Apple, earlier in the month, launched a new line of iPhone 14 series with two innovative features-- Crash Detection and SOS emergency calling via Satellite. Now, reports are coming that Samsung may also bring the latter feature to its Galaxy phones.
Folks at PhoneArena say Samsung may collaborate with Elon Musk's Starlink to offer the potential life-saving feature in their premium handsets in the near future.
It is said that Apple was actually in talks with Starlink to strike a deal, but went with Globalstar.
The new iPhones use Qualcomm's Snapdragon X65 5G modem. However, the iPhone 14 will need close to 15 seconds to send messages via Satellite to the emergency response call centre. And, that too, the sky has to be clear. If there is too much cloud cover, it may take several minutes to establish satellite connectivity.
Apple is slated to launch the SOS emergency calling feature in November through a software update and will be initially available only in the US and Canada. Also, it will be free for two years and after that, the company may charge for the service.
As of now, Starlink a subsidiary of SpaceX is offering satellite internet service in around 40 nations across all seven continents of the world.
So far, neither Samsung nor Starlink has responded to the reports on possible collaboration talks. We may just have to wait till January, as Samsung is speculated to unveil the new Galaxy S23 series. Even the S22 series too, was launched in the same time period earlier this year.
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