Apple’s partner and competitor, Qualcomm has announced a new “Snapdragon Satellite” service to compete with its new Emergency SOS via Satellite.
The latest iPhone 14 series introduced an industry-leading safety feature ‘Emergency SOS via Satellite’ which connects iPhone users with emergency services when experiencing an incident in an area with no Cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
Apple’s satellite messaging service is based on communicating the short and precise answers to the default questionnaire directly with the emergency services or through its supported call centers, along with users’ location, altitude, iPhone battery level, and Medical ID, if available.
However, stranded users can not send or receive long messages via satellite and Qualcomm claims its new “Snapdragon Satellite” service will do more.
Apple’s rival service with two-way satellite communication coming to Andoird in late 2023
At CES, Qualcomm announced that its satellite service will be the “world’s first satellite-based two-way capable messaging solution” to send longer messages for emergency and non-emergency purposes like “emergencies or recreation in remote, rural, and offshore locations.”
The new service will use “weather-resilinet” satellite network Iridium’s L-band spectrum, which is and is expected to launch later this year in premium Android devices. Qualcomm’s senior vice president and general manager, of cellular modems and infrastructure, Durga Malladi said;
“Robust and reliable connectivity is at the heart of premium experiences. Snapdragon Satellite showcases our history of leadership in enabling global satellite communications and our ability to bring superior innovations to mobile devices at scale.”
He also hinted that the service is intended for multiple devices like tablets, laptops, computers, IoT, and automobiles, not just smartphones.
“Kicking off in premium smartphones later this year,” continued Malladi, “this new addition to our Snapdragon platform strongly positions us to enable satellite communication capabilities and service offerings across multiple device categories.”
Apple’s ‘Emergency SOS via Satellite’ on iPhone 14 series has already proven to be a life-saving feature in the real world.
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