The 18 Mexicans had been enjoying a diving holiday in the Indonesian archipelago when their chartered boat, the Sea Safari III, hit an underwater reef in the middle of the night and started taking on water.

The decision was taken to abandon ship and head off in the lifeboats for nearby Mainyaifun island – one of more than 10,000 in the region.

Out of range
But the ship’s VHF radio had been out of range for some time and so the crew had been unable to report their position or heading to harbourmasters in their home port of Sorong.

Moreover, they had no alternative means of communication. Or so they thought.

Their plight looked particularly grim since the group wasn’t expected back for another five days, and they faced a long and uncertain wait on the inhospitable and rocky island with just emergency supplies salvaged from the boat.

Lucky purchase
Fortunately, one of the divers had purchased an IsatPhone Pro global handheld phone from Inmarsat service provider Tecnor just days before he left Mexico on the trip.

He had bought the phone in case work colleagues needed to get in touch with him urgently.

So when the order to abandon ship was given he insisted on going back to his cabin to grab his phone and other valuables.

Report position
The man’s decision meant the group was able to contact the mainland and report their position on his IsatPhone Pro.

As it happened, the castaways later enjoyed a further stroke of luck when another diving party chanced upon the island while they were waiting to be rescued.

Safely back home, the IsatPhone Pro user said: “All the divers on that boat learned a valuable lesson from this voyage – a satellite phone could very well be the tool that saves your life in one of these situations.

“When you’re in an unknown, uninhabited location with no way to contact the outside world, it can mean the difference between life and death.”

A tip off from one of our guest bloggers @techguy5

IsatPhone Pro is gathering impressive reviews in trade blogs but its recently received a favourable write-up in a well-known survival blog.

The article follows on from IsatPhone Pro’s recent appearance in a 127 Hours themed feature in The News of The World.

Choice quotes include : “Outdoors, I’ve had no trouble making or receiving calls to landline and cellular phones, and call quality is very good.”

The reviewer also mentioned IsatPhone Pro’s data capabilities. It said: “The final feature worth noting here is that the IsatPhone Pro can be connected to a computer via USB and act as a data modem to access Internet services.”

For the full review, click here

For more IsatPhone Pro news follow @isatphonelive on Twitter

IsatPhone Pro now has data capabilities

Inmarsat has announced the availability of a data service on its global handheld satellite phone, IsatPhone Pro.

The new circuit-switched data capability, offering an effective data rate of up to 20kbps, will be provided in the next firmware upgrade to the handset on 31 March 2011.

“IsatPhone Pro is ideally suited for use as a data service,” said Drew Brandy, Director of Land Services at Inmarsat.

“The handset design means the IsatPhone Pro can be simply placed on its side with the antenna deployed for connection to the satellite while a micro USB cable connects it to a laptop. And the Inmarsat-4 satellites on which the service runs are, of course, designed specifically to handle data communications.

“We are very pleased with the performance of IsatPhone Pro’s data capability. It is proving to be very robust whether using generic or customised applications. In testing we have actually exceeded 20kbps throughput with plain text email on several occasions. It’s ideal for those people wanting to access emails, jpegs, documents or PDFs,” he said.

In addition to the data capability, the next firmware upgrade for IsatPhone Pro will feature a number of service enhancements.

He concluded: “IsatPhone Pro has achieved a great deal since it was launched barely nine months ago: winning an award for innovation, gathering fantastic reviews and being used in every single country in which satellite communications is authorised.”

The Pittman Awards, sponsored by Sail magazine, recognise the most innovative products in the sailboat market. IsatPhone Pro was selected as a 2011 winner for its affordability, design and general appeal and utility for cruisers and racers.

“IsatPhone Pro is compact, easy to use and less expensive than other handheld satellite phones,” said Sail electronics Editor Ralph Naranjo.

“As a transoceanic communicator, the unit represents one of the most cost-effective satellite communications alternatives on the market today. With its competitive pricing and dollar-per-minute usage fees, lsatPhone Pro is well worth a close look.”

Launched in the summer of 2010, IsatPhone Pro offers high-quality satellite telephony, text and email messaging. It is the most robust handheld satellite phone on the market today, offering the longest battery life, reliable global coverage, clear voice quality and ease of use – all at the most competitive price point in the market.

“We are honored to have received Sail’s Pittman Innovation Award for the IsatPhone Pro,” said Frank August, Inmarsat Maritime Director.

“We always believed IsatPhone Pro would have tremendous appeal for the sailing community and we are very pleased with the enthusiasm and response from the market so far.”

Every competing yacht in the 2011 Volvo Ocean Race will carry an IsatPhone Pro.

IsatPhone Pro at the Dakar Rally

Inmarsat’s IsatPhone Pro has been of vital use at the recent Dakar Rally.

The Dakar Rally is the longest and most difficult world off-road race. The 2011 edition started on 1st of January in Buenos Aires. It spans some 9,000km.

Inmarsat, via service distributor Tesacom, managed to deploy 75 IsatPhone Pro units for use by teams, press and organizers. This includes provision of handsets, service and field support.

Inmarsat also sponsored Brazilian team Petrobras Lubrax. The team finished the 2011 Dakar Rally safely, winning first place in the super production bikes category and scooped first place for a “rookie” driver in the car category.

The IsatPhone Pro proved invaluable when the team’s Tatra truck crashed out of the race as and driver Mira Martinec was able to call for help from a remote location.

IsatPhone Pro has been attracting attention in British press.

Inmarsat’s IsatPhone Pro has been touted as a potential “life-saver” in a write-up for British paper The News of the World.

The Sunday paper had a piece on nifty gadgets that could have helped Aaron Ralston, subject of Danny Boyle’s new film 127 Hours, who got trapped in a ravine in the US.

It said: “British Company Inmarsat has produced a life-saver that can make and receive phone calls anywhere in the world – except the North and South poles – for £500.”

The reviewer Trevor Davies said that had to make it “Number One” on his list.

A TSF employee uses IsatPhone Pro in Thailand

Inmarsat’s IsatPhone Pro has been providing vital support to the work of Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) in Thailand.

Following the recent floods in the south of the country, TSF has been providing support to those affected in coordination with local authorities.

Myriam Annette, TSF Communications and International Projects Coordinator, explained how the situation was developing.

She said: “TSF’s assessment mission revealed that telecoms and electricity infrastructures were re-established in Hat Yai. However, during this weekend, there were still telecoms needs in the Sating Pra and Krasae Sin districts.

“The telecoms situation is evolving quickly toward the re-establishment of the telecommunications networks and power infrastructure. TSF also provided free phone calls to affected people in Sating Pra and will install its next phoning centre tomorrow in Singha Nakorn district.”

IsatPhone Pro is generating much coverage

IsatPhone Pro has been attracting attention with a review in the UK technology press.

Website zdnet ran a review of Inmarsat’s first global handheld covering its features and market potential.

The review stated: “The IsatPhone Pro offers a good range of features. As well as making phone calls, you can receive SMSs and send messages using predictive text entry, send emails, make a five-way conference call and use a Bluetooth headset.

“The phone offers caller ID and call history, waiting, barring, diverting and holding. It provides four built-in profiles to manage ring loudness and includes a GPS receiver. As well helping the phone get a fix on its communications satellites, the inclusion of GPS allows you to view a readout of your position.”

Click here to read the full review.

IsatPhone Pro generated much coverage at Futurecom

IsatPhone Pro, Inmarsat’s first global handheld, has been reviewed in South American newspaper Brasil Economico.

Johnny Nemes, Director GSPS programme at Inmarsat, spoke to the newspaper.

The wide-ranging article covered a number of interesting details around the IsatPhone Pro and its relevance to the South American market.

The article covered:

• Inmarsat’s plans to capture a 10% market share
• IsatPhone Pro will be sold through a global network of 11 distributors – five of which are in Brazil
• Product development started way back in 2004

IsatPhone Pro debuted to the South American market at this year’s Futurecom, held in São Paulo.

Gulfcomms s a key event for Inmarsat

Its been another successful year for Gulfcomms. Here are some of the highlights.

In the press:

There have been a number of press articles covering the handset’s Middle East launch. Catch up with Inmarsat’s presence at GITEX Technology Week here and find out Inmarsat COO Perry Melton’s take on the launch here.

Video:

Elsewhere, there was the usual slate of live video content straight from the event itself. For those of you who haven’t yet caught up with the latest IsatPhone Pro interviews then check them out. There’s the handset’s notable voice quality and a glowing testimonial from a show visitor.

Photos:

There’s more too with photos from Inmarsat’s Gulfcomms stand. Check them out here and here.

The satellite phone, dubbed the ultimate combination, had its Middle Eastern premiere at this year’s Gulfcomms event in Dubai.