3 ms·

Seems the 2 biggest trends in phones are satellites and AI. To me at least, everything else is just noise when a new phone comes out.

by MR4D 2y ago

wkat4242 2y ago
Well AI is a trend in everything right now. And sats for mobile aren't really a big thing. Qualcomm worked on it and killed it, Samsung did for a while and killed it, Bullitt had it and it was a fringe thing before they collapsed. Only Apple really stood by it. And it's really only their moat, they're still not selling subscriptions. Starlink direct to cell is only available on a fraction of sats, even those launched now. They won't be able to launch a full direct to cell fleet until starship comes online due to the added size and weight of the sats. As an android user I still don't have any replacement for my Garmin inreach which is really a pain because Garmin put the prices up considerably. I was hoping to be able to replace it by now. Also, Bullitt's service is kinda a no go for emergencies because it uses a geostationary network so it won't work from valleys with mountains to the south (in the Northern hemisphere that is). Starlink, globalstar (apple) and Iridium (qualcomm, until they killed the deal) don't have this issue being low earth orbit. I guess the emergency service isn't the big selling point everyone thought it was and the capacity isn't there yet for much more than text messaging yet.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
  I also cannot wait for Apple to improve the product because it should force Garmin to actually charge reasonable prices for their service. There is a yearly fee just to keep the subscription "active" and then you pay for service on a rolling month basis. The extortionate per-message fees are reminiscent of early SMS days in the States. The product and service itself is pretty reliable though. I've taken my Inreach in all sorts of places and had only rare issues with it.
  - wkat4242 2y ago
    > There is a yearly fee just to keep the subscription "active" and then you pay for service on a rolling month basis. This is changing soon. They will now charge a keepalive fee per month. Previously you could pay 40 per year and just activate it for the months you needed it (the freedom plans). Those are gone unfortunately. For an irregular user it now goes from 40 to 120$ per year to keep it active. And yeah I wish there was a bit more competition here. Right now inreach is still the best for me even compared to PLBs though. Because inreach can do 10-minute breadcrumbs. So even when you have a bad fall the homefront can see where you were last. A PLB requires the user to be conscious to turn it on and unfold the antenna. And Apple's solution requires aiming at the satellite.
- dillondoyle 2y ago
  For backcountry I would love to have another option (and able to stream video and games lol). But I wouldn't drop the garmin for life saving reasons. I * might * if my garmin watch was able to use the garmin sos. Phone + very long lasting / hard to break watch might be enough for 90% of my nights out for me.
- ofcrpls 2y ago
  https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-skylo-launch-direct-device-messaging-customers https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-skylo-launch-dire... The support is standards based and while they are all wetting their feet with a preferred partner, with minimal messaging support focused on emergency use cases, there is enough traction to flush out major use cases across all carriers, with out of the box enablement at the mobile platform layer integrated on supported newer devices with the requisite radio HW.
- _fizz_buzz_ 2y ago
  > Well AI is a trend in everything right now. Seriously, I am fascinated by all the advanced in AI, but man, I don't need an AI assistant in my Adobe PDF reader.
JKCalhoun 2y ago
And it was the cameras for the first 10 years or so.
ulfw 2y ago
Satellite limited to one country is useless for all of us living in the free world. AI on a phone is... well let's be honest Apple "Intelligence" is an utter gimmick. Sadly there's been zero investment it seems in better user interfaces, settings screens have become a joke, cameras seem to have stagnated

Seems the 2 biggest trends in phones are satellites and AI. To me at least, everything else is just noise when a new phone comes out.

by MR4D 2y ago

Seems the 2 biggest trends in phones are satellites and AI. To me at least, everything else is just noise when a new phone comes out.

wkat4242 2y ago

Well AI is a trend in everything right now. And sats for mobile aren't really a big thing. Qualcomm worked on it and killed it, Samsung did for a while and killed it, Bullitt had it and it was a fringe thing before they collapsed. Only Apple really stood by it. And it's really only their moat, they're still not selling subscriptions. Starlink direct to cell is only available on a fraction of sats, even those launched now. They won't be able to launch a full direct to cell fleet until starship comes online due to the added size and weight of the sats. As an android user I still don't have any replacement for my Garmin inreach which is really a pain because Garmin put the prices up considerably. I was hoping to be able to replace it by now. Also, Bullitt's service is kinda a no go for emergencies because it uses a geostationary network so it won't work from valleys with mountains to the south (in the Northern hemisphere that is). Starlink, globalstar (apple) and Iridium (qualcomm, until they killed the deal) don't have this issue being low earth orbit. I guess the emergency service isn't the big selling point everyone thought it was and the capacity isn't there yet for much more than text messaging yet.

SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
I also cannot wait for Apple to improve the product because it should force Garmin to actually charge reasonable prices for their service. There is a yearly fee just to keep the subscription "active" and then you pay for service on a rolling month basis. The extortionate per-message fees are reminiscent of early SMS days in the States. The product and service itself is pretty reliable though. I've taken my Inreach in all sorts of places and had only rare issues with it.
- wkat4242 2y ago
  > There is a yearly fee just to keep the subscription "active" and then you pay for service on a rolling month basis. This is changing soon. They will now charge a keepalive fee per month. Previously you could pay 40 per year and just activate it for the months you needed it (the freedom plans). Those are gone unfortunately. For an irregular user it now goes from 40 to 120$ per year to keep it active. And yeah I wish there was a bit more competition here. Right now inreach is still the best for me even compared to PLBs though. Because inreach can do 10-minute breadcrumbs. So even when you have a bad fall the homefront can see where you were last. A PLB requires the user to be conscious to turn it on and unfold the antenna. And Apple's solution requires aiming at the satellite.
dillondoyle 2y ago
For backcountry I would love to have another option (and able to stream video and games lol). But I wouldn't drop the garmin for life saving reasons. I * might * if my garmin watch was able to use the garmin sos. Phone + very long lasting / hard to break watch might be enough for 90% of my nights out for me.
ofcrpls 2y ago
https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-skylo-launch-direct-device-messaging-customers https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-skylo-launch-dire... The support is standards based and while they are all wetting their feet with a preferred partner, with minimal messaging support focused on emergency use cases, there is enough traction to flush out major use cases across all carriers, with out of the box enablement at the mobile platform layer integrated on supported newer devices with the requisite radio HW.
_fizz_buzz_ 2y ago
> Well AI is a trend in everything right now. Seriously, I am fascinated by all the advanced in AI, but man, I don't need an AI assistant in my Adobe PDF reader.

JKCalhoun 2y ago

And it was the cameras for the first 10 years or so.

ulfw 2y ago

Satellite limited to one country is useless for all of us living in the free world. AI on a phone is... well let's be honest Apple "Intelligence" is an utter gimmick. Sadly there's been zero investment it seems in better user interfaces, settings screens have become a joke, cameras seem to have stagnated