ad info

CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 ASIANOW
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
   computing
   personal technology
   space
 NATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 HEALTH
 STYLE
 IN-DEPTH

 custom news
 Headline News brief
 daily almanac
 CNN networks
 CNN programs
 on-air transcripts
 news quiz

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 TIME INC. SITES:
 MORE SERVICES:
 video on demand
 video archive
 audio on demand
 news email services
 free email accounts
 desktop headlines
 pointcast
 pagenet

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

 SITE GUIDES:
 help
 contents
 search

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 WEB SERVICES:
Computing

Tech company unveils 'anywhere pager'

Iridium pager
The Iridium pager from Motorola  
October 13, 1998
Web posted at: 1:13 a.m. EDT (0513 GMT)

ATLANTA (CNN) -- A new pager and satellite telephone, to be available next month, will allow messages to be received anywhere in the world, adding yet another technology landmark in this ever-growing digital age.

The worldwide satellite phone and pager network, developed by Iridium, goes into service November 1.

"This pager will work everywhere on Earth. Since it's a passive device, we do not believe it is bound by telecom laws," said Craig Bond, Iridium's Vice President of Marketing.

Iridium spent 11 years and $5 billion developing the palm-sized pager that will use 66 well-placed low orbiting satellites to transmit messages to any spot on the globe.

RELATED VIDEO
CNN's Rick Lockridge reports on the global pager
Windows Media 28K 56K

The pagers -- priced at about $700 -- also feature a multilingual display and will be made available through Motorola.

"It's able to support 20 languages so you can have it in everything from Chinese to Arabic to Russian to English to just about everything you can think of," Bond said.

Iridium will also offer a portable satellite telephone in the $3,000 price range that also has the capability to work anywhere on Earth.

While the pager is considered a passive device because it only receives signals, the satellite phone both receives and transmits signals and therefore falls under telecommunications laws.

The company said it has secured the necessary permissions from all but about 80 of the world's 239 countries. Iridium says it expects most of the remaining countries to sign contracts in the coming months.

CNN Correspondent Rick Lockridge contributed to this report.

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not
endorsed by CNN Interactive.

Latest Headlines

Today on CNN


CNN Programs

  • Earth Matters
        Sunday 1:30pm - 2:00pm ET (10:30am - 11:00am PT)
  • Science & Technology Week
        Saturday 1:30pm - 2:00pm ET (10:30am - 11:00am PT)
    SEARCH CNN.com
    Enter keyword(s)   go    help

  •   
     

    Back to the top
    © 2000 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
    Terms under which this service is provided to you.
    Read our privacy guidelines.