Far out! Latest pagers use network of satellites by Stephen Rounds

The Palm Beach Post, January 17, 1999

After inventing pagers in the 1960s, Motorola introduced the Iridium pagers late last year developed by fifty Motorola's engineers in Boynton Beach, Florida. One thing about these pagers is that they are the first pagers to operate globally. The pagers receive messages from around the world by bouncing the signal off a network of satellites.

The key features include:

· Stores up to 99 personal messages; up to 128,000 total characters

· 4-line alphanumeric display up to 80 characters

· Ideal for "one-to-many" global messaging situations such as emergency response teams,executive/professional

groups, information services

· Windows-like icon interface display with on-screen animation

· Dual time zones

· Quiet time feature

· Receives e-mail

However, like the first devices to work off of any new technology, they have some problems such as that it is sensitive to weather condition and high cost, around five hundred dollars per pager. In the twentieth century, technologies in telecommunication have gone far beyond the expectations. Distinctively, pagers along with portable phones have played an important role in business communication. Although there are some problems, this new technology will advance quickly in the way that allows business people to communicate at any time and in anywhere, and because of this reason, it will make the way the world does business easier than ever before.

Shin Jung