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Iphone Apple

Apple Plans To Add Satellite Features To iPhones for Emergencies (bloomberg.com) 57

Posted by msmash from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.
Apple's push to bring satellite capabilities to the iPhone will be focused on emergency situations, allowing users to send texts to first responders and report crashes in areas without cellular coverage. From a report: The company is developing at least two related emergency features that will rely on satellite networks, aiming to release them in future iPhones, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Apple has been working on satellite technology for years, with a team exploring the concept since at least 2017, Bloomberg has reported. Speculation that the next iPhone will have satellite capabilities ramped up this week after TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the phone will probably work with spectrum owned by Globalstar. That's led to conjecture that the iPhone will become something akin to a satellite phone, freeing users from having to rely on cell networks. But Apple's plan is initially more limited in scope, according to the person, with the focus on helping customers handle crisis scenarios.
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Apple Plans To Add Satellite Features To iPhones for Emergencies More

Apple Plans To Add Satellite Features To iPhones for Emergencies

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  • Emergency only and who pays (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @12:07PM (#61748745) Homepage Journal

    It will be emergency use only due to the high power requirements and very limited bandwidth available on that satellite network.

    Presumably Apple is paying them to take the traffic, but the question is how it will be passed on to the consumer. Will it be a subscription or will it be part of the price of the phone?

    Would kinda suck if you needed it and realized that your subscription had lapsed.

    • We're talking about the equivalent of a single text message per device lifetime. The price of something like that should be dirt-cheap for Apple, and Apple devices are already "price padded."

      • Re: Emergency only and who pays (Score:4, Informative)

        by saloomy ( 2817221 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @01:17PM (#61748965)
        As an avid jet skier in the Southern California region in the pacific, I have a DeLorme Inreach Explorer that has Bluetooth and connects to an app in the iPhone. I have a $17/month plan with it that gives me the following: 40 messages to send. Receiving I believe is free. Additional messages are $0.45. I have a site where the unit updates my location as frequently as minutely, so family members can track my location, and see my journey in the event I donâ(TM)t check in. I get internet at ISDN speeds (64kbps). Itâ(TM)s almost unusable, but I can send iMessages and an email if I need to while out and about. IOS gives some notifications though it as well. Lastly, it has an SOS button, where they will try to text you, but track and dispatch assistance none the less if I trigger an SOS button. The monthly fee includes $100,000 in insurance for rescue bills if I get into trouble (doesnâ(TM)t cover medical expenses, just transport to hospital). If this functionality were baked into the iPhone, I would welcome it. It would be a device I do not need to charge or keep track of.

      • $20/meg $10/min voice $2 per text message!

        • Who cares about the per-message costs? A PLB is $300-$400 for a device you will, in all liklihood, never use even once. But I pay it.

          The other option is a monthly fee to access a private satellite device network, which adds up to even more.

          • Who cares about the per-message costs? A PLB is $300-$400 for a device you will, in all liklihood, never use even once. But I pay it.

            The other option is a monthly fee to access a private satellite device network, which adds up to even more.

            Some of us can't afford that, and choose to just scream over 121.5MHz (guard), you insensitive clod! /s

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shanen ( 462549 )

        I don't understand how you are trying to figure the costs. It seems like substantial additional hardware would be required, and every bit of hardware added to a highly portable device is a big downer. Even worse if the extra hardware is rarely used.

        However to me the big cost is the new security vulnerabilities such a capability would introduce. Smartphones already have plenty of capabilities to stomp on our privacy without this. Create the vulnerability and the bad guys will come.

        But how about making ECBMs

      • Apple devices are already "price padded."

        As are all cellphones.

        We non-Communists like to call that Padding "Profit". Without it to spur cellphone development, we would all be still communicating between villages with tribal drums and smoke signals.

    • Presumably Apple is paying them to take the traffic, but the question is how it will be passed on to the consumer. Will it be a subscription or will it be part of the price of the phone?

      This is one thing I don't see as a subscription, especially the reporting a disaster feature.

      I do think the user will have to pay somehow for text to emergency contacts using this feature, but I think that's either per-text or maybe, unlocking fro a day for a specific price. So that's kind of like a subscription, but I'm pr

      • If you have a DeLorme (now Garmin) in reach explorer, you need an account for it to work. The most basic ones are free, but super expensive to use. I pay $17 a month for mine because I am often jet skiing or boating far enough from the coast I donâ(TM)t have any hope of cell reception. I get 40 sent messages. Additional are $0.45 each.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dgatwood ( 11270 )

          For $200 a month, you can get unlimited voice calling from Globalstar, with the assumption that people who buy that service are going to use it whether they're in cellular range or not.

          So I figure if they require you to have service from a cellular carrier that covers your home address (so that usage occurs only when you're outside of cellular territory), and make this be a fallback-only signal path (don't allow users to disable cellular without disabling satellite), they could probably charge $10 a month

          • if Apple goes with Starlink as the satellite provider, because they have a ton of capacity and not a lot of users

            I don't think Starlink is as devoid of users as you think, for the foreseeable future the number of Starlink users is constrained only by how fast they can produce dishes to hook them up. I'm still waiting for equipment and I'm just mid-latitudes of the U.S. So they may not want to east into service with a cell deal.. also it seems like Elon has maybe a minor grudge against Apple?

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by dgatwood ( 11270 )

              if Apple goes with Starlink as the satellite provider, because they have a ton of capacity and not a lot of users

              I don't think Starlink is as devoid of users as you think, for the foreseeable future the number of Starlink users is constrained only by how fast they can produce dishes to hook them up. I'm still waiting for equipment and I'm just mid-latitudes of the U.S. So they may not want to east into service with a cell deal.. also it seems like Elon has maybe a minor grudge against Apple?

              Oh, I'm sure they'll get a lot of users in flyover territory where the cheapest cable Internet service costs $100 a month and sucks, or in places where cable doesn't reach. And if and when they release new receivers that aren't tied to a fixed geographical location, Starlink service will also be great for people with campers and motor homes, but that's still in the future.

              But otherwise, Starlink is kind of a niche market at $99 a month. For most Americans, it costs way more than cable, and most people don

    • Would kinda suck if you needed it and realized that your subscription had lapsed.

      It would suck about as much as not having sat comms in the first place. Or having a Spot device but letting the subscription lapse.

      My fingers are crossed this will have some pay-on-demand component. The way it sits now I have a $200 Spot device that I have to active for a month at $15 if I go on a week long hike in the back country. It is more limited than my phone, is another device I have to carry and keep track of and make sure is charged. It would be nice to just take my phone and know it could talk

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Nexx ( 75873 )

      It will be emergency use only due to the high power requirements and very limited bandwidth available on that satellite network.

      Presumably Apple is paying them to take the traffic, but the question is how it will be passed on to the consumer. Will it be a subscription or will it be part of the price of the phone?

      Would kinda suck if you needed it and realized that your subscription had lapsed.

      Genuinely, if I need the services, I'll happily pay pretty large amounts per incident. At the same time, I cannot imagine a world where sufficient numbers of people will actually pay for this service as a subscription, unless the prices are absurdly low. I'd hope they'll charge on a per-incident basis.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )

      Would kinda suck if you needed it and realized that your subscription had lapsed.

      If this is real (I have doubts) I imagine Apple will just pay the provider a fixed yearly fee to allow for the service. If it's going to work like an emergency beacon, it's going to be a tiny amount of data, even for a sat phone provider. I'm sure "Here's a billion dollars, every year" would cover it.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by guruevi ( 827432 )

      In many cases, for true emergencies, the providers will either voluntary or mandatory have some bandwidth for events like this. Kind of like 112 or 911 - you don't have to pay or even have an active subscription for it to work, but it will be the only thing you're allowed to do.

      In the US, the government funds a system I believe through both NOAA and NASA. Internationally, there is Cospas-Sarsat and a few others (eg. GALILEO has a feature like that built in). Basically the cost is baked into the cost of your

  • In 20 years what will the iPhone do?

  • It's not like Globalstar has the bandwidth to support all of those iPhone users who happen to be wandering in places with lousy cell coverage.

    Supporting satellite-based communication on an emergency basis only would require far less in terms of the limited bandwidth available.

    • My main question would be who determines it's an emergency? Because if it's up to the end user, it'll be an emergency every time they need to contact their sweetie to tell them some vitally important news. Like, "I'm picking up pizza!" Or "I need pop tarts."

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by PPH ( 736903 )

        My main question would be who determines it's an emergency?

        It's based on who you call. Unless your sweetie works at a 911 dispatch center, your call isn't going to qualify.

      • My main question would be who determines it's an emergency? Because if it's up to the end user, it'll be an emergency every time they need to contact their sweetie to tell them some vitally important news. Like, "I'm picking up pizza!" Or "I need pop tarts."

        And there are consequences if you call an emergency line in cases that are not emergencies.

      • My main question would be who determines it's an emergency?

        Holy shit, you really couldn't figure that one out??

  • Globalstar phones such as the GSP-1700 have a mahoosive antenna. How do apple plan to get around that problem?

    • IANAE, but is it possible to have the phone itself be the antenna? Run the satellite signal through the case/frame?

    • Re:Antenna (Score:4, Informative)

      by burtosis ( 1124179 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @12:38PM (#61748843)

      How do apple plan to get around that problem?

      The same way phone manufacturers have been getting away with crap antennas for 20 years, rely on a good front end amplifier and low noise receiver, and digital communication protocols that allow for substantial lost information and a poor connection. SMS data over satellite doesn’t need a great connection or great bandwidth or a stable connection for the low data transfer speeds, nor do you need a much larger battery nor worry about the phone getting too hot. It’s not going to make calls or even be close to as reliable as a purpose built device with proper antenna.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dlleigh ( 313922 )

      That telephone appears to be designed for satellite voice calls, which require substantially more data bandwidth than is needed for a brief text message. The gain provided by a larger antenna can be traded off for a longer transmit duration, which is not an issue for short messages. SPOT devices also use Globalstar for short data messages and don't have the big antenna seen on the phone referenced by the parent. https://www.findmespot.com/ [findmespot.com]

      Globalstar's RF spectrum is just above the GPS band, so it might be p

      • Because god forbid my phone has an antenna sticking out just so it works much better, I for one would like to keep looking couth.
    • Probably more similar to a Spot Gen 4, which do satellite SMS without bulky external antennas. A Spot Trace is similar but limits the talking up to a few hardcoded messages.
    • I suppose for the limited bandwidths of text and emergency messages it may not need a very large antenna.

    • Globalstar phones such as the GSP-1700 have a mahoosive antenna. How do apple plan to get around that problem?

      And satellite emergency beacons do not have a mahoosive antenna which is precisely what Apple is talking about implementing. They won't be making phone calls with it.

    • It would need a big antenna to support any kind of throughput for speech etc. but this looks more like a short message service. It could send a few words and coordinates highly coded over several seconds at a very low data rate at very low power levels.

  • How about unlocking FM reciever. (Score:3)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @12:41PM (#61748861)

    In an Emergency condition, more than a Satellite communication to send messages, I would like a low Powered FM enabled in America for all Carriers, so I can actually listen to emergency reports even if my battery is low.

    • Roll your own crystal FM receiver http://electronbunker.ca/eb/FM... [electronbunker.ca]

    • Honestly, because of LOS requirements for sat phones, I think thats a better idea. Hell even a shortwave 1W transmitter be way more useful than any sat phone. But when they talk about sats, I suspect they are talking about low orbit ones. Without line of sight, at the very least, there is no way the phone can receive a signal let alone transmit.

      But then, the sat phone market has been monopolized for so long, who knows if it can be modernized to be cheaper like sat internet will soon be.

  • from anywhere, as soon as Apple detects child porn on your phone.

  • In a real emergency and it fails, Apple's lawyer's will most-likely say it was being held the wrong way.

  • Did anyone else misread "report crashes" as a way to file a bug report? I know mobiles are critical and there are occasional bugs, but it seems like most software reports could probably wait until you're back in cell range.

  • Holding it wrong, fashion sheep, porn scanning, walled garden...
    Next, tell us all about Steve Jobs and Xerox Parc!

  • This would only be useable as a burst mode beacon as transmitting to a satellite takes far more power than receiving a signal, and must overcome much greater distances than phone to tower.

      My only concern is if this burst mode activates a few times automatically, fails to get through the structure or vehicle it's in, and drains the battery so you can't call 911.

  • So basically you'll be able to be tracked and monitored anywhere in the world, regardless of cell coverage?

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