Socket Connections Newsletter

Socket Connections Newsletter - Winter 2008

FEATURE STORY

The SoMo® 650 Goes to Antarctica

Published: December 2008

Lorenzo Gariano will be blogging from the highest mountain in Antarctica with help from the SoMo 650.

This month, adventurer extraordinaire Lorenzo Gariano of Liguria, Italy will attempt to become the second Italian to summit the tallest peak on every continent. Having already conquered the highest peak of all six other continents, Lorenzo is now on a quest to scale Vinson Massif, the highest mountain of Antarctica.

On his trip, the 50-year-old grandfather will bring the Socket SoMo 650 handheld computer, which he will connect to a camera and satellite phone to send images for his Seven Summits Blog.

Running on the SoMo 650 will be Idruna Pocket Phojo photo editing and transmission software, which is configured to automatically connect to the satellite phone, resize and transmit only the photos that Lorenzo tags, then disconnect from the phone when complete. The Socket Serial I/O Card enables the satellite phone to connect to the SoMo 650.

After beginning the "Seven Summits Challenge" in 1997, Lorenzo began blogging about it in 2005, during his first attempt to reach the top of Mount Everest. Since then, he has also blogged about his summit of Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia in 2006 and begun a site for his Vinson Massif trek currently underway. Fluent in both Italian and English, Lorenzo includes podcasts in both languages so fans can listen to personal accounts of his adventures. His blog is hosted by the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University of Milton Keynes, UK, where Lorenzo was formerly employed. The university is actively engaged in mobile technology research and helped to prepare the mobile photograpy equipment.

Click to view a map of the expedition

After arriving at the base of Vinson Massif in the middle of this month, Lorenzo expects to reach the 16,067 ft (4,897 m) high pinnacle in less than a week, weather permitting. It is currently summertime in Antarctica, with temperatures ranging from -31 to +5° F (-35 to -15° C). Lorenzo will be part of an international team organized by the Seven Summits Club, a mountaineering organization based in Russia.

Photography Gear

According to Lorenzo's website, fewer than 100 people have succesfully completed the seven summits, and he is very excited to have the opportunity to try. "I am very much looking forward to completing my lifetime challenge, and hope to share... emotions, dreams and views that are truly so fresh and unique in this, at times, stale and automated world!" he wrote.

Socket is proud to sponsor Lorenzo and sends him our best wishes for his expedition.

Track Lorenzo's progress by visiting his blog!