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SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

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Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#461

Post by heavyset_go »

bottlepalm wrote: post #460
heavyset_go wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Many engineers have degrees in physics. I never claimed otherwise. Having a degree in physics does not make an engineer, though.

A person whose title is 'RF Communication Systems Engineer' and has a physics degree is an engineer. A person whose title is 'Chief Engineer' and has a physics degree is also an engineer aka Elon therefore he is an engineer. This is ridiculous debate given Elon leads thousands of engineers daily and given his success there's no doubt that he is making good engineering decisions daily because he is a good engineer.

> A person whose title is 'Chief Engineer' and has a physics degree is also an engineer aka Elon therefore he is an engineer.

You mean the title Musk gave himself, like "Techno King"? Even Musk admits that his titles don't mean anything[1].

It's a real stretch to think someone calling themselves an engineer makes them an engineer.

There must be millions of people working with "software engineer" titles who aren't aware that they're actually engineers, too!

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/07/elon-musk-ceo-is-made-up-tit...

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#462

Post by Melatonic »

Stevvo wrote: post #459
Melatonic wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same is true for android to android - it does a much higher quality non MMS. Unfortunately neither Google nor Apple will open up their damn protocol to the other.

https://www.android.com/get-the-message/ This page, from Google, makes it quite clear their protocol is an open standard, and Apple are the only closed one.

There are no android clients that can do it besides google messages. Google also has their own version of RCS that only works messages to messages. Carriers also have a version of RCS but its not quite the same.

Apple could and should totally adopt the carrier version of RCS though. And it would be great if Google would let apps like Textra in too

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#463

Post by bottlepalm »

heavyset_go wrote: post #461
bottlepalm wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A person whose title is 'RF Communication Systems Engineer' and has a physics degree is an engineer. A person whose title is 'Chief Engineer' and has a physics degree is also an engineer aka Elon therefore he is an engineer. This is ridiculous debate given Elon leads thousands of engineers daily and given his success there's no doubt that he is making good engineering decisions daily because he is a good engineer.

> A person whose title is 'Chief Engineer' and has a physics degree is also an engineer aka Elon therefore he is an engineer. You mean the title Musk gave himself, like "Techno King"? Even Musk admits that his titles don't mean anything[1]. It's a real stretch to think someone calling themselves an engineer makes them an engineer. There must be millions of people working with "software engineer" titles who aren't awa…

Software engineers aren't actually engineers because they have degrees in computer science. Especially the kids who don't go to college and start their own companies giving themselves software engineering titles. Giving yourself the title automatically disqualifies you from being an engineer no matter all the things you accomplish.

Given there is no official definition and the definition is subjective, you pretty much can't win this argument.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#464

Post by panick21_ »

ericabiz wrote: post #153

I believe this is SpaceX trying to stay one step ahead of Apple. Anyone else remember this strange rumor about iPhones including satellite capability a year ago? https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/29/iphone-13-to-feature-le... Now you have Apple’s event in a couple weeks themed “Far Out” with space pictures. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Apple announced something similar, possibly with Globalstar instead. Of cours…

Apple can talk about what they like, between Starlink and Kupter there is little available heavy lift for a long time to come.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#465

Post by panick21_ »

phillipseamore wrote: post #238
ericabiz wrote: post #153

I believe this is SpaceX trying to stay one step ahead of Apple. Anyone else remember this strange rumor about iPhones including satellite capability a year ago? https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/29/iphone-13-to-feature-le... Now you have Apple’s event in a couple weeks themed “Far Out” with space pictures. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Apple announced something similar, possibly with Globalstar instead. Of cours…

From the rumours I've heard, OneWeb is involved with that. OneWeb sats are basically LTE basestations.

The current once are not, they are a technology level behind what even Starlink v1 is. Maybe some future OneWeb will be able to do it, but not for a long time.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#466

Post by panick21_ »

solarkraft wrote: post #357
fragmede wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self-driving cars have proven harder than expected, but given the rest of Musk's tale, I wouldn't bet against him. SpaceX is already launching satellites, and Starlink is already providing service. T-mobile owns the frequencies for it, it's "just" a matter of building the satellites and putting them into space. If the claim were more outlandish, it would be harder to buy, but the technology is eminently doable.

Musk has had some failures (FSD, battery replacement, solar roof, satellite laser communication), but also notable successes (supercharger network, landing a rocket). While this particular idea seems theoretically possible, as far as I know there haven't really been proper tests of it yet. So I could imagine it theoretically working, but being really bad (which may honestly be enough). There's probably a reason Apple…

Not sure how battery replacement is a failure? They got some money to do it, decided it was not worth doing, so they didn't. I mean that's not really a technological failure, but simple a good business choice.

Laser links exist.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#467

Post by panick21_ »

carabiner wrote: post #318
kylehotchkiss wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s probably so low they won’t be able to launch anything to replace the live sats once they hit end of life

Iridium is already subsidized by the US govt, isn't it? The original company failed as a profitable venture.

The US govt will have its fingers in all internet constellations

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#468

Post by crossroadsguy »

mr_toad wrote: post #340
ericabiz wrote: post #153

I believe this is SpaceX trying to stay one step ahead of Apple. Anyone else remember this strange rumor about iPhones including satellite capability a year ago? https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/29/iphone-13-to-feature-le... Now you have Apple’s event in a couple weeks themed “Far Out” with space pictures. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Apple announced something similar, possibly with Globalstar instead. Of cours…

> Of course, Apple’s solution will likely only work with iMessage. If I’m in the middle of nowhere and need to send an urgent message I wouldn’t want to be worrying about whether the recipient had an Android phone.

Well, if you’re a fruit company user you’d think about such petty things? So better start pestering everybody to get an iPhone.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#469

Post by lxgr »

comboy wrote: post #354
arbuge wrote: post #55

More detail here: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/25/spacex-and-t-mobile-team-up-... "T-Mobile users will be able to use messaging, MMS and certain messaging apps, from remote points across the lower 48 states, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Hawaii and even some remote points in the water. Eventually, the service will work with voice, Sievert said. T-Mobile plans to include the service in its most popular mobile plans but did…

> to transmit directly to a cell or mobile phone. If it could talk directly with mobile phones it's a game changer. But I don't understand how it could be physically possible without phased array and satellite tracking for a phone to transmit anything back to satellite. If achieved, even a few bytes per minute would already be big.

It's supposedly already been demonstrated by a different company: https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/29/lynk-demos-global-satellit...

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#470

Post by lxgr »

concordDance wrote: post #401
coconut08 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you want to not have cell service while you are camping then you can just leave your phone at home. i'm sure that the benefits brought to people who are saved from being bitten by a poisonous snakes or fall down the side of a mountain will outweigh your moderate discomfort brought about by your lack of self control.

This may not actually be true. The number of people currently dying from those things due to lack of coverage is tiny, while a vastly greater number get substantial QoL improvements from the disconnect.

By that logic, why stop at not connecting the back country to the internet? We should be actively disconnecting the cities. So many more people to be saved!

Seriously, this is a social problem brought about by new technologies – and these are rarely solved by shunning technology.

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