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Samsung Galaxies may get satellite connectivity, too

Published: Sep 16, 2022, 5:20 AM

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Not to be outdone by Apple and Huawei, Samsung is planning to incorporate satellite connectivity options in its Galaxy phones as well, hints leakster Ricciolo. It is not hard to fathom why, as Apple made a big fuss out of something that won't be available until November, and will work in limited ways only in the US and Canada for now.

By limited ways we mean it will take 15 seconds to send a simple SOS message in clear sky conditions, or several minutes during overcast, yet Apple will be investing millions in new Globalstar satellites to maintain and expand the service, so hopefully it will become more full-featured down the road.

Still, the availability of satellite connectivity on your phone will become the norm in the future, and Samsung wouldn't want to be left behind. As to whose service it would use, this remains a mystery.

With Apple hogging the vast majority of Globalstar's network for its Emergency SOS feature on the iPhone 14 and future iPhones, Samsung may have to turn to another satellite connectivity provider. In its recent SEC filing, Globalstar reported that it will "provide 85% of its current and future network capacity" to Apple and will be reporting record revenues as a result, so we doubt there will be place for Samsung's Galaxy birds to land on that particular perch any more.

Rather than chasing Apple's satellite connectivity provider, Samsung may turn to the able and willing Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite service has already been in talks with Apple, even though the team from Cupertino ultimately went with Globalstar.

Starlink, on the other hand, is in a brouhaha with the aspiring 5G network carrier DISH which hogs a bunch of 12GHz spectrum and wants to use it for terrestrial 5G network deployment as well.

According to SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, the interference from this move could render its satellite services virtually inoperable, so it remains to be seen what would Samsung decide about it. As for how satellite connectivity looks inside an iPhone 14 Pro Max, look no further than PBK's teardown video above, a rather large chip on the phone's dual-layer motherboard.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.