Moving pictures: Salt Lake company brings TV and Internet to vehicles

DataStorms are built in Salt Lake City, where all the research and development work takes place, as well as the testing. All products get a thorough test. "Our product goes so many places in the world, it's a heck of a long customer service drive to Saudi Arabia, so we overtest," Brown said.

Customers come to the company to suggest uses, and MotoSAT tries to accommodate.

"Bill Gates built the 'smart' house," Anderson said. "Now there will be smart vehicles — smart ambulances and smart EMS vehicles and even the FBI and everyone else will be connected."

George McEwan, senior vice president of engineering, sees MotoSAT positioned well to exploit a convergence of auto technology and delivery mechanisms.

"We say we're creating satellite Velcro," he said. "We put it out there and people are creating new uses for it every day that we never dreamed of and showing us new things we can do with it. It's just like the Internet. You've created a delivery mechanism, and somebody's creating something new to do with it every day. We've come up with a vehicle to do something new and exciting."

It's a way to combine people's three loves: cars, TV and the Internet.

"We're seeing a shift in more people actually getting in their cars to go places," McEwan said. "With the hassles of airline travel, people may say, 'It's four hours. I'll just get in my car and go.' These products are just taking off."

For folks wanting a variety of program options, like a Super Bowl, MotoSAT's offerings are designed to catch the signals that can be played on fancy flat-screen TVs and elaborate sound systems that are becoming more common.

"What they are lacking," Brown said, "is the antennas that can make the most out of those TVs."

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Among MotoSAT's products are:

DataStorm F1, under $4,000, for Internet.

DataStorm F3, $11,000 to $12,000, a larger, commercial version, also for Internet.

TMotion 1500, $3,500, low-profile product for in-motion satellite TV.

TMotion 1000, $1,795, for in-motion satellite TV.

TMotion 100, $600 to $1,000, for in-motion local TV. Available this summer.

Executive, $1,395, for stationary satellite TV.

Executive HD, $1,795, for HDTV broadcasts.

Ocean Motion, $12,000 to $18,000, for in-motion, two-way satellite Internet for ocean-going vessels. Available later this year.

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com

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