SnapperTalk

Thuraya have released more details including pictures of their next-generation handsets, which they say will be available in October 2006. The SG-2520 is clearly the most appealing handset for photographers, given its data abilities.

The SO-2510 handset (left) is designed to be the smallest handset available yet - weighing in at just 150g and measuring 118 x 53 x 18.8 mm. It is satellite-only (no GSM) and is said to support GPRS. This is interesting because it implies Thuraya will begin offering GPRS type functionality over its satellite link - and therefore pricing based on the amount of data transferred, rather than per-minute pricing as now.

The SG-2520 “smartphone” handset (right) is designed with an advanced feature-set in mind. It has a 1.9 inch 262,000-pixel colour screen, Tri-Band GSM functionality for global coverage, GPRS data abilities on both satellite and GSM, 1.3 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom, built-in advanced SMS, MMS and Email applications, SD memory card slot, GPS navigation capabilities, and Bluetooth, Infrared (IR), and USB data connectivity.

Both models have user-interfaces in 10 languages including Arabic, English, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Spanish, Russian, Urdu and Turkish.

The specifications of the SG-2520 give an idea of what sort of data speeds one may be able to get with the new handset:

GPRS capabilities - Satellite mode:
Downstream: up to 60 Kbps*
Upstream: up to 15 Kbps*

GPRS capabilities - GSM mode:
Downstream: up to 85.6 Kbps*
Upstream: up to 42.8 Kbps*

* Depends on the operator network configuration and radio access technology used.

Looks good to me…