TECH

Android 14 will have proprietary support for satellite communications

Last week, SpaceX and American mobile operator T-Mobile announced the availability of Starlink satellite communications for mainstream smartphones. Now, a Google representative announced the work of native support for satellite communications on the Android operating system.

Hiroshi Lockheimer, senior vice president of platforms and ecosystems at Google, shared the news, saying that when developing the first Android smartphone (HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1) in 2008, the task was to provide 3G and Wi-Fi, and now the company is “developing communications for satellites” and support for this is already “in the next version of Android”, whose launch, according to some reports, could take place in mid or late 2023.

According to Lockheimer, the new communication option differs from 5G and LTE, as the bandwidth of these connections is still very limited and reaches 2-4 Mbps for the entire satellite coverage area. With that in mind, Elon Musk claimed that the bandwidth for the satellite will be capable of delivering anywhere from one to two thousand voice calls simultaneously or the transmission of hundreds of thousands of text messages (the number will depend on the duration).

“It is difficult to imagine the feelings of smartphone users who are able to communicate with satellites. When we launched the G1 in 2008, it was very difficult to get 3G+Wi-Fi to work. We are now developing communications for satellites. Nice! Excited to support our partners in bringing all of this to the next version of Android!" Lockheimer tweeted on September 1.

Until now, the ability to connect a smartphone with satellites is primarily designed for emergency situations and for eliminating “blind spots” in cellular coverage. In particular, T-Mobile plans to implement support for SMS and MMS messaging and even individual messaging apps using Starlink. But in the long term, satellites will also allow voice calls and the transfer of other information. The beta version of the service is expected to be available in late 2023.

It is known that support for communication with SpaceX Starlink satellites is already available on iPhones and Android devices, but the quality of communication will be much higher when additional support is arranged at the operating system level.

mundophone