Iridium Pilot soon available from Vizada

Vizada is pleased to announce the launch of Iridium Pilot™, the improved Iridium maritime broadband product powered by the Iridium OpenPort^® service.

Iridium Pilot will be replacing the OpenPort unit as you know it today, and will be re-designed to withstand an even greater level of marine environmental hazards. Iridium OpenPort will become the name of the service that powers the Iridium Pilot product. There will be no major changes to the service.

How is Iridium Pilot different from the current OpenPort product?

Iridium Pilot includes an improved antenna that allows for greater protection against harsh marine environmental conditions. Replaced components include the mounting bracket, the entire mechanical enclosure and sealing system. Gaskets and hardware for the installation have also been added.

In addition, a new release of firmware will provide new features to all Iridium subscribers using the OpenPort service.

These firmware enhancements will include:

Performance Enhancement Proxy (PEP)*: Enhanced protocol provides improved data throughput
Integrated Firewall: Restricts outbound data traffic to keep usage under control
Firmware Update Notification: Alerts users when a new version of firmware is available
Bulk Configuration: allows loading a standard configuration on multiple devices
Antenna RF Performance Utility: Provides real-time antenna usage data to help troubleshoot performance issues

Vizada will start delivering the new Iridium Pilot hardware and software upgrade as soon as it is released by Iridium and available in our stock. The estimated delivery date from Iridium is mid-March 2012. The new firmware release is expected during the last week of March.

Pre-orders for the new Iridium Pilot kit (incl. antenna, cables, belox deck equipment, etc.) are being accepted at this time, and will be shipped on a first-in-first-out basis.

For additional information, please contact your Vizada Key Account Manager or Customer Care.

*Note that PEP will not be fully functional until it has been included in a gateway software upgrade later this year.

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