Did you remember the announcement? Product branding helped consumers know a product was built with tech that made for fast and reliable wireless connections. It has expanded into space.
Yes, that's right. Satellites spin around the earth so they can do things, and that's whatQualcomm is trying to do.
It's not just an emergency feature that can call out for a rescue. It's not clear how much more it can do because each phone maker has to decide how to use it, but the details of what could be done have been made public. Some reasonable expectations have been set.
It helps to know what's happening here. Standard two-way communication is possible with the help of the satellites put into a low- Earth orbit by Iridium. If the antenna has a clear view of the sky you can use a sat phone to call or text anyone else with a phone.
The messaging function will be built into the chips as part of the program. It's a lot better for consumers than a phone company making a phone that can use a satellite service or relay, like Apple does with the newest iPhones. It will be more expensive to use.
The idea is that the ability is on the chip and will be on future high-end chips as well. If a phone maker doesn't want to use it, the only thing they can do is raise the price of the chip.
If the phone maker wants to use it, it will just sit there and do nothing until we want to use it. While not in use, it will probably sip away a small amount of battery, but not enough for anyone to notice. It's just inside the phone and not doing anything.
Things get interesting when we use it.
This is it. When you send a message through a satellite, it can be converted into something that can be sent to anyone with a device that is capable of receiving it. You won't have to wait very long for any of this to happen because there will probably be an alignment screen to help you point the phone in the right direction.
It sounds awesome and like something we're all itching to use, but it won't be cheap and you can't use a sat phone. It isn't a good substitute for your regular phone carrier.
Texting on a sat phone hits different.
Pricing is the biggest issue for most of us, and we don't know how it will work. That's not something that Qualcomm will be involved in and it's between the phone maker and you. That is how it should be. The chip maker allows it to work.
I think we will see bundles for a fee of $20 per month. You pay through the nose just like you used to with your phone carrier. A lot of free trial periods will be a perk for buying an expensive new phone. It will only be time that tells.
It's going to make sure you don't use satellite as your only way to text. It isn't a good experience. I've had to do it and it's not a good experience.
Everyone who has used a sat phone agrees with me. The lag between when you send something and when the other party gets it is noticeable. I'm not sad that there is no sat voice coverage because it's not possible to solve this with hardware or external antennas.
It's better if you don't see people typing to respond or get an instant notification that you're message was seen. You type, point at the sky and wait a few minutes to see if a reply comes. Since I last used a 2-way sat phone, there have been improvements, but most of this is how it works.
The good outweighs everything bad. You want this.
This is a great addition to any phone. If you have a charged battery, you are never in a situation where you are alone. The feature is only coming to phones built for North America and Europe right now, but it will work anywhere in the world. Everyone should buy the US unlocked version of the S23 because it has a new feature that everyone should use.
The ability to reach out via satellite was one of the best additions to the iPhone. It's even better to be able to use your phone to say hello to the people at home.
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