News

SpaceX Launches Starlink Mini For $599 In Selected Regions

The compact, portable dish features a built-in Wi-Fi router and is small enough to fit inside a backpack.

Published

2 years ago

June 21, 2024

Nour Nasir

spacex launches starlink mini for $599 in selected regions

Twitter / Oleg Kutkov

SpaceX has introduced a new Starlink kit, known as the Starlink Mini, which is compact enough to fit inside a backpack. Users will now be able to carry the miniature dish anywhere and access SpaceX’s satellite internet service on the go.

According to emails sent out by SpaceX, the Starlink Mini will be priced at $599 upfront — $100 more than the standard dish kit. Users must already have a standard service plan to add the Mini Roam service, which costs an extra $30 per month. In total, Starlink residential customers will spend $150 per month if they opt for the Mini.

Starlink MINI (REV MINI1_PROD2) with built-in WiFi.
28.9×24.8 cm (11.4″ x 9.8″) pic.twitter.com/0AQKicaOk4

— Oleg Kutkov 🇺🇦 (@olegkutkov) June 16, 2024

The cost of the smaller dish might decrease in the future. SpaceX mentioned in its email that it is working towards making Starlink more affordable overall. Currently, the company is offering a limited number of Mini kits “in regions with high usage”. Recently, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk discussed the Mini on X (formerly Twitter), describing it as a “great low-cost option”. He also mentioned that it would eventually cost “about half the price of the standard dish to buy and monthly subscription”.

Also Read: The Most AI-Proof Career Opportunities In The Middle East

The Starlink Mini dish includes a built-in Wi-Fi router, making it a more compact package and requiring fewer additional components than the standard version. The Mini also consumes less power, features a DC power input, and can achieve download speeds exceeding 100 Mbps. The new kit includes the dish, a kickstand, a pipe adapter, a power supply, and a cord with a USB-C connector on one end and a barrel jack on the other.

Currently, the Starlink Mini is only available in select high-usage regions. However, Michael Nicolls, Vice President of Starlink Engineering, stated on X that the company is increasing production of the Mini and plans to make it available internationally in the very near future.

News

Samsung And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA

Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.

Published

7 days ago

August 7, 2026

Nour Nasir

Samsung

Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.

Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.

For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.

“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.

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For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.

“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.