Following Apple’s big announcement at the iPhone 14 launch event late last year, Qualcomm has decided to follow Cupertino’s lead and bring satellite messaging to select high-end Android phones. And in some ways it gets better, although you’ll probably have to pay for the privilege.
Snapdragon Satellite will arrive on premium Android handsets in the second half of 2023, Qualcomm says, though availability will be a decision for manufacturers and mobile service providers. Our Tech Advisor colleagues are currently seeking clarification on whether already-announced phones featuring Qualcomm’s latest high-end mobile chipset will support the service, but it seems likely that won’t be the case.
So it’s not yet clear which phones will get the new technology first, if at all: a not uncommon occurrence with Android devices. Most interesting, though, is how Snapdragon Satellite surpasses Apple’s satellite offerings, or will do in the future.
In practice, the iPhone 14’s Satellite Emergency SOS is a one-way messaging service. Strictly speaking, your emergency contacts can respond to the messages they receive, but only by replying YES or NO if relevant, while medical staff can respond with additional messages to seek more information. But it does not give you the opportunity to exchange comments back and forth with a loved one.
Apple
Snapdragon Satellite won’t let you do that either, at least not initially, but eventually it will support two-way satellite-based messaging: Qualcomm says this is a world first. One day, Android users could be able to send and receive messages without connecting to a traditional cellular network, a much more appealing concept than a service limited only to alerting contacts about emergencies that the average phone owner probably can’t imagine that he is involved.
But what about the costs? This remains a mystery. Qualcomm hasn’t made any grand claims that the service will be bundled for free with new purchases, as Apple has been able to do: Emergency SOS via satellite is free for two years after purchasing a 14-series iPhone, though we don’t yet know how much it will be after that will cost, but as a chipmaker rather than a phone maker it wouldn’t be capable of doing that anyway. Pricing, such as availability, will be a decision for the service providers and mobile phone manufacturers.
However, even if it requires an additional fee, and even if the two-way portion of the offering is still a long way off, the new service represents a blow to Apple’s superiority in this area. It will be interesting to see how Cupertino reacts. As always, the competition is fierce for the user, and perhaps this will be an announcement for the iPhone 15 launch in the fall.
