I 'ver just seen the Yellowbrick advertisement in the latest FF, so I looked at their website. It seems to have come of age. No longer a Big Yellow Brick, but a small, rugged device with minimal power consumption, and a sensible purchase price, monthly fee and usage structure. It would give me what I 'm looking for - the ability to keep the folks back home aware of my position, and to send and receive SMS-style messages, when out of range of 3G.
I 'm tempted.
Is anyone using one?
David.

Simon,

Good work! You might also have a look at SPOT who have brought out something similar, although the satellite system they use has limitations at high latitudes.

As you say, this is a developing area and we 'll see some interesting stuff over the next few years. Anything is better (and cheaper) than a satellite phone for text messaging - for some reason I find them to be very user-unfriendly.

Paul Heiney
Wild Song