Isn't that a good thing?. I'd rather have it there and never have to use it, but in the case of an emergency with no signal or people around, it's nice to know it's there if I have to use it.
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iPhone's Satellite Feature Launched Two Years Ago Today, Remains Free
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Knowing how Tim Cook is a greedy MBA degree-holding corporate suit who cares far more about shareholders than he does about customers, it wouldn't be surprising if he starts charging for iPhone's satellite feature in the future.
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Wouldn't surprise me if Tim starts charging for it. But it's not going to look great when the first article appears saying this person died because they didn't pay for a satellite subscription in order to call the emergency services.
Just like calling the emergency services even without monthly contact or no credit on a pay-as-you-go account, the emergency services should always be free to contact from any device that can contact them.
Just like calling the emergency services even without monthly contact or no credit on a pay-as-you-go account, the emergency services should always be free to contact from any device that can contact them.
Lets fill in a lot of missing information, this from Nov 2022
Emergency SOS via satellite made possible by $450M Apple investment
A $450 million investment from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund supports Emergency SOS via satellite for iPhone 14 models.
www.apple.com
Just 2 weeks ago
Apple is buying 20 percent of its iPhone satellite services partner
Apple is making a big investment in Globalstar.
www.theverge.com
Apple sees this as a critical infrastructure to expand upon and it has part ownership. One could see them allowing other forms of communication then just this very limited low bandwidth texting via satellites that hardly costs them anything.
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“It is unclear if and when Apple will start charging for its iPhone satellite features, but the time limit on free usage makes it sound like the company does eventually plan to charge a fee for at least some of the services.”
Considering that this feature is used so sparingly by most people, Apple could:
a) keep it free for all (best)
b) include it into their iCloud+ plan (ok)
c) charge a fee for it when the service is actually used (petty for Apple, but will make logical sense).
A bit off topic, but Apple still seem to be quite greedy with their services. Renting a movie from AppleTV+ costs 3.99€ in France, vs 2.99€ on Amazon, YouTube, Canal+, etc. Why is that?
Also, their free 5GB iCloud allowance is a joke in 2024, as pointed by many.
Considering that this feature is used so sparingly by most people, Apple could:
a) keep it free for all (best)
b) include it into their iCloud+ plan (ok)
c) charge a fee for it when the service is actually used (petty for Apple, but will make logical sense).
A bit off topic, but Apple still seem to be quite greedy with their services. Renting a movie from AppleTV+ costs 3.99€ in France, vs 2.99€ on Amazon, YouTube, Canal+, etc. Why is that?
Also, their free 5GB iCloud allowance is a joke in 2024, as pointed by many.
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Are they really plan to ask money for a service one hopefully isn’t going to use ?
The 5 GB were almost ok at the time of the introduction of iCloud services. Now they should update it to 20 GB in my opinion
That certainly would be reasonable. I wonder if Europe has a similar fund?
Not per what your link references:
In technical terms it is my understanding that the Globalstar constellation has long had an extra 10 megabits-per-second of Block 53 bandwidth that has gone generally unused but available to a specific Qualcomm chipset. This strongly implies that such satellite capability wouldn’t be limited to the iPhone 14 but has probably been there all along for any phones using that chipset.
I might argue that any iPhone could be satellite-upgraded with only a firmware change, which of course is totally under Apple’s control.
Cringley went from that to claiming any iPhone can do it.
I suspect, unless Apple was 100% certain earlier iPhones could be successfully upgraded and work properly, they didn't to avoid potential liability if one failed in an emergency.
Perhaps anger should be directed as Samsung et.al. or not including the feature and paying Apple. Perhaps regulatory action is needed to force them to add the feature.
Tim Cook's job is to care for shareholders, everything else is in support of their best interests.
Not unreasonable, since it costs them money to provide it. They could keep 911 type calls free and charge for other non-emergency use; just like any cell company.
Legally Apple could get into a lot of trouble if a phone has the technical capability to save a life, but it is disabled without a subscription. That does not mean of course that the service has to be free. For non-subscribers there could be the option to use it for a $100 or so fee that they had to pay after the emergency call.
Folks, we're never going to know if someone "died because they didn't subscribe to satellite SOS"
They'd be found with a dead phone or perhaps were simply not able to use it depending upon what happened and how....and this would all leave basically zero trace or record of the events.
There would be almost no way to know after the fact
They'd be found with a dead phone or perhaps were simply not able to use it depending upon what happened and how....and this would all leave basically zero trace or record of the events.
There would be almost no way to know after the fact
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I agree you an s911 call will be free, but anything else will not; eg imessage over satellite.
Citation for that with regard to satellite communications. It’s true with regards to the cellular network all capable phones must be able to call 911. However a citation for satellite communications is needed.
People need to be responsible for their lives. Apples next lawsuit: “Person sues apple because iPhone ran out of battery”.
Where exactly does it say in the quote article my iPhone 5s can do satellite communications.
He USED to work at Apple, now that you ratted him out as a leaker
In Germany we have laws that force you to save a life if that does not mean any risk for you. If you have to use your car, boat or whatever to save somebody, why should that not apply to a satellite service? It may be a gray area, because such a situation has not happened yet, but I am sure that in the US you also have to do everything to save a life. You might be forced to use your shirt to stop somebody from bleeding to death.
It would be another thing if it was technically impossible. If you do not have a boat, of course you can't be forced to use your boat to save somebody.
I don’t know the laws in the US related to this and esat communications if any. The internet is great at speculating and rumors though.
Similar laws where I reside, but the obligation is to stop and help, not to save a life. No one can expect someone to "do the right things" when becoming a witness to, then "a party to the emergency" because very few have trauma competence, and no one knows how they will react. Even if you have experienced a similar situation you still don`t know how your reaction is going to be. You are obliged to stop and do your best, no one can ask more. If you experience such thing, be sure to notify your insurance company (car), as many would benefit from psychological assistance for debrief and dealing with the aftermath. There is no warranty that those who oblige you will pony up for that.
The sat signal is not a legal entity. You cannot sue the signal, and you cannot sue the provider for someone not using their service.
I think the emergency version well be free forever.
No one is getting hooked on this. The regular satellite messaging works, but it's slow and it SUCKS compared to pretty much any other option.
I don't even know exactly how receiving works as I didn't get to test it, but as I understand you have to be standing there trying to receive it using the little satellite tracking feature.
Which brings me back to my original point. No one, anywhere, is getting "hooked to it".
Perhaps, but we'll certainly know if they lived because they used the feature