KVH Ships New A7 System, TracNet 100 Device

By Amy Gilroy On Sep 11 2006 - 6:00am

MIDDLETOWN, R.I.— KVH is shipping a new TracVision A7 mobile satellite TV system that is the first to allow reception of broadcast stations such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and PBS via local TV affiliates.

The TV stations are offered in addition to up to 185 channels of DIRECTV. The suggested retail price for the A7 is $2,995. The model A5, without local TV stations remains available at $2295.

KVH also announced it's shipping the MSN TV-based car Internet appliance that it showed at International CES in January. The new TracNet 100 offers Internet access through the MSN TV service via high speed EV-DO cellular access. It links users to e-mail through MSN Mail, and offers MSN Messenger, Web browsing, Internet radio and online games. For in-car users, it also offers easy links to traffic and weather Web sites and well as sightseeing and trip planning sites. It also has built-in Wi-Fi. The EV-DO connection, available in more than 180 cities, affords data rates of 400 to 700Kbps and can reach up to 2Mbps. Where EV-DO is not available, the TracNet 100 reverts to the more widely deployed 1xRTT cellular service at speeds of 60-80 Kbps with bursts of up to 144Kbps. The unit also includes a three-port Ethernet router. Suggested retail price is $1,995.