Cool iPhone App for Satellite
Have you ever wanted to install a satellite dish but were not sure if you had proper line of site to them? If you have a new iPhone 3 GS then soon knowing if you can see the satellites will never again be a problem!
This weekend I was shown a new iPhone application by Alan who runs the amazing satellite pointing website known as DishPointer.COM. What this upcoming application does is it allows you to use your iPhone 3 GS and point it to the sky and by using some new “Augmented Reality” technology you will be able to see exactly where the satellites are in the sky.
The application uses the video camera built into the iPhone 3 GS and by using the upcoming “augmented reality” feature which will be available soon from Apple when they release the next 3.1 version of their software to overlay satellites in the skies as you aim your iPhone to the sky. The application is able to predict where the satellites are by using the iPhone 3GS built in compass and inclinometer to show you in the sky where the satellites should be.
To see a demo of this upcoming software in action check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AFtcgYRcu4
Once released this may be one program that anyone who installs satellites will want to be with them at all times. One of the hardest parts of installing a new satellite system is not doing the install but figuring where to put the dish so that it hits the satellites that the customer wants and needs, this new application now instantly tells you where the best place is.
The application will be released once Apple releases its upcoming 3.1 iPhone software update (which I am hearing will happen on or around September 7th.) Then after that Alan will release his new application in the iTunes store. The price of this application has not been released, but no matter what it is, it will save installers time (and we all know time is money.)
I will update things here in The Satellite Dish when the app is made available, and plus will have a hands on review as well.
Whoops…
DirecTV MLB Extra Innings Customers were disappointed that they didn’t get to see the end of Sunday’s St. Lewis Cardinals game. It was the Cardinals vs. the Padres and the score was tied up 5 to 5 after two long rain delays.
DirecTV had scheduled 6 hours of air time for the game, from 2pm until 8pm, but because of the 2 long rain delays the feed was switched off at 8pm right in the middle to the 9th inning.
DirecTV customers missed an exciting finish to the game as the game ended with a Colby Rasmus wall-off homer that drove the Cardinals ahead to win 7 to 5. Instead DirecTV customers saw the DirecTV logo and heard music.
It appears that the MLB Extra Innings channel was on autopilot because if someone at DirecTV were watching the game it would not have been shut off midstream like it was.
Let hope that one does not happen again.
louis commented:
0614246505
Jim commented:
St. Lewis? Really??
Someone's hooked on phonics.
Reaper commented:
Blog: Proper grammar and punctuation still count for something, even in blogs (and yes, even in this age of texting, Twitter, etc.). I like Scott's articles, but the mistakes that he routinely makes open the doors to criticism and muddies his message. Blog copy editor, I could do that. :-)
blog commented:
Most of you fail to realize that this is the informal BLOG section of Multichannel, NOT the main formal NEWS section...
Reaper commented:
Multichannel.com just needs an editor.
Scherrman commented:
That is hilarious. Someone harping on another's grammar, when he is not capable of writing himself. Give Scott a break, his articles provide breaking news in the satellite industry. I'm assuming in order to get the article out as soon as possible, he does not have time to proof read.
srk123 commented:
In response to the second poster criticizing the writer's spelling and grammar, why did you spell "grammar" wrong?
A. Retentive commented:
Correction: St. Louis Cardinals---not St. Lewis.
bleudog commented:
This is an Interesting for techo-geeks in us. However, I have a hard time finding the article credible given the terrible grammer and punctuation. Scott, while you probably weren't a journalism major in college, I implore you to brush up on your writing skills less you lose readers interest due to poorly written rather than poorly conceived topics.
KyL commented:
Did iNDemand do the same for digital cable subscribers? It could have been a rights issue, since due to the terms of ESPN's deal with MLB for Sunday Night Baseball that gives them national broadcast rights to all MLB games on Sunday nights, Extra Innings cannot carry any games that start after 5pm ET on Sundays, and I think there's an 8pm cutoff since that's around time of first pitch of ESPN's game.
DodgerKing commented:
We actually did not miss the game. Since the Sunday Night game, Phills vs. Braves was in a rain delay, ESPN carried the ending of the game.
DishPointer commented:
The trickiest part is the compass, quite sensitive to electro-magnetic interferences and also a bit slow. All other components, like accelorometer and camera, can be calibrated in the app thereby eliminating any manufacturing tolerances.
digiblur commented:
Sounds like a cool app.... curious to see how accurate it is with all the factors in play there.