The future of satellite-based communications looks to be headed towards a promising tomorrow as SkyTerra’s Mobile Satellite Ventures, ICO Global Communications and Qualcomm have announced their new partnership.

Aimed at creating a mobile baseband chip that will integrate both satellite and cellular communication technology, the end product of their new union will result in making mobile communication in the North American region. In areas where cellular technology coverage is scarce, satellite communication will ensure that you're still connected wherever you may be. This, in turn, will make satellite connectivity available to mass-market devices which will be both beneficial to end-users and service providers provided the pricing is reasonable.

The bad news, as with many stories of promising technology, is that the release date for these new diverse chips will be in 2010. Yeah, that's still a two years away, but look on the bright side, maybe by then internal memory capacities of mobile phones may already average on the 60GB level with 24-megapixel cameras included. Tie in the satellite and cellular technology and what you have there folks is one fully-loaded mobile device. Who knows, maybe by 2010 Windows Mobile 7 will be out already as well.

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