Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Thuraya Unveils the World's Smartest Satellite Phone

11/04/2018

DUBAI, UAE, April 11, 2018 - Thuraya Telecommunications Company unveiled the world's first satellite smartphone during its partner conference in Dubai. The Thuraya X5-Touch runs on the Android Operating System and has a 5.2 full HD touchscreen. It targets users who frequently move in and out of terrestrial coverage across a range of market sectors including government missions, energy projects, enterprise communications, and NGO deployments. The phone offers fast and simple connectivity on the move, in remote areas normally beyond the reach of smartphones.

The Thuraya X5-Touch is a step closer towards complete convergence between terrestrial and satellite communications through its full dual-mode and dual-SIM capability. It has two SIM-card slots for full user flexibility, and with the dual-active mode it has the ability to have both its satellite and GSM (2G, 3G, or 4G) modes always on' simultaneously.

To cater for the needs of users in harsh and remote conditions, the Thuraya X5-Touch comes with a Gorilla glass display, is the most rugged phone in the MSS industry with an IP67 standard for full dust and water protection, and complies with MIL standard. It also has a host of advanced features and functionalities including a high-capacity battery for extended talk time and standby time, a built-in SOS button and a front and rear camera.

Ahmed Al Shamsi, acting Chief Executive Officer at Thuraya said, Today Thuraya reached a new milestone by introducing another innovative and ground breaking product to the MSS market. Building on the heritage of a long line of successful satellite phones, this new development focuses primarily on delivering a unique and more interactive experience to our customers. With the Android platform there is already a multitude of Apps readily available to work on the Thuraya X5-Touch, and developers will have easy access to develop and customize Apps for the needs of their customers. It complements the Bring Your Own Application (BYOA) concept, customers have the flexibility to download any App of their choice, thereby breaking the paradigm and revolutionizing the way the satellite handset will be used

The Thuraya X5-Touch is equipped with GPS, Glonass, and BeiDou systems for advanced navigation and tracking functions, which are important safety features during critical situations and it comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC.

The Thuraya X5-Touch is a game changer and a big step forward in design and functionality placing it in a league of its own, said Alexander Lachner, Director of Voice Services at Thuraya. Creating smarter satellite phones is our constant goal and we are happy to offer our customers a new user experience that many in the industry have been asking and waiting for.

The advanced omni-directional satellite antenna on the Thuraya X5 Touch ensures uninterrupted communications, offering seamless walk-and-talk functionality even in satellite mode. Thuraya's comprehensive satellite network provides reliable, clear and uninterrupted communications in more than 160 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia; and in terrestrial mode the Thuraya X5-Touch supports most 2G/3G/4G frequencies across the world. The phone works either with Thuraya SIM cards or with GSM SIM cards or a combination of both.

The Thuraya X5-Touch will be available at Thuraya Service Partners in Q4/2018.

About Thuraya Telecommunications Company

Thuraya Telecommunications Company is an industry leading MSS operator and a global telecommunication provider offering innovative communications solutions to a variety of sectors including energy, broadcast media, maritime, military and humanitarian NGOs. The company's diverse range of technologically superior and highly reliable mobile satellite handsets and broadband devices provide ease of use, value, quality and efficiency. Thuraya remains committed to serving humanity through delivering the essential tools for optimal connectivity, never leaving anyone out of reach. Visit www.thuraya.com
LINK: http://www.thuraya.com/content/thuraya-unveils-world's-smartest-sa...
See more stories from thuraya

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/09/2026

Lightware expands LARA capabilities with new GUDE driver

Lightware is expanding its LARA (Lightware Advanced Room Automation) platform with the GUDE Power Distribution Units (PDU) driver module. GUDE devices can now b...

04/09/2026

People Behind the Technology - How Lightware Invests in W...

Lightware shares the second release in its ESG communications series. Following the first piece, which focused on the companys environmental performance, this r...

04/09/2026

Big Blue Marble delivers record 10 Tbps for European publ...

Big Blue Marble supported a leading European public service broadcaster in delivering the Soccer World Cup 2026 streams, supplying more than 10 Tbps of bandwidt...

04/09/2026

Hitomi MatchBox Glass is honoured with Emmy Award

Outstanding achievement in engineering, science and technology Hitomi Broadcast has been recognised with an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy from the Ac...

04/09/2026

California, Hollywood at a Crossroads

California, Hollywood at a Crossroads Andy Marken September 3, 2026 0 Comments I'm doing everything alone. Crossing roads alone. Seeing the Eiffe...

04/09/2026

Berklee Announces Winners of 2026 SongwritersdB Songwriting Contest

Berklee Announces Winners of 2026 SongwritersdB Songwriting Contest Students Luca Alexandru, Annika Wild, and Johanna James received the top prizes for origin...

04/09/2026

EVS, Matrox Partner on EBUs Dynamic Media Facility Initiative

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

TAG Video Systems Unveils TAG Blue

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

Orlando Magic and Gray Media Ink Full Season Broadcast Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

RT ANNOUNCE NEW DRAMA THE MURDER OF MR. MOONLIGHT BASED ON THE DISAPPEARANCE AND MURDER OF BOBBY RYAN

RT ANNOUNCE NEW DRAMA THE MURDER OF MR. MOONLIGHT BASED ON THE DISAPPEARANCE...

03/09/2026

Yospace releases new Ad Presentation solution, unlocking revenue opportunities with non-linear ad formats

Yospace will be at IBC from 11th - 14th September (booth 5.C78). For more inform...

03/09/2026

Creative Technology Group Announces Leadership Transition Effective January 2027

NEP Group has announced leadership changes at Creative Technology Group. Founder and CEO Graham Andrews will step away from day-to-day leadership at the end of ...

03/09/2026

NFL and TikTok Renew Multi-Year Partnership

The NFL and TikTok have announced a multi-year partnership renewal expanding the league's presence on the platform. NFL posts on TikTok increased more than ...

03/09/2026

Grass Valley Appoints Ronny Van Geel as Vice President, Cameras

Grass Valley has appointed Ronny Van Geel as Vice President, Cameras. Van Geel began his career in 1999 at Philips DVS and moved into product management in 2005...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Telestream to Preview Vantage Super Resolution

Telestream has announced Vantage Super Resolution, an AI-powered upscaling capability for the Vantage media workflow platform, developed in collaboration with N...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Solid State Logic TCA Tour

Solid State Logic (SSL) will debut the TCA Tour at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand 8.B45), a portable production system built from System T components in a desktop frame...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: DPA Microphones Launches 6388 CORE+ Headset Microphone

DPA Microphones has announced the 6388 CORE Headset Microphone, making its debut at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand D60). The supercardioid headset features a physicall...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Qvest to Demonstrate Multi-Vendor Dynamic Media Facility Showcase

Qvest will present a multi-vendor Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) showcase at IBC2026 (Booth 10.C24), demonstrating how the EBU's DMF architecture can be imple...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Imagine Communications Debuts Magellan PanelFlex

Imagine Communications will showcase the Magellan PanelFlex control surface and other control portfolio updates at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, Septembe...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Bridge Technologies Launches Software-Based VB440 Deployment Option

Bridge Technologies will announce at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71) that its VB440 production probe is now available as a software-based solution, deployable on commerci...

03/09/2026

Audio-Technica Launches BP350ST Mid-Side Stereo Microphone in Two Variants

Audio-Technica has unveiled the BP350ST MS (mid-side) microphone in two versions: the camera-mount BP350ST-UL and the boundary or gooseneck-mountable BP350ST-UB...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Jnger Audio flexAI Adds CastCompanion, 12G-SDI, NDI, and TVU MediaMesh Integration

Telos Alliance will introduce updates to the J nger Audio flexAI audio processin...

03/09/2026

DUNKMAN to Expand in 2027 with Team Competitions, Junior Division, and Global Qualifiers

DUNKMAN, the professional dunk league founded by Shaquille O'Neal in partner...

03/09/2026

Orlando Magic Tap DAZN as DTC Streaming Partner, Will Join OTA Distribution Plans for 2026-27 Season

Orlando's WRDQ TV 27, WFTV Channel 9 previously named over-the-air broadcast...

03/09/2026

EverPass Media Expands NFL Agreement with Netflix for Commercial Venues

EverPass Media has announced a multi-year commercial distribution agreement with Netflix, expanding on an existing partnership that has delivered NFL Christmas ...

03/09/2026

Yahoo Sports and Apple TV Partner on MLB and MLS Alternate Broadcasts

Yahoo Sports and Apple TV have announced a partnership to deliver alternate broadcasts of select Friday Night Baseball and MLS games on the Yahoo Sports website...

03/09/2026

BIG EAST's Scott Hecht on the Evolution of Campus Production and What Comes Next

With another academic year underway, college athletic departments across the cou...

03/09/2026

ESPN Debuts Revamped, Cutting-Edge Studio W in Bristol as New Home to NFL Live, College Football, and More

Facility becomes permanent home of NFL Live on Sept. 9; centerpiece studio for c...

03/09/2026

Anthony Marinelli launches Bass DNA course

Create musical synth bass sounds from scratch Anthony Marinelli Music have recently announced the launch of Bass DNA, a new online course that teaches music...

03/09/2026

IK Multimedia unveil the Tonex Board

Most powerful Tonex hardware to date IK Multimedia's latest release introduces their most advanced Tonex hardware unit to date, combining their AI Machi...

03/09/2026

Penteo Audio Plugins announce Penteo 8

Upmix & downmix software upgraded Penteo Audio Plugins have announced that the latest version of their powerful upmix and downmix software is now available....

03/09/2026

Young talents begin their training at SGL Carbon in Germany

With the start of the new apprenticeship year, young talent has once again begun their professional careers at SGL Carbon's sites in Germany. Recently, the ...

03/09/2026

Calrec advances EBU's Dynamic Media Facility vision at IBC 2026

With the industry increasingly embracing hybrid, software-defined production models, Calrec will preview a series of Argo and ImPulseV software enhancements at ...

03/09/2026

NAB Backs Most Proposed EAS Changes at FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

TiVo Expands FAST Channels, AI Discovery with Latest OS Update

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Eluvio Advances Content Fabric, AI at IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Haivision Adds Bonded 5G Cellular Support to Makito ONE

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Alex Pannell Joins Gravity Media as Chief Business Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

AI-Media To Feature Multilingual AI Developments At IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Tuxera and ATTO collaborate to deliver blistering macOS n...

Recognizing the ever-increasing demands for media throughput in challenging environments like post-production, two leaders in network technology have worked tog...

03/09/2026

EVS and Matrox Video Join Forces to Accelerate Dynamic Me...

EVS, a leader in live video technology and production infrastructure solutions, and Matrox Video, a leader in software-defined media technology and IP-based vid...

03/09/2026

AJA Debuts OG-FiDO-4 openGear Four-Channel SDI/Fiber Conversion Cards

AJA Debuts OG-FiDO-4 openGear Four-Channel SDI/Fiber Conversion Cards Brie Clayton September 3, 2026 0 Comments New product family expands 12G-SDI and...

03/09/2026

Nice Touch launches V2 of its AI edit assistant for professional editors

Nice Touch launches V2 of its AI edit assistant for professional editors Brie Clayton September 3, 2026 0 Comments Built by two editors with twelve ye...

03/09/2026

Accedo and MediaKind Launch End-to-End Streaming Solution...

Accedo, a global provider of video streaming software and services, and MediaKind, a world-leading video technology company and the number one independent provi...

03/09/2026

14 Percent of live sports viewers have considered switchi...

International research from Big Blue Marble puts a consumer churn number against a technical failure, and sets out what streaming providers must fix before 2030...

03/09/2026

Broadpeak expands CDNaaS for streaming at scale with new...

High-performance points of presence power video streaming delivery to large audiences across Latin America with guaranteed quality of experience Broadpeak , a ...

03/09/2026

Dalia Delivers New Agentic Workflows Changing How Media W...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, will unveil the next evolution of Dalia at IBC2026 (7.A43), its media-aware agent...