inmarsat

Trying out Inmarsat's compact IsatPhone Pro

There's something exciting about using a satellite phone.

Because of the widespread nature of normal communications infrastructure, being on a sat phone almost certainly means you're in a remote, faraway place and doing some kind of urgent work. Why else would you have and be using such expensive telecommunications device?

Earlier this year, Inmarsat released its IsatPhone Pro, a fairly compact little gadget--for a sat phone--and in recent weeks, issued an update that added a set of data capabilities, all in the same form factor. I got my hands on one of the newer models, and not long … Read more

Wrapping up Road Trip 2009

After more than five weeks and 5,765 miles of driving through Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and very, very small parts of Arizona and Nevada, Road Trip 2009 is over.

This was the fourth year I've done this project, and I've now covered a fourth major region of the United States. In 2006, it was the Pacific Northwest; in 2007, the Southwest; in 2008, the deep South; and this year, it was the Rocky Mountain region. All told, my CNET Road Trips have taken me through 21 states and have covered 18,618 miles. And while there … Read more

On Road Trip, setting up a mobile, off-the-grid office

RAWLINS, Wyo.--After staying in motels for 31 straight days, I'm taking Road Trip 2009 into the woods.

It's not that I'm going to stop filing stories and pictures. It's that I'm taking this opportunity both to (mostly) get away from people for awhile, and to see just how nimble my little collection of tech and communications gadgets makes me as a reporter.

So I'm heading into Wyoming's Sierra Madre mountains today, intent on hiding away in some little campground to enjoy the wilderness, yet still continue posting new stories and pictures. As … Read more

Tweeting, video chatting atop North America

MOUNT EVANS, Colo.--It's the first day of summer, and I'm driving through a snowstorm.

I'm here, on the highest paved road in North America, and my fingers are numb from the cold. But I'm online, and I have to say, that's pretty cool.

This was supposed to be a live-blog, but circumstances got in the way. More on that later.

I drove to just below the summit of 14,264-foot Mount Evans (see video below, with audio affected by heavy wind) on Sunday, the first official day of Road Trip 2009, my journey through … Read more