Satellite phone made tougher, more compact.

• Author: Williams, Robert H.
• Position: TECH TALK: A TIP-SHEET ON THE LATEST GADGETS

* A sleeker, smaller and more rugged satellite telephone--featuring an internally stowed antenna--has been introduced by Iridium Satellite LLC of Bethesda, Md. The device, which is called the 9555, also comes with an intuitive user interface, a brighter screen, speaker phone, improved short messaging service, email and an improved mini-USB (universal serial bus) data port.

The handset, says a company spokesman also offers an illuminated, weather resistant menu, more address book fields, programmable international codes for automatic dialing, an...