The New Iridium GO! exec Redefines Personal Off-the-Grid Connectivity
MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Iridium Communications (Nasdaq: IRDM) today unveiled the most capable, ultra-portable solution for truly global connections to all smartphones, tablets and laptops – a new class of personal satellite communication device called the Iridium GO! exec. Built for the professional but made for everyone, the Iridium GO! exec provides a natural extension of your world off-the-grid to send and receive email, use chat or office applications, make phone calls, share pictures, post to social media or get help in an emergency.
Building upon the success of the original Iridium GO!, introduced in 2014, the Iridium GO! exec is based on Iridium Certus technology and provides faster data speeds at a size, weight, power and price-point unheard of in the satellite industry. It’s ideal for connecting remote workers, NGO personnel, government employees, first responders, GA pilots, sailors and everyday adventurers, helping them to stay connected and productive from anywhere.
The Iridium GO! exec’s ultra-portability means it can fit in a backpack, on the glareshield of a personal aircraft, be easily carried from the boat to the beach or from the jeep into the field. Multiple users can wirelessly connect their smart devices over Wi-Fi or by using the built-in ethernet port to connect wired devices to the internet.
“When we launched the Iridium GO! nine years ago, our vision was to allow anyone with a smartphone to stay connected when they were off the grid,” said Iridium CEO Matt Desch. “We’ve now turbocharged that capability with the Iridium GO! exec. There’s nothing like this device for businesses, governments or consumers that want to stay productive beyond terrestrial coverage.”
Loaded with new features, the Iridium GO! exec can function as a standalone device to make calls using its built-in speakerphone or initiate an SOS call if the user’s smart device runs out of power. It works with popular messaging, email, and other native applications well known to users. With a very capable battery, it provides extended usage on the go and can even be used as a power bank to charge a smartphone or tablet directly with a dedicated USB-C power output. The device also comes with an application manager that makes it easy to have the best experience possible by choosing what apps you want to use, prioritizing their connections and setting time and data limits to help companies and individuals stay within budget.
Custom applications can also be developed for the Iridium GO! exec using an Iridium-provided API, with developers already working on Iridium GO! exec versions of some apps popular with Iridium GO! users. An external antenna and fixed-install kit for boats and remote locations is also available to order, with additional accessories expected in the coming months.
For more information about Iridium visit: www.iridium.com
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I missed the interesting new GO! exec as it was teased in December and then officially announced in late January. But that means PredictWind is already offering attractive offshore weather, tracking, email etc bundles: https://www.predictwind.com/iridium-go-exec/
Plus there are some informed forum discussions underway about GO exec versus (or plus) StarLink:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f129/starlink-rv-vs-iridium-go-exec-271423.html
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/threads/iridium-go-exec.240167/
If nothing else, Starlink should begin to put significant downward price pressure on this silliness. $600+ per month for 100 MB at a max of 88Kb / second. Umm…no.
Not sure where you saw that rate, Bob, but here’s one of PredictWind’s lower-cost plans, which includes a lot more than a wee bit of data (though maybe good enough for weather info and some email):
GO! exec 50 Plan Details
Activation fee: $49.95
Cost: $159.95/month
Data: 50MB
Voice minutes: 50 mins
Extra data: $4.21/MB
Inbound voice calls: FREE*
Outbound voice calls to other Iridium phones: $0.55/min
Outbound voice calls to mobile and landline: $0.70/min
Outbound voice calls to other satellite phones: $12.63/min
* Free for recipient. Calls to Iridium GO! exec are charged to the caller at rate of US $0.66/min.
Plus “Free messaging available from Q3 2023.”
Also, apparently some service providers like Seatech Systems make it fairly easy to start/stop service.
Iridium Cerebus/exec is definitely not StarLink, but I see some informed people quite doubtful the future StarLink will be nearly as great a deal on boats as it has been at first.
Thats definitely better than what I saw at https://satellitephonestore.com/iridium-certus. They seem to be pushing the 100 plan for the exec, which is what led me there.