Satellite SOS iPhone 14

[201Steve]

This is an interesting new feature that could make devices like the SPOT (that I use) or the Garmin inReach obselete. iPhone 14 is able to send and receive GPS messaging in SOS situations. 
 

 

[EricJ]

Yes, and this is just a first step toward filling in gaps to cellular coverage by satellite communication.   There are efforts from multiple companies to make LTE (the current primary cell phone standard) accessible anywhere via LEO satellites, of which there are an increasing number of different options.   It's not quite ready for prime time yet, but is definitely in the pipeline.   This earlier system appears to be LTE to GEO-stationary satellite, which requires reducing the data rate significantly in order to make the link work.    It's definitely an interesting step, but just one along the way to increasing coverage.

http://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=505054994
 

[201Steve]

Dual benefit, worldwide coverage and less big giant airplane catchers protruding into the sky?

[aggiepilot04]

I wish Apple at least supported iMessage or SMS via sat. There's still a gap where you don't quite need SAR but have an urgent situation (ie hiking). Or maybe you just need to communicate an ETA from in the air. T-mobile's new offering closes that gap: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/t-mobile-takes-coverage-above-and-beyond-with-spacex

With iPhone 14 on t-mobile, there's zero reason to pay an InReach subscription. I am upgrading iPhones anyways because I've been holding out for a while, but I'm also seriously considering going back to t-mobile.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[carusoam]

The apple presentation today was really interesting….

From fuzzy memory…

1) Satellite aspect of the new phone is interesting… they didn’t mention SpaceX or anyone else… kind of like 5G… the phone has the capability, see how long it takes for the infrastructure to support it….

2) Satellites are too distant for ordinary conversations… looks great for text messages and data…

3) They gave an example of somebody that survived a plane crash and how they got help…. With the actual survivor giving the presentation…

 

4) The Apple Watch is coming with a few updates as well… GPS and altimeter…

5) Presentation had actual survivors of heart issues and automated 911 calls…

6) Looks like the Ultra model has phone and GPS independent of your actual phone….

7) Works for scuba divers down to 100+’. And a wide range of temps…

 

8) there was an expansion of their finance plan… if you like, get a new phone every year… for some set price….

9) Oddly… new phones this year are the same price as last year… what happened to inflation and supply chain issues?

 

Sitting through the presentation…. I had to delay my trip to the airport…. 

Best regards,

-a-

[toto]

I have an inreach, primarily for aviation use. I was interested in the recent T-Mobile announcement, and the Apple announcement today is also interesting. 

A couple of things about a dedicated unit:

* My inreach battery will last up to 14 days on a charge (with the unit turned on)

* The inreach physically is a pretty solid device, rugged and shock/waterproof with a simple LCD screen and a big Iridium antenna

I hook the inreach via carabiner to my person (flying over rugged terrain), or to the handle in front of the passenger door in the Mooney. And for the most part, I just leave it turned off. 

The concern with emergency scenarios is that you'll have a dead battery or that your phone screen will be smashed when you really need the "SOS" function. The inreach should always work, and if it's hooked to me, I should have it even if I end up a little ways away from the airplane after an accident. 

Still, I'm happy to avoid paying 12 bucks a month if there's an option out there that covers all the bases

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EricJ]

9 minutes ago, carusoam said:

2) Satellites are too distant for ordinary conversations… looks great for text messages and data…

Yes, if it is linking through geo-stationary satellites it'll likely be short text messages transmitted at very low data rates.    Once the LTE-to-LEO-satellite stuff starts operating through various leo constellations the capabilities will be much better, but still not nearly as good as when connected to a terrestrial cellular base station.     Those LTE-to-leo-constellation systems are supposed to work for any LTE phone.

[carusoam]

The presentation showed a satellite app…

Where’s my closest satellite, and how to point your phone in the right direction….

It looked like they were also showing an in-reach device… with its funky antenna….

No funky antenna… so point towards the satellite using this app….   

 

Best regards,

-a-

[toto]

1 minute ago, carusoam said:

The presentation showed a satellite app…

Where’s my closest satellite, and how to point your phone in the right direction….

It looked like they were also showing an in-reach device… with its funky antenna….

No funky antenna… so point towards the satellite using this app….   

 

Best regards,

-a-

I'm in favor of non-funky antennas where they don't serve a purpose, but if the funky antenna is the difference between life and death, give me the funky one

I'll be very interested to see comparisons between the two units in the field. 

[carusoam]

4 minutes ago, toto said:

I'm in favor of non-funky antennas where they don't serve a purpose, but if the funky antenna is the difference between life and death, give me the funky one

I'll be very interested to see comparisons between the two units in the field. 

be on the look out… for the in-reach app with an antenna that plugs into the lightening socket….  

Just guessing…

-a-

[toto]

2 minutes ago, carusoam said:

be on the look out… for the in-reach app with an antenna that plugs into the lightening socket….  

Just guessing…

-a-

Interestingly, you can control all of the inreach functions via Bluetooth from an iphone. It's much easier to send messages that way. But it has standalone capabilities, so if your phone is gone/broken, you can send an SOS with one button. (This is similar to other SOS-style satellite units.)

[carusoam]

There is soooo much territory that is uncovered by cell service…

We lost a Mooney up in the Canadian NW…. A few years ago… before ADSB-out and flight aware became so popular…

Their family came to MS looking to see if we knew how to find a plane lost in the wilderness….

The plane was hidden in snow, not too far from a highway…

Something like this would have been incredibly helpful…

The plane was found during the spring thaw, months later….

Best regards,

-a-

[A64Pilot]

On 9/8/2022 at 12:10 AM, toto said:

Interestingly, you can control all of the inreach functions via Bluetooth from an iphone. It's much easier to send messages that way. But it has standalone capabilities, so if your phone is gone/broken, you can send an SOS with one button. (This is similar to other SOS-style satellite units.)

We used an In reach on the boat, you can get weather forecasts and have it send location pings frequently, so anyone with your address can immediately see your location, on a map, so presumably an airplane in the mountains not moving is an emergency for example, plus you can send and receive txt’s.

I used the Ipad to operate the inreach, left the inreach under the dodger plugged in.

Inreach does not replace an ELT or EPIRB, but it does augment one rather well.

[Will.iam]

On 9/7/2022 at 10:51 PM, toto said:

I have an inreach, primarily for aviation use. I was interested in the recent T-Mobile announcement, and the Apple announcement today is also interesting. 

A couple of things about a dedicated unit:

* My inreach battery will last up to 14 days on a charge (with the unit turned on)

* The inreach physically is a pretty solid device, rugged and shock/waterproof with a simple LCD screen and a big Iridium antenna

I hook the inreach via carabiner to my person (flying over rugged terrain), or to the handle in front of the passenger door in the Mooney. And for the most part, I just leave it turned off. 

The concern with emergency scenarios is that you'll have a dead battery or that your phone screen will be smashed when you really need the "SOS" function. The inreach should always work, and if it's hooked to me, I should have it even if I end up a little ways away from the airplane after an accident. 

Still, I'm happy to avoid paying 12 bucks a month if there's an option out there that covers all the bases

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple says it will be free for first 2 years. I wonder with the “get a new iphone every year” crowd if that is reset or if it’s like ATM’s free at first to get you to try it and then pay for the rest of your time while owning the iphone. 

[toto]

5 minutes ago, Will.iam said:

Apple says it will be free for first 2 years. I wonder with the “get a new iphone every year” crowd if that is reset or if it’s like ATM’s free at first to get you to try it and then pay for the rest of your time while owning the iphone. 

Apple is going to be paying GlobalStar a pile of cash for the service (or, I guess if the phone is using T-Mobile service, it goes to StarLink instead), so I assume they will want to make money on it at some point.

The article I read earlier today suggested that GlobalStar has like $124m revenue now, and Apple is going to be paying $100m a year for the satellite service. So it’s a really big deal for GlobalStar. 

Once people get used to being able to text from anywhere on the planet, they’ll want to keep being able to do that. Two years seems like a reasonable amount of time to get everyone hooked. 

[Will.iam]

35 minutes ago, toto said:

Apple is going to be paying GlobalStar a pile of cash for the service (or, I guess if the phone is using T-Mobile service, it goes to StarLink instead), so I assume they will want to make money on it at some point.

The article I read earlier today suggested that GlobalStar has like $124m revenue now, and Apple is going to be paying $100m a year for the satellite service. So it’s a really big deal for GlobalStar. 

Once people get used to being able to text from anywhere on the planet, they’ll want to keep being able to do that. Two years seems like a reasonable amount of time to get everyone hooked. 

I wonder if the satellites will get over saturated once a couple of million iphone 14’s start sending texts through them especially free ones. You know everyone that buys an iphone14 will want to test this feature out!

[aggiepilot04]

38 minutes ago, toto said:

Apple is going to be paying GlobalStar a pile of cash for the service (or, I guess if the phone is using T-Mobile service, it goes to StarLink instead), so I assume they will want to make money on it at some point.

The article I read earlier today suggested that GlobalStar has like $124m revenue now, and Apple is going to be paying $100m a year for the satellite service. So it’s a really big deal for GlobalStar. 

Once people get used to being able to text from anywhere on the planet, they’ll want to keep being able to do that. Two years seems like a reasonable amount of time to get everyone hooked. 

Begs the question though...why didn't Apple just buy GlobalStar?

[aggiepilot04]

2 minutes ago, Will.iam said:

I wonder if the satellites will get over saturated once a couple of million iphone 14’s start sending texts through them especially free ones. You know everyone that buys an iphone14 will want to test this feature out!

Apple is footing the bill for GlobalStar to increase capacity.

[Will.iam]

Actually I’m way more interested in the airpod pro II. With their claim of twice the noise cancellation capabilities of the previous airpods if true, will be my new headset to try in the plane. Might even push me into a new audio panel that accepts Bluetooth connections if the airpods perform as well as they claim. I already put in an order. Should arrive by sept 23 if they keep their release date.  

[toto]

6 minutes ago, Will.iam said:

Actually I’m way more interested in the airpod pro II. With their claim of twice the noise cancellation capabilities of the previous airpods if true, will be my new headset to try in the plane. Might even push me into a new audio panel that accepts Bluetooth connections if the airpods perform as well as they claim. I already put in an order. Should arrive by sept 23 if they keep their release date.  

I’m not sure whether any aviation audio panels will let you transmit from a Bluetooth microphone. I’d be interested to know if you find a solution that works. 

Having worn my AirPod Pros about 5-6 hours a day for two years, I’ll say that the noise cancelling and audio clarity isn’t close to my Bose A-20 headsets in high-noise contexts, but as you say - if they can improve the ENC that much then it might be worth a think. 

[toto]

14 minutes ago, Will.iam said:

I wonder if the satellites will get over saturated once a couple of million iphone 14’s start sending texts through them especially free ones. You know everyone that buys an iphone14 will want to test this feature out!

It’s an interesting thought. Texting on the Inreach is super super slow, and you kind of have to get used to the fact that it’s a *much* different experience from texting on a phone. It sometimes takes minutes for the device to send a text, and it can take minutes to get a response. I always chalk that up to “satellite blah blah blah” but who knows if it can be improved.

The Inreach uses the iridium network, which apparently has better coverage and more satellites than GlobalStar, so I’ll be interested to see whether Apple can pull a rabbit out of a hat and make an authentic iMessage experience using GlobalStar. 

[aggiepilot04]

18 minutes ago, toto said:

It’s an interesting thought. Texting on the Inreach is super super slow, and you kind of have to get used to the fact that it’s a *much* different experience from texting on a phone. It sometimes takes minutes for the device to send a text, and it can take minutes to get a response. I always chalk that up to “satellite blah blah blah” but who knows if it can be improved.

The Inreach uses the iridium network, which apparently has better coverage and more satellites than GlobalStar, so I’ll be interested to see whether Apple can pull a rabbit out of a hat and make an authentic iMessage experience using GlobalStar. 

I'm curious if having to point your phone at the satellite will make the transmission slower or faster vs the giant antenna. Definitely super slow with the InReach.

[EricJ]

2 hours ago, aggiepilot04 said:

Begs the question though...why didn't Apple just buy GlobalStar?

Satellite infrastructure is generally highly capital-instensive and high risk.   Globastar has incumbent competition as well as emerging competition, so it's not a great thing to be dumping large amounts of money into.

That said, I'd be surprised if Apple didn't take some kind of equity or debt position with Globalstar as part of the deal.

 

[EricJ]

2 hours ago, toto said:

It’s an interesting thought. Texting on the Inreach is super super slow, and you kind of have to get used to the fact that it’s a *much* different experience from texting on a phone. It sometimes takes minutes for the device to send a text, and it can take minutes to get a response. I always chalk that up to “satellite blah blah blah” but who knows if it can be improved.

The Inreach uses the iridium network, which apparently has better coverage and more satellites than GlobalStar, so I’ll be interested to see whether Apple can pull a rabbit out of a hat and make an authentic iMessage experience using GlobalStar. 

Space-based comm will always be more cumbersome than terrestrial-based, because it is naturally much more heavily constrained for resources and further away.    The initial reports were that the connections were to geo-synchronous satellites, which would make it really difficult, but even with a leo constellation there is limited available bandwidth and the links are in significant ways more difficult to make work than a relatively short-range hop to a cell tower.

Iridium is a well-established incumbent with a second-generation system already deployed and a pretty solid user base, plus lots of deployment and operational experience.   That said, I think inreach is a sort of piggy-back on their system, so an Iridium subscriber with an Iridium-provisioned phone would likely have a much better user experience.   It'd also cost a lot more.

I think the Apple connection to globalstar is similar, in that it isn't a primary stream, just an emergency text-based connection if you are away from terrestrial service.   Since that's not going to be a primary service, and the required bandwidth is low, I don't think it'll be that difficult for globalstar to support even a large number of occasional Apple users.   Short texts just don't take very much bandwidth to support, even to a leo satellite system, especially if they're not provisioned as primary service.

Edit:   Of course, as soon as I said that I see this bit in the link below that claims that Globalstar is allocating 85% of its capacity to the Apple deal.   I find that pretty scary for Globalstar since most accounts claim that it's only for Emergency SOS from Apple users, and isn't super user-friendly, so I'd expect the demand would be very low.    For Globalstar to say that that'll take up that much of their system does not sound encouraging to me.

https://spacenews.com/apple-to-be-largest-user-of-globalstars-satellite-network-for-iphone-messaging/

[carusoam]

Timing of availability…

 

Starting in November, iPhone 14 users in the U.S. and Canada will be able to send an “Emergency SOS” message via satellite. Apple says the service “might not work in places above 62° latitude, such as northern parts of Canada and Alaska.” The emergency service will not work for iPhones bought in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macao. Credit: Apple.com