Glad he is safe and cool to hear that this worked so well.
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Apple's iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature Saves Stranded Man in Alaska
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it’s PR slanted for sure, how many rescue stories in the news interview the first responders or even know where they are to interview? This system currently is for limited types of emergency problems. What happens if you are injured or hanging upside down and can’t type answers to questions? Does the system disconnect? It’s a good start for sure.It's not a press release or a news article. It's a dispatch on Alaska's department of public safety government website. Are Alaska's state troopers doing PR for Apple, is that what you think?
Also, it isn't preposterous at all. Recreational snowmobile use is common in Alaska, they even promote it on their tourism website-
Alaska Snowmobile Day Tours | Explore Frozen Rivers and Glaciers
Steer a snowmobile across the frozen Alaskan tundra; it's a fun, heart-pounding way to explore rivers, glaciers, and more.www.alaska.org
Oh no. Don’t think the rescue and the use of the device features amongst many other devices (non apple) is staged.
Now i have little doubts the spreading of the news signaling the use of the device at some point … is totally orchestrated to show off its relevance at this time.
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Agreed, but that is not the point I was making (that many people underestimate outdoor hazards).
Oh please. There will always be an oddball case where you can't type. And you should know that I suspended myself from the ceiling and was able to type on my iPhone. What happens if you turn to face the bear chasing you and he bites off your hands? Perhaps you will blame Apple for not having a phone that will receive your input via mental telepathy.
Glad you can choose your emergency, car crash, etc, mortals can't however. Thanks for the inane snark, I needed the laugh.😂
Really, why does it sound so "preposterous" to you? Maybe you should try it to see if it works. You know, go to Alaska and get lost.
Like how Apple Watch saves thousands of lives, we'll start hearing about SOS saving thousands of lives.
How very pathetic. It appears that you'd rather hear about people dying than living. Morbid life?
PR stunt? Preposterous? You are so wrong, $450 million dollars wrong!
Apple said Thursday it will spend $450 million with U.S. companies to enable its new emergency satellite texting feature.
The majority of that money will go to Globalstar, Apple said, a Louisiana-based company that operates the satellites that make the feature possible.
Apple isn’t taking an equity stake in the company but it is committing to spend money for equipment and the service’s operations. The funds will pay for satellites, as well as equipping ground stations with a new kind of antenna designed by Apple.
The survivor is very lucky he got a message through that far north. I worked on the comm design of two military hospitals in Alaska. We had to find locations for their large dishes so that they cleared the mountains miles away. Being so far north the dishes had a “look angle” of about 5 to 6 degrees to hit the satellites that were over the equator. Going by Globalstars’ coverage maps, he was lucky to find a satellite. From the articles and photos, people may think all you do is point your phone straight up, that is not always the case. There is a demo feature that should help finding a signal.
What does that even mean? Orchestrated? To do what, exactly? Apple saved a life with a new service. Wouldn't you boast about it? Sheesh.
You just gave us the perfect example of the orchestration.
What does that even mean? By that measure who doesn't. Name a telco company that does save a life every minute by that measure.
Apple offers a tool allowing people to ask for help in locations without good coms. A unique service that was not available to the masses before. Super nice. It worked in this instance.
Who saved the life was the staff involved in the seek and rescue, no one else. The iPhone is a tool, nothing more than that. I'm glad it worked.
Sheesh?
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Does anyone have recommendations for SAR (Search and Rescue) insurance? Right now, I have a $50K policy through Garmin (excludes "high-risk" activities, none of which I do), which is valid only for emergency rescue requests through a Garmin device. I have a Garmin InReach that I take with me anytime I think I could have something bad happen to me, when I may be out of cellular coverage.
One nice thing about the InReach is that the battery lasts many days in expedition mode. But, I'll probably get an iPhone with satellite SOS next time I'm ready to buy a new phone. It will be great to have emergency SOS available all the time. Where I live (SF Bay Area), I can be on a hike just a few miles from home, and have no cell service due to hilly terrain.