UK firm to release GEO-compatible smartphone early next year - SpaceNews

TAMPA, Fla. — British handset shaper Bullitt said Nov. 29 it volition merchandise a smartphone aboriginal adjacent twelvemonth susceptible of sending and receiving texts via satellites successful geostationary orbit (GEO).

The institution has been moving with chipmaker MediaTek for 18 months to make the hybrid smartphone, which they accidental tin link straight to a outer erstwhile terrestrial networks are unavailable without needing an outer antenna.

The smartphone’s nonstop dimensions volition beryllium announced during the CES yearly commercialized amusement successful January, Bullitt co-founder Richard Wharton told SpaceNews.

Wharton said its solution is “constellation agnostic” and volition usage satellites from aggregate operators that helium declined to name.

Bullitt, which designs and builds ruggedized mobile phones nether marque licenses from Motorola and heavy-duty conveyance specializer Caterpillar, expects to motorboat archetypal outer sum crossed North America and Europe successful the archetypal 4th of 2023, “with the remainder of satellite pursuing precise soon after.”

The smartphone volition tally connected Google’s Android operating strategy and volition besides see a satellite-enabled exigency SOS work for free, akin to the capableness Apple launched Nov. 15 via Globalstar’s satellites successful debased Earth orbit (LEO).

Unlike Apple’s work for its latest iPhones, which lone facilitates two-way texting with exigency services, Wharton said Bullitt users volition beryllium capable to substance backmost and distant with immoderate different mobile telephone implicit a outer network.

He said Bullitt successfully tested this capableness with MediaTek’s spot successful October. More strategy and work tests are presently underway successful North America and Europe up of commercialized launch.

According to Bullitt, the clip to initially link to a GEO outer and nonstop a connection volition beryllium astir 10 seconds.

Under perfect conditions, Apple has said existent Globalstar bandwidth constraints mean a connection sent via its outer could instrumentality 15 seconds to send, and arsenic agelong arsenic 3 minutes successful different cases.

Californian startup eSAT Global is besides processing a spot enabling smartphones to link straight GEO satellites. 

The institution has partnered to usage unused capableness connected Yahsat and Inmarsat satellites arsenic it tries to person smartphone makers to modify their chipsets to pat into the network.

Other companies are processing akin businesses successful LEO utilizing either proprietary spot exertion oregon bespoke constellations that tin link to unmodified smartphones.

With capable satellites, LEO constellations committedness little latency than satellites farther distant from the Earth successful GEO, which is seen arsenic an important vantage for higher bandwidth capabilities, including dependable and video calls.