Qualcomm

Hey, Android users! Are you jealous of the iPhone 14's quality to connect to satellites? Well, it's been a fewer months, and Qualcomm is already getting a akin diagnostic up and moving connected Android. Meet "Snapdragon Satellite" a mode to nonstop outer messages from a normal-sized Android phone. Unlike connected the iPhone, this is real, two-way, SMS-style texting that you'll supposedly beryllium capable to usage for much casual conversations alternatively of the iPhone's highly compressed, emergency-only, one-way questionnaire strategy that discourages composing a message.

Qualcomm's solution volition tally connected the Iridium outer constellation—this is the 25-year-old, 66-satellite web that powers traditional, purpose-built outer phones with elephantine outer antennas. Qualcomm says this is present going to enactment with normal-sized smartphones and with normal, internal-only antennas. Qualcomm's VP of Product Management, Francesco Grilli, gave a large overview of the work and says "in astir cases" you won't adjacent request a caller antenna. Iridium runs successful the 1-2 GHz L Band, the aforesaid arsenic GPS and immoderate mid-band cellular service, truthful your telephone already has an antenna for this.

That's not to accidental it volition enactment without immoderate caller hardware, but Qualcomm volition physique it into its modular RF loadout without requiring immoderate large caller components. This is simply a large concern compared to mmWave 5G, which added a big, extra, costly antenna to your telephone that precise fewer radical tin use.

Enlarge / You mightiness person to clasp up your phone, but you'll get normal, two-way SMS implicit a peculiar app.

Qualcomm

Just similar with the iPhone, skipping retired connected the mean big, outer antenna means dealing with a circumstantial acceptable of compromises. Unlike an always-on cellular connection, you'll occurrence up immoderate targeting app and mightiness beryllium asked to constituent your telephone astatine a determination successful the entity and hold for a connection. Voice calls, which are imaginable connected Iridium with a accepted outer phone, are out, and this is data-only. The transportation uses the Iridium protocol, conscionable similar a existent outer phone. Grilli describes the connection arsenic "closer to 2G [GSM oregon EDGE] than to 5G." It's an old-school TDMA (time-division aggregate access) setup, wherever immoderate 1 idiosyncratic talking to a circumstantial antenna volition monopolize that transportation spectrum, and everyone other has to wait. (Keep successful caput this "waiting" is an bid of milliseconds, and satellites person aggregate antennas.) FDMA (frequency part aggregate access) is however each your different telephone wireless technologies work. FDMA allows for higher-bandwidth and aggregate simultaneous users, but that's hard erstwhile you're talking astir outer abstraction communications.

Enlarge / This is what a mean Iridium telephone looks like, but we're going to marque bash without the bulky antenna.

Iridium

Qualcomm's show promises present look bully compared to Apple's solution. Grilli says you'll beryllium capable to nonstop a "full-size SMS successful little than 10 seconds, and connected average, it takes 3 seconds." That's faster than the iPhone's 15 seconds for an exigency SOS, which is simply a highly compressed questionnaire connection and not a afloat SMS. The iPhone is connected a antithetic Globalstar constellation with antithetic characteristics. That Globalstar constellation has lone 24 satellites covering the world, which is not bully capable for continuous 24/7 coverage. These satellites are moving around, truthful there's a regular up-and-down cadence to the Globalstar work that lasts for minutes astatine a clip for immoderate fixed location. With 66 satellites successful the Iridium constellation, you should ever person service, and you mightiness not adjacent request to bash that "hold your telephone up" creation to get a connection.

Presumably, you'll person to wage idiosyncratic to entree the outer network. Qualcomm is simply a spot supplier and didn't privation to get into ISP oregon messaging app details. Texts to 911 (or your section equivalent) volition beryllium free, without immoderate benignant of plan, conscionable similar however cellular works (this is simply a law). If you're paying for a premium plan, Qualcomm's proprietary setup allows for immoderate messaging modular you privation to use, either bog-standard SMS with your mean telephone fig oregon immoderate over-the-top work (i.e., WhatsApp), but operators volition request to fig that out. Some existing modular would beryllium large since lone 1 idiosyncratic would request to wage for the outer work and could speech to the extracurricular world.

Qualcomm says the work volition beryllium disposable successful phones successful the 2nd fractional of the twelvemonth for phones launched successful North America and Europe. Hardware enactment technically starts successful the Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 2 SoC, which already has a fewer announced devices, but it sounds similar outer compatibility volition beryllium an add-on diagnostic manufacturers request to program for. The institution says respective partners are already moving connected designs. While the diagnostic is exclusive to flagship devices, for now, Qualcomm says new, cheaper chips mightiness besides incorporated the feature, depending connected what the lawsuit reception is like. It's besides funny successful bringing the diagnostic to cars.