Android 14 to feature satellite connectivity support
Final week, SpaceX and T-Cell introduced that it would bring immediate satellite connectivity to smartphones, and Google said right now the next version of Android (14) will “support our associates in enabling all of this.”
This development arrives from Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s Senior Vice President of Platforms & Ecosystems, this early morning, who recounted how it “was a extend to get 3G + Wifi working” on the to start with shipping and delivery Android cell phone (HTC Desire / T-Cellular G1) in 2008.
The Android workforce is now “designing for satellites” and this help is prepared for the “next variation of Android,” which Google confirmed to us as Android 14. That OS release must get there in mid-to-late-2023.
Lockheimer alludes to how the “user encounters for phones that can connect to satellites” will be various from frequent LTE and 5G connections. Be expecting speeds, connectivity, and even conversation time to be distinct, with just “two to four megabits of bandwidth for each mobile zone,” as Space Explored noted final week. Supplied the out there bandwidth, Elon Musk mentioned that satellite connectivity could assist “one to two thousand simultaneous voice calls or hundreds of countless numbers of text messages that could be sent based on the length of the text message.”
Satellite connectivity on telephones is mainly aimed at emergency situations and having rid of cellular lifeless-zones. T-Cell programs to guidance (textual content) messaging, MMS, and even “select messaging apps.” The carrier reported it would require to cooperate with partners to “separate messaging targeted visitors from all other facts traffic.” It has not begun this perform nevertheless, and will do so more than the coming months. In the lengthy-expression, it will see about supporting information and voice. Late 2023 is staying qualified for initial beta availability of this assistance.
Existing Iphone and Android gadgets today will be supported, but the working experience, in particular the conclusion-consumer one, should benefit from supplemental OS-level support. Meanwhile, T-Cell and SpaceX are encouraging other carriers to adopt “reciprocal roaming” and spectrum sharing. It tends to make feeling for Android to deliver indigenous aid as adoption boosts.
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