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This is awesome. It would instantly help speed up adoption of LEO for consumers. Options and choice is always a good thing.
 
It might not even need to reach LEO if it can connect to a terrestrial gateway which would then do the connection to/from LEO.
That would defeat the purpose. If you're in a dead zone that can't connect to a regular cell tower, you probably won't be able to connect to a terrestrial gateway. And if you can reach a gateway, it probably would be connected to the good old internet instead of reaching for the sky.
 
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Can't believe the iPhone 12 is already a year old already.

Does anybody know if the executive folks like Tim and Craig get their iPhones directly from the factory in a kinda first dibs fashion or do they upgrade just like ordinary folks? An employee at the campus store did tell me Tim shops their all the time. But, something like the iPhone 13 Tim must get a near finish prototype to play with, right?
 
Globalstar is licensing their n53 band to carriers for terrestrial 5G service.



That's interesting enough news. The idea that magical space phones are also imminent seems unlikely.

Starlink is a remarkable accomplishment of RF tech, but Dishy McFlatface is gigantic compared to a phone handset.

Maybe Kuo made a leap-too-far from "Globalstar" to "magic space phones". Or more likely it was the secondary reporters ...
 
Nope.

And if you could reach a cell tower, why would you need a satellite?
I thought that a satellite connection would be more stable than cellular and preferred in certain scenarios (like a vehicle). You would know more about this than I.
 
Back when satellite radio first came out, you needed a huge antenna. Now, the antenna is very small and incorporated with the radio antenna. I would think that it's the same kind of line-of-sight type of antenna that will need to be facing the satellite but not be huge, so you would lose service in tunnels, overpasses, etc., just like satellite radio. But it would sure come in handy when camping or when PG&E cuts power (here in California during wild fire season) to base stations and we have no cell service at all. Not perfect, but definitely a welcome alternative when needed.

Satellite radio transmission îs one direction, with satellites having relatively large antennas and much greater transmit power than what is found in cellphones.

It's going the other direction (cellphone to satellite) that's more difficult with cellphone transmit power varying in the range of 0.5 to 3 watts, depending on distance to the tower. And of course a small and inefficient antenna that's compromised by human contact/attenuation along with non-optimal orientation.
 
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I thought that a satellite connection would be more stable than cellular and preferred in certain scenarios (like a vehicle). You would know more about this than I.
Cellular better in a car. Just like FM is better than SiriusXM - you need line of sight for satellite (or ground stations, which defeats the point). Also much bigger latency for satellite (usually). Satellite is great for when there is no cell service, but is not a reasonable replacement for when cell service is available.
 
Well, let me see. We've been doing it without cell phones for 1000s of years. It has only been the last 20+ that we relied on a cell phone instead of personal responsibility, planning, resourcefulness, and strength.

If you are relying on a cell phone in the woods, then maybe, just maybe, you should stay in your room in your parents house so you can be safe and without worry. Life is dangerous. Things happen. Scared people should not attempt to experience life, it is just not worth it.

Absurd. Humanity had no Internet, medicine, or education, for the vast majority of existence. So let’s do without all those too right? You first.

I’ve been into the woods and taken a cellphone with me. It didn’t mean I had to forego any planning.
 
If airplane mode was actually important, they would check your phone or simply take your phone away before taking off.

But it IS important. It's not vital, but it is important. It also help keep people from being distracted from the flight attendant's spiel at the beginning. The two most 'dangerous' times of plane flight are take off, and landing. That is why they dim the lights. Plus how many would volunteer to take their row mate's Mac Book Pro in the face if the plane has in incident during either take off or landing. I'd pass on that. Eating someone else's MBP probably wouldn't taste good, and then there are the chances of flying iPhones, and iPads. Good grief, that ignores getting an Apple Pencil up the nose, or in the eye.

It's about safety, and also trying to cut down on radio signal interference. The IFR system was designed decades before phones and wifi, you may want to know...

Will your iPhone being on crash the plane? Probably not, but yacking on your iPhone could get you banned from flying ont hat airline again, and possible a fine and jail time. Just do it... I used to have a bet on how many messages I'll have between takeoff and landing. On the way back it was definitely more likely to happen. I once had to remote in to a clients server to fix a problem, sitting at the gate while they were boarding, hoping that I could fix it before they started closing the door. The wife texting me to 'HURRY UP OR I LEAVE YOU THERE!'.
 
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Cellular better in a car. Just like FM is better than SiriusXM - you need line of sight for satellite (or ground stations, which defeats the point). Also much bigger latency for satellite (usually). Satellite is great for when there is no cell service, but is not a reasonable replacement for when cell service is available.

Funny that I was told by the dealer that it was the expensive roof rack I paid big money to have factory installed (I know, right) was causing the Sirius/XM issues. The head units *do* cache, but the cache is apparently kind of selective on how well it works.

But, I have had issues with FM on a cross country jaunt, and after XM came out, it worked almost flawlessly, when compared to the solid country/western stations that are the only ones I could get via FM radio in the flabby 'gut' of America. :oops:

I can't believe that I pay for radio, but I also had a problem paying for gravel and rock after moving from a place where you couldn't hit the ground with a shovel and not hit a literal ton of rocks and gravel. It still burns a litte, paying to get rock that I could have brought with me if I had only known that I would need more rocks. *sigh* And I was a DJ at a progressive college rock station. I could have just recorded my shows and I'd be (bored as heck) set for life.
 
Every now and then a rumor comes through that looks like a beacon— like something Apple may have seeded into the rumor mill to figure out where the leaks are coming from.
 
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Globalstar is licensing their n53 band to carriers for terrestrial 5G service.



That's interesting enough news. The idea that magical space phones are also imminent seems unlikely.

Starlink is a remarkable accomplishment of RF tech, but Dishy McFlatface is gigantic compared to a phone handset.

Maybe Kuo made a leap-too-far from "Globalstar" to "magic space phones". Or more likely it was the secondary reporters ...
Fixed wireless, small cell. This looks like it was meant for setting up celular comms from a cabin in the woods.
 
Funny that I was told by the dealer that it was the expensive roof rack I paid big money to have factory installed (I know, right) was causing the Sirius/XM issues. The head units *do* cache, but the cache is apparently kind of selective on how well it works.

But, I have had issues with FM on a cross country jaunt, and after XM came out, it worked almost flawlessly, when compared to the solid country/western stations that are the only ones I could get via FM radio in the flabby 'gut' of America. :oops:

I can't believe that I pay for radio, but I also had a problem paying for gravel and rock after moving from a place where you couldn't hit the ground with a shovel and not hit a literal ton of rocks and gravel. It still burns a litte, paying to get rock that I could have brought with me if I had only known that I would need more rocks. *sigh* And I was a DJ at a progressive college rock station. I could have just recorded my shows and I'd be (bored as heck) set for life.

In practical terms SiriusXM has the advantage that you can stay on one station across the country, and it compensates for line-of-sight by caching and ground stations. But none of that is applicable to “I’m in the middle of nowhere and have no cell service” or “massive natural disaster has disabled all the cell towers.” Those are the situations that satphones are best for. And caching isn’t going to be all that helpful for bi-directional stuff.
 
In practical terms SiriusXM has the advantage that you can stay on one station across the country, and it compensates for line-of-sight by caching and ground stations. But none of that is applicable to “I’m in the middle of nowhere and have no cell service” or “massive natural disaster has disabled all the cell towers.” Those are the situations that satphones are best for. And caching isn’t going to be all that helpful for bi-directional stuff.

Totally, but the iPhone 13 is NOT going to have solid LEO communication without a gigantic phallic antenna sticking up somewhere, or the Antenna Gate mess is going to popup all over again. I remember that hot mess. Never Again!

We looked at being a dealer for a brand of satellite phone, and the demo wasn't 'stellar'. It kinda failed. They disappeared in a few months. Whatever...
 
Highly doubt this is happening. 1. It's too soon and 2. Apple won't integrate until there's mass market.
 
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n53 band is 2500MHz TDD so that to me sounds like it's still phone to ground station tower communication that is then connected via Starlink LEO satellites. Only part being solved is they can have ground station towers in remote parts of the world without connecting via wired or tower-to-tower dish communication. Still exciting but not as exciting as direct phone to LEO satellite communication.
 
Doubt. Not sure why people are referencing Starlink as proof that this is possible, it seems like they're forgetting the massive thing called a dish antenna lol. I doubt Apple have miniaturized the tech to fit into an iPhone.
 
Totally, but the iPhone 13 is NOT going to have solid LEO communication without a gigantic phallic antenna sticking up somewhere, or the Antenna Gate mess is going to popup all over again. I remember that hot mess. Never Again!

We looked at being a dealer for a brand of satellite phone, and the demo wasn't 'stellar'. It kinda failed. They disappeared in a few months. Whatever...

Well, that’s why so many of us are skeptics. LEO doesn’t require the traditional sat-phone giant antennae. But physics is physics and getting a solid connection without affecting the form factor will be a challenge.
 
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