4 ms·

Well, so far they only promised to. So, probably it’ll be done the same way that Teslas could self drive, across the county, unassisted in 2017

daydream 4y ago
> Well, so far they only promised to. Apple’s solution works today. Consumers are using it. This is mentioned in the article.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- pests 4y ago
  Apple's solution is making use of special features in the radio package. The post states unmodified phones.
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    Still, the fact that Apple has figured out the weird RF voodoo already makes it seem like a less ridiculous proposition.
    - pests 4y ago
      Qualcomm is the one who has figured out the weird RF voodoo you speak of. Apple is just consuming that.
      - markus_zhang 4y ago
        Is there any tech manual out there? Would love to see how it works.
    - tshaddox 4y ago
      I always assumed the main thing with satellite messengers was that they transmit with much higher power. Not that such a system is easy to design, but the “voodoo” mentioned previously was more about achieving compatibility with an existing RF system at much longer ranges than the system was designed for.
    - shaklee3 4y ago
      it's not rf voodoo. it's a highly spread signal at an extremely low nitrate. this has been common for communications satellites for a very long time.
- kalupa 4y ago
  except the article mentions specifically that Apple is partnered with Globalstar, not Starlink, for their emergency services functionality
  - la64710 4y ago
    And except that it actually saved someone’s life
- spookthesunset 4y ago
  Apples solution is in SOS emergency situations only. It is extremely limited in what you can transmit—which near as I can tell is just a well defined message format.
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  Apple’s solution is to have you find the signal and manually point to it to send a very small payload on a very slow link. If we’re looking for existing technology, current actually working GPS phones would be a better showcase of what’s possible.
  - bombolo 4y ago
    You know how slow unassisted GPS is?
martyvis 4y ago
It's strange that you think that this is so unachievable yet we have things like Bluetooth, WiFi, LoRa and regular cell phone all working with relatively tiny amounts of power and discriminating from the noise generated by other nonparticipants. This would amaze anyone from before the 70s.
- pontilanda 4y ago
  What? My wifi barely reaches the other side of my room with a wall in between, how am I supposed to think 350 miles is within reason? Even with clear sky, your signal to a tower an order of magnitude closer would be unusable. If you look at apple’s latest feature, even them, with specific hardware probably, requires minutes of open-sky pointing directly at the closest satellite, to transmit mere bytes of data. That tells me that if your phone is just hanging in your pocket, indoors, with a 5G nearby, it’s not going to reach the satellite at in any shape or form.
  - martyvis 4y ago
    I know nothing of your own situation, but having personally deployed fully working and operational WiFi for a 10000 plus seat stadium, various other campuses, but also seeing cell phones work in your pocket moving in a car or in a big city shopping centre is amazing. Even the Starlink stuff that is already deployed. Anyway let's wait and see - I'm pretty sure T-Mobile wouldn't have signed on for something that is just a pipedream
    - dmitrygr 4y ago
      > I'm pretty sure T-Mobile wouldn't have signed on for something that is just a pipedream Las Vegas and a few other cities did, from the same salesman: https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-boring-company-tunnel-traffic-11669658396 https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-boring-company-tunnel...
    - pontilanda 4y ago
      > This would amaze anyone from before the 70s. I'm not saying that it's impossible, I'm just pointing out your smugness at the fact that it's not common knowledge. > the Starlink stuff You mean the stuff that requires a large, hot disc on your roof and therefore not in your pocket? Are we talking about the same things there? > I'm pretty sure T-Mobile wouldn't have signed You trust big companies too much, they make mistakes all the time.

daydream 4y ago

> Well, so far they only promised to. Apple’s solution works today. Consumers are using it. This is mentioned in the article.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
pests 4y ago
Apple's solution is making use of special features in the radio package. The post states unmodified phones.
- bee_rider 4y ago
  Still, the fact that Apple has figured out the weird RF voodoo already makes it seem like a less ridiculous proposition.
  - pests 4y ago
    Qualcomm is the one who has figured out the weird RF voodoo you speak of. Apple is just consuming that.
    - markus_zhang 4y ago
      Is there any tech manual out there? Would love to see how it works.
  - tshaddox 4y ago
    I always assumed the main thing with satellite messengers was that they transmit with much higher power. Not that such a system is easy to design, but the “voodoo” mentioned previously was more about achieving compatibility with an existing RF system at much longer ranges than the system was designed for.
  - shaklee3 4y ago
    it's not rf voodoo. it's a highly spread signal at an extremely low nitrate. this has been common for communications satellites for a very long time.
kalupa 4y ago
except the article mentions specifically that Apple is partnered with Globalstar, not Starlink, for their emergency services functionality
- la64710 4y ago
  And except that it actually saved someone’s life
spookthesunset 4y ago
Apples solution is in SOS emergency situations only. It is extremely limited in what you can transmit—which near as I can tell is just a well defined message format.
makeitdouble 4y ago
Apple’s solution is to have you find the signal and manually point to it to send a very small payload on a very slow link. If we’re looking for existing technology, current actually working GPS phones would be a better showcase of what’s possible.
- bombolo 4y ago
  You know how slow unassisted GPS is?

martyvis 4y ago

It's strange that you think that this is so unachievable yet we have things like Bluetooth, WiFi, LoRa and regular cell phone all working with relatively tiny amounts of power and discriminating from the noise generated by other nonparticipants. This would amaze anyone from before the 70s.

pontilanda 4y ago
What? My wifi barely reaches the other side of my room with a wall in between, how am I supposed to think 350 miles is within reason? Even with clear sky, your signal to a tower an order of magnitude closer would be unusable. If you look at apple’s latest feature, even them, with specific hardware probably, requires minutes of open-sky pointing directly at the closest satellite, to transmit mere bytes of data. That tells me that if your phone is just hanging in your pocket, indoors, with a 5G nearby, it’s not going to reach the satellite at in any shape or form.
- martyvis 4y ago
  I know nothing of your own situation, but having personally deployed fully working and operational WiFi for a 10000 plus seat stadium, various other campuses, but also seeing cell phones work in your pocket moving in a car or in a big city shopping centre is amazing. Even the Starlink stuff that is already deployed. Anyway let's wait and see - I'm pretty sure T-Mobile wouldn't have signed on for something that is just a pipedream
  - dmitrygr 4y ago
    > I'm pretty sure T-Mobile wouldn't have signed on for something that is just a pipedream Las Vegas and a few other cities did, from the same salesman: https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-boring-company-tunnel-traffic-11669658396 https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-boring-company-tunnel...
  - pontilanda 4y ago
    > This would amaze anyone from before the 70s. I'm not saying that it's impossible, I'm just pointing out your smugness at the fact that it's not common knowledge. > the Starlink stuff You mean the stuff that requires a large, hot disc on your roof and therefore not in your pocket? Are we talking about the same things there? > I'm pretty sure T-Mobile wouldn't have signed You trust big companies too much, they make mistakes all the time.