Apple’s Emergency SOS feature that arises through satellite technology has finally been rolled out to four leading nations in Europe. Previously, it was only the likes of Canada and the US who could benefit.
But what you may not have known is how a new patent was generated on the same day when this news broke out. It suggests that Apple Satellite’s plans may go one step beyond just helping out with emergencies.
Yes, this emergency service is limited to solely text-based communications. However, the firm says it may use satellite communications for the likes of video, voice, and others. Moreover, you’ll find the SOS via satellite getting a headline feature for September’s event of Apple. It was to such an extent that this event was publicly announced by Far Out too who referenced it as well.
Apple mentioned more about the technology and spoke about how it’s ideal when users can’t reach out in cases of emergency as no cellular networks or Wi-Fi is present. Hence, this service by Apple could serve as an easy interface on their iPhones to gain help from users and make use of reliable satellite connectivity.
Apple also intends on providing short questionnaires through which users can provide answers too using a few taps. This goes on being transmitted in the direction of dispatchers in the starting message. It ensures they’re quickly able to gain an understanding of where a user might need help, based on the location and situation in place.
Right after the answers are sent out and received, the interface plays its part in guiding the user on where to point the device for connectivity and sending out a message at the start. This message entails the user’s responses and other things like location and altitude as well as how much battery is still left.
All messages received get relayed in a direct manner through satellites to the dispatchers who will end up receiving and relaying the messages to centers handled by specially trained professionals from Apple. They would be the last resort for help on the user’s behalf. In the same way, such transcripts could be shared with emergency contacts on the users’ list which helps keep them aware of what’s going on.
For now, the nations to which the feature has been launched include the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and France. Other nations and regions are up next. But Apple says it has some major plans to go above and beyond just that.
It does not only wish to stick to emergencies only. It has plans for going above and beyond texts and the use of emergencies as spotted recently by Patently Apple. It would like to entail media data that include video streaming, data from satellite radios, data from televisions, internet data, voice data, and more.
As it is, the tech giant has managed to provide a staggering $450 million in support for the satellite communications project. This is definitely a generous amount for a feature that would be used by a fraction of users having iPhones.
But if something like this could be the start of a bigger endeavor soon, this investment is definitely a modest share.
Read next: Top Regulator Accuses Tech Giants Apple And Microsoft Of Not Doing Enough To Stop Child Exploitation
But what you may not have known is how a new patent was generated on the same day when this news broke out. It suggests that Apple Satellite’s plans may go one step beyond just helping out with emergencies.
Yes, this emergency service is limited to solely text-based communications. However, the firm says it may use satellite communications for the likes of video, voice, and others. Moreover, you’ll find the SOS via satellite getting a headline feature for September’s event of Apple. It was to such an extent that this event was publicly announced by Far Out too who referenced it as well.
Apple mentioned more about the technology and spoke about how it’s ideal when users can’t reach out in cases of emergency as no cellular networks or Wi-Fi is present. Hence, this service by Apple could serve as an easy interface on their iPhones to gain help from users and make use of reliable satellite connectivity.
Apple also intends on providing short questionnaires through which users can provide answers too using a few taps. This goes on being transmitted in the direction of dispatchers in the starting message. It ensures they’re quickly able to gain an understanding of where a user might need help, based on the location and situation in place.
Right after the answers are sent out and received, the interface plays its part in guiding the user on where to point the device for connectivity and sending out a message at the start. This message entails the user’s responses and other things like location and altitude as well as how much battery is still left.
All messages received get relayed in a direct manner through satellites to the dispatchers who will end up receiving and relaying the messages to centers handled by specially trained professionals from Apple. They would be the last resort for help on the user’s behalf. In the same way, such transcripts could be shared with emergency contacts on the users’ list which helps keep them aware of what’s going on.
For now, the nations to which the feature has been launched include the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and France. Other nations and regions are up next. But Apple says it has some major plans to go above and beyond just that.
It does not only wish to stick to emergencies only. It has plans for going above and beyond texts and the use of emergencies as spotted recently by Patently Apple. It would like to entail media data that include video streaming, data from satellite radios, data from televisions, internet data, voice data, and more.
As it is, the tech giant has managed to provide a staggering $450 million in support for the satellite communications project. This is definitely a generous amount for a feature that would be used by a fraction of users having iPhones.
But if something like this could be the start of a bigger endeavor soon, this investment is definitely a modest share.
Read next: Top Regulator Accuses Tech Giants Apple And Microsoft Of Not Doing Enough To Stop Child Exploitation
