Elon Musk tweeted Thursday that SpaceX held “promising” talks with Apple to bring satellite connectivity to iPhones using the space launch company’s Starlink service.
The tweet comes a day after Apple said it would partner with Globalstar for satellite service on its iPhone 14 series.
Loren Grush for Bloomberg News:
The companies have had “promising conversations,” SpaceX chief executive Musk said in a tweet Thursday. Using satellites for cell phones would work best when the technology is specifically tailored to space signals, he said.
SpaceX and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
We’ve had some promising conversations with Apple about Starlink connectivity. The iPhone team is obviously super smart.
For sure, closing the link from space to phone will work better if the phone’s software and hardware adjusts to space-based signals than Starlink emulating cell tower.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 8, 2022
MacDailyNews takes: iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus introduce Emergency SOS via satellite, a novelty in the sector.
Satellite Emergency SOS combines custom components deeply integrated with software to allow antennas to connect directly to a satellite, enabling messaging with emergency services outside cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. Satellites are moving low-bandwidth targets and it can take minutes for messages to arrive. Since every second counts, with satellite emergency SOS, iPhone anticipates some vital questions to assess the user’s situation and shows them where to point the phone to connect to a satellite. The initial questionnaire and follow-up messages are then forwarded to centers run by Apple-trained specialists who can ask for help on your behalf. This breakthrough technology also allows users to manually share their location via satellite with Find My when there is no cellular or Wi-Fi connection, providing a sense of security when hiking or camping off the net. Satellite Emergency SOS will be available to users in the US and Canada in November, and the service will be free for two years.
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