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Apple announces satellite emergency feature for iPhone 14

Apple announced an upcoming satellite connectivity feature called Emergency SOS via Satellite at its iPhone 14 launch event. The tool is intended to help people using the company’s high-end phones communicate when cellular service isn’t working — a process that Apple said took years to come true.

The company said it designed and built specific technology into iPhone 14 devices so they can connect to satellites even when they’re not near a tower.

The service is expected to launch in November in the United States and Canada. The iPhone 14 will begin pre-sales this Friday (9) and comes with a starting price of $799, Apple announced this Wednesday (7) at its flashy annual event.

“Unlike stationary cell towers, communications satellites are hundreds of kilometers above the Earth and flying at over 24,000 kilometers per hour. To connect to these satellites, you need to be outside with a clear view of the sky. And the bandwidth is so limited that even sending a text message is a technical challenge,” Williams said. “Usually the only way to access that network is with an expensive device that uses a bulky external antenna.”

“We knew this approach wouldn’t work for the iPhone,” he added. “So we came up with another way.”

The iPhone 14 will have the built-in antenna needed to communicate with satellites — and it won’t look anything like the bulky satellite phones of years past.

The phone will come equipped with software that will show users where to point their phones to connect to a satellite when no other service options are available. Once connected, the phones will be able to send and receive information for emergency help, according to Ashley Williams, an Apple satellite expert, who spoke at the event.

The company said it created a short-text compression mechanism to condense messages so that they take about 15 seconds to send if the user has a clear view of the sky. (It may take a few minutes longer if something like foliage is in the way.)

The service will work for text-based communication, she said, and can be used to communicate with emergency centers that only accept voice calls because Apple has set up “relay centers” to transmit text.

The tool can also be used in non-emergency situations, such as when a user goes for a long walk and wants to keep their family updated on their whereabouts.

The service will be offered free for two years with the purchase of the iPhone 14, according to Apple’s vice president of iPhone marketing Kaiann Drance. She didn’t reveal how much the service will cost after that.

Adding satellite service to new iPhones “should dominate the headlines,” according to Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight.

“The investment to add satellite capacity should not be underestimated. Apple will likely take years to put all the pieces of the puzzle in place, including a commercial deal with satellite provider Globalstar and creating the infrastructure needed to pass messages to emergency services,” Wood said.

Globalstar confirmed in a financial document that it is the contractor for this project. Apple did not immediately respond to an email request for additional information.

But the news, due for a launch just next month, comes after T-Mobile announced similar plans to “eliminate dead zones” using new SpaceX Starlink satellites for backup service.

It was marketed as a move to provide full-service high-speed internet in the dead zones. The launch of that service isn’t expected until late next year, though T-Mobile has said that once it’s launched, it should work with customers’ existing phones.

Source: CNN Brasil

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