Apple Has Secret Team Working on Satellites To Beam Data To Devices (bloomberg.com) 46
Apple has a secret team working on satellites and related wireless technology, striving to find new ways to beam data such as internet connectivity directly to its devices, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the work. From a report: The Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker has about a dozen engineers from the aerospace, satellite and antenna design industries working on the project with the goal of deploying their results within five years, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal company efforts. Work on the project is still early and could be abandoned, the people said, and a clear direction and use for satellites hasn't been finalized. Still, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has shown interest in the project, indicating it's a company priority. Apple's work on communications satellites and next-generation wireless technology means the aim is likely to beam data to a user's device, potentially mitigating the dependence on wireless carriers, or for linking devices together without a traditional network. Apple could also be exploring satellites for more precise location tracking for its devices, enabling improved maps and new features.
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Who's laughing now? (Score:4, Funny)
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Tin hats don't work.
Tin foil hats. The foil makes all the difference.
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Tin hats don't work.
Tin foil hats. The foil makes all the difference.
The secret is the multiple thin layers
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They work, they are just kind of heavy.
If someone outside the company knows about it... (Score:3)
... then it's hardly a secret, now is it?
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No that is just the counter-counter propoganda piece they leaked. It's a ludicrous strawman version of the real story leaked so that anyone who hears the actual truth with automatically connect it to the people who believe the nutball version.
Probably just kidding... on this particular story. It's actually sad how common this type of intelligence action is and how effective.
Re: If someone outside the company knows about it. (Score:1)
Re-inventing GPS and sat-phones? (Score:2, Funny)
So, one again Apple are taking existing technologies - in this case GPS (first fully operational in 1993) and satellite phones (first operational in 1998) - and making them uniquely Apple, most likely by ensuring the services are locked down to their own devices, much more expensive than the existing equivalents, and with rounded corners.
Then, when the first one of their white, excitingly-designed multi-function satellites drops out of orbit and kills someone, it'll be the poor slobs fault for standing in t
Re:Re-inventing GPS and sat-phones? (Score:5, Funny)
So, one again Apple are taking existing technologies - in this case GPS (first fully operational in 1993) and satellite phones (first operational in 1998) - and making them uniquely Apple, most likely by ensuring the services are locked down to their own devices, much more expensive than the existing equivalents, and with rounded corners.
Then, when the first one of their white, excitingly-designed multi-function satellites drops out of orbit and kills someone, it'll be the poor slobs fault for standing in the wrong place...
No, GPS is free for anybody to use so unless Apple is buying the GPS constellation off the US military and denying use of it to everybody else they will not make GPS uniquely Apple. So you can lay down on a couch, calm down, breathe into a bag to stop the hyperventilating and take something to calm your fluttering heart. Smoke a joint maybe?
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Smoke a joint maybe?
That's how his rant got started....
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Unfortunately explaining a joke is a bit like dis
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I’m assuming he was being satirical. Maybe the first bit comes off like a genuine rant, but once you move to people getting crushed by satellites I think it’s sufficiently over the top that the humor should be obvious. Perhaps the OP really was trying to be serious and only engaged in hyperbole due to their intense hatred of Apple, but I got a hearty chuckle out of it because it’s so overblown that it’s impossible to take seriously.
Unfortunately explaining a joke is a bit like dissecting a frog. You learn a lot from doing it, but it tends to kill the frog in the process.
yes dear
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If Apple can get it to work, more power to them.
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Immense power to them. I'm not sure how they intend to pack enough juice to transmit to a sat in a smartphone package AND make it safe to hold next to your face but even a serious try has a decent chance of spilling out some new and worthwhile technology.
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Also, spacecraft will now have to launch through both the Muskosphere (Starlink) and the Applesphere. If future Apple devices come with free satellite communications service, that could help to explain their price at least...
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This is this the best that Apple can come up with? Seriously, Apple has officially dumb-ified. They used to have brains to come up with new stuff... (or make existing kitschy and cool) - I'm not seeing either with this one. Especially with the competition from SpaceX, Amazon, OneWeb, and others.
Personally, I think diving into wearables (e.g. Google Glass), or in-vehicle type technology would be more up their sleeve than a money wasting endeavor such as this.
Because Google Glass was such a huge success?
I know what its going to Beam (Score:1)
Straight to your phone.
And you can't block it unless you are ok with losing everything that makes a phone a phone.
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Ads Straight to your phone. And you can't block it unless you are ok with losing everything that makes a phone a phone.
Thanks to Google we have that already.
Secret? (Score:2)
Not anymore it doesn't.
apple net only $5 GB + $30 base plan with 3 GB (Score:2)
apple net only $5 GB + $30 base plan with 3 GB
If it were Google ... (Score:2)
If it were Google I would surmise that the purpose was to enable "direct spying". Perhaps Apple has decided to get into the direct spyware game as well?
The is lots of money to be made ...
Re: If it were Google ... (Score:1)
Value in low-bandwidth connectivity (Score:5, Informative)
There is a tremendous amount of value in low-bandwidth, ubiquitous connectivity. This wouldn't be for watching Netflix, but to keep devices connected for messaging, push notifications and locating lost and stolen devices. Apple already owns their own top-to-bottom infrastructure in all three categories (iMessage, APNS, and Find My) - that is the backend, OS, and even the hardware. The only thing is they are currently dependent upon 3rd party networking (cellular, wifi, etc) to bind those pieces together. That is the final missing piece in the chain. Some examples of just how valuable this would be...
Verizon had yet another major network issue two days ago. It's a very strong selling point when Verizon customers with iPhones can still message one another and receive notifications, while the Android users are totally dead in the water.
A friend had his cell phone stolen out of his hand in London a couple weeks ago. The thief shot down a back alley on his bike and had the sim card removed in mere seconds, so they could not locate or lock down the device before it lost connectivity. This networking will be built into the device, and will be a huge anti-theft deterrent.
This would be built into Macbooks, iPads, etc. All Apple devices could have built in messaging independent of Wifi. Extremely useful.
It makes a lot of sense to me that Apple is pursuing this one way or another.
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iOS updates are a high-bandwidth application that could be sent down at a relatively high speed because all devices can share the same connection. It might take 2 or 3 beams to get the whole update, but it won't hit your data cap.
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> This networking will be built into the device, and will be a huge anti-...
The future sounds fantastic. Someone social engineers your account and shuts down your phones, credit cards, bank accounts...
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Maybe they actually want to sell iPhone-based satphones
Whole room charging (Score:2)
How about cracking whole room charging first? Having to remember to charge devices suck.
Already tried and thwarted (Score:2)
Why satellites? (Score:2)
Let me guess... (Score:2)
... it'll require Apple launching several thousand space vehicles to pull this off. Amazon wants to do the same. Before long it'll be nearly impossible for any space exploration to take place once it becomes too damned complicated to schedule a launch window that avoid all the crap that Apple, Amazon, and whoever else has put in orbit.
Great! (Score:2)
So, in 5 years they will be doing what SpaceX is doing right fucking now?
Re: Great! (Score:1)
Learn Something, but.... (Score:2)
Hey, this is almost like ATG wasn't stabbed though the heart by Jobs, but they're not going to have anything like fast Internet connectivity within five years on a phone, without some fundamental breakthough in physics.
The current Starlink design calls for a "pizza-box-sized" antenna with fixed mount. And this is from an entire team of some of the best aerospace engineers who have been working on it for years, without requiring a traditional space-radio antenna.
Do I think those antennas will get better ove