3 ms·

I hope one day Apple can jam some more features in the downstream. Would be cool to broadcast news or weather updates just by pointing your phone at the sky for

I hope one day Apple can jam some more features in the downstream. Would be cool to broadcast news or weather updates just by pointing your phone at the sky for a few moments. Satellite should be able to blast the signal. Downsides: no real "cell" infra for Globalstar, and it doesn't work far outside of landmasses.

lxgr 3y ago
I'm fairly certain Apple has bigger plans for Globalstar than "only" emergency SOS. They've spent considerable resources securing 85% of the total capacity already! Regarding coverage, Apple has also already invested considerably, e.g. in ground station expansions in Hawaii and elsewhere. According to Globalstar's coverage map (likely outdated/non-Apple, since Hawaii is not shown as covered yet), most of the Atlantic Ocean is already covered as well: https://www.globalstar.com/en-us/coverage-maps https://www.globalstar.com/en-us/coverage-maps
modeless 3y ago
I don't see a need for this. It's pretty clear SpaceX's approach can scale to real voice and data service. All you need are more satellites and bigger antennas and you'll have something way better than a one way broadcast like satellite radio or something. SpaceX has launched the current constellation with Falcon 9; Starship will be able to launch much bigger satellites much faster and much cheaper. And it will work over 100% of the Earth's surface (modulo legal issues) with continuous coverage, as Starlink already does. And SpaceX won't be the only ones doing it.
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  Only if you're with T-Mobile or with their roaming partner (in US), and same garbage elsewhere. (Though you could argue that having a provider-agnostic but platform-dependent comms system is trading one problem for another). Mostly my dream is to drop my cellular provider entirely. I'm living in an increasingly wifi-covered world whenever indoors and I have lots of background-updating offline content, so having some bare minimum connectivity is all I need. Could go the other way around and go cellular-only for all connectivity, but Canadian telecoms are hell-bent on limiting cellular data to make that impossible for most.
  - modeless 3y ago
    It really ought to be SpaceX's endgame to sign up every carrier, not just one in each country. I bet their partnerships are not permanently exclusive. And again, SpaceX will not be the only ones doing this.

lxgr 3y ago

I'm fairly certain Apple has bigger plans for Globalstar than "only" emergency SOS. They've spent considerable resources securing 85% of the total capacity already! Regarding coverage, Apple has also already invested considerably, e.g. in ground station expansions in Hawaii and elsewhere. According to Globalstar's coverage map (likely outdated/non-Apple, since Hawaii is not shown as covered yet), most of the Atlantic Ocean is already covered as well: https://www.globalstar.com/en-us/coverage-maps https://www.globalstar.com/en-us/coverage-maps

modeless 3y ago

I don't see a need for this. It's pretty clear SpaceX's approach can scale to real voice and data service. All you need are more satellites and bigger antennas and you'll have something way better than a one way broadcast like satellite radio or something. SpaceX has launched the current constellation with Falcon 9; Starship will be able to launch much bigger satellites much faster and much cheaper. And it will work over 100% of the Earth's surface (modulo legal issues) with continuous coverage, as Starlink already does. And SpaceX won't be the only ones doing it.

Scoundreller 3y ago
Only if you're with T-Mobile or with their roaming partner (in US), and same garbage elsewhere. (Though you could argue that having a provider-agnostic but platform-dependent comms system is trading one problem for another). Mostly my dream is to drop my cellular provider entirely. I'm living in an increasingly wifi-covered world whenever indoors and I have lots of background-updating offline content, so having some bare minimum connectivity is all I need. Could go the other way around and go cellular-only for all connectivity, but Canadian telecoms are hell-bent on limiting cellular data to make that impossible for most.
- modeless 3y ago
  It really ought to be SpaceX's endgame to sign up every carrier, not just one in each country. I bet their partnerships are not permanently exclusive. And again, SpaceX will not be the only ones doing this.