PanAmSat is joining forces with KenCast and Trinity Workplace Learning in the US to demonstrate what is claimed as the first satellite-delivered live video to handheld devices. The move positions PanAmSat in a race against Qualcomm and Crown Castle who are planning similar services. This week, PanAmSat demonstrated a live video stream from Trinity's facilities in Dallas, TX uplinked to PanAmSat's Galaxy 11, then encoded and transcoded by Kencast to handheld devices at a Vancouver trade show via WiMAX. "Satellite-delivered WiMAX technology is the future for handheld devices such as smartphones and laptops," said Bruce Haymes, senior vice president, Business Development. "WiMAX will also enable the delivery of IPTV throughout the US as well as being integrated into our satellite news gathering or SNG services. We are very excited to show the possibilities of WiMAX on our Galaxy 11 satellite." The demonstration provided live delivery of 10 streaming video channels. Two will be provided by Trinity, including a live feed of its Law Enforcement as well as its Fire and Emergency Training Network. By providing wireless broadband access, emergency personnel such as firefighters and police officers can be in immediate contact with a crisis situation.
Every executive who has approved a connected product roadmap has made a quiet assumption: the network underneath it will still be there. That assumption is about to be tested at a scale the automotive industry has never faced. The global connected vehicle installed base is heading toward a billion units, and the cellular technology most of those vehicles depend on is scheduled to begin its retirement before the end of the decade. For automakers, fleet operators, insurers, and the telecom carriers that serve them, the question is whether the recurring revenue those services promise can survive a connectivity layer with a shorter life than the vehicle carrying it. How Scale Meets an Expiry Date Omdia research forecasts that the global connected vehicle installed base will surpass 1.05 billion units by 2035, up from 473.7 million in 2025. Few installed bases of any kind more than double in a decade, and this one signals that connectivity is moving from premium differentiator to baseline e...