RaySat, a global developer and manufacturer of satellite communication systems, officially launched its antenna for consumer digital television at SEMA 2008. The CruiseCast system uses new satellite TV technology along with a content package provided by AT&T. Al & Ed's has had a test mule for over a year now, but we recently installed the final version.
Most mobile electronics aficionados are familiar with another satellite TV system from KVH, called TracVision. Tracvision brings a DirecTV Mobile package to road-going TV watchers, but the system antenna is very large and retails for about $3,000. Thus, it was limited to SUV installations for the most part, and definitely only for those with gobs of disposable income.
CruiseCast brings 22 channels of satellite TV to a headrest monitor.
(Credit: Al & Ed's Autosound)
The new CruiseCast is about the size of a bicycle helmet, can be carried in one hand, and retails for $1,299. This makes the unit much more installable as well as affordable, so it will no doubt give the KVH Tracvision a run for its money. The AT&T content is being finalized at the time of this writing, but it is almost locked down. It can best be described as a "Cable TV-type" channel selection.
While it has the staples like Discovery, TLC, CNN, Adult Swim, and more, it does not have local programming or movie channels such as HBO or Cinemax available. The 22 stations should satisfy most viewers, though, and they also have 20 music channels.
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