it also connects with TerreStar’s S-Band satellite network, which should let you make and receive calls just about anywhere you can see the sky.

The phone runs Windows Mobile and be capable of at least email (if not internet) and has a full keyboard and a touchscreen, along with a 3 mp autofocusing camera, 100 mb of internal memory, and a MicroSD slot. Oh, and GPS. The fantasy is of course having a mobile device that hops seamlessly from network to network to satellite when necessary, and can optimize itself for either bandwidth or cost. Speaking of, there’s no info on the cost of the unit, although it’s probably safe to assume that if you’re making international and satellite phone calls, the cost of the phone itself isn’t going to be that significant.

[ Elektrobit ] VIA [ TechFresh ]