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Emergency SOS via satellite

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Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#391

Post by ineedasername »

People are referencing wilderness scenarios here— which absolutely a great use case— but it’s more than that.

Not long ago I drove a long distance along plain old US interstates. With about 400 miles in between two major cities there were a few stretches of 5-10 miles where I didn’t have cell service, sometimes 25-40 miles in between local town exits or gas stations. Had I not scouted the routes ahead of time, I would have had no idea where to go or which direction to walk if there was a problem, much less an emergency like crashing where I couldn’t walk.

There are still large gaps in coverage as large as not-walkable-in-a-day in what you’d think are at least minimally developed areas. And they are minimally developed, but you’ll have no idea of what direction that developed portion is if you’re stuck without cell service or an actual physical map.

No one should go on any long car trip letting GPS guide the way without scouting the route a bit ahead of time to know what’s nearby in sparse areas. Apple is filling that “oh f$ck” gap a bit. Nice feature.

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#392

Post by threeseed »

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #379
swores wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't seem relevant to the question of whether it's worth spending a huge amount of money on saving a single life? When I talked about spending money as a PR move I meant non-product related, the way companies donate to charities, or do charitable research, or hell they could've even invested in for-profit health startups that would have a higher expectation than saving a single life.

Apple is a profit-seeking company that builds tech products. Building products that saves lives will increase sales, because people want to be safe, thus increasing profits. How does donating to charity increase profits? It doesn't, so why would Apple spend money there? Apple is not in the business of saving lives, they're in the business of building tech products. If those tech products can also save lives, that's t…

> Apple is a profit-seeking company that builds tech products.

Also having worked there they are also a bunch of people who like to build great products.

And aren't motivated by the bottom line of the company.

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#393

Post by aendruk »

> When users want to reassure friends and family of their whereabouts while traveling off the grid, they can open the Find My app and share their location via satellite.

Everyone else in my family uses Android. No way to expose this information to them?

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#394

Post by katbyte »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #387
ingalls wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The next couple years will give us more concrete numbers, but based on my personal experience, I doubt this will change call volume significantly. We're mostly seeing dramatically increased call volume due to more people being involved in backcountry recreation and less so due to increased comms coverage through cell or satellite devices. While there is the argument that these devices give increased peace of mind tha…

> We're mostly seeing dramatically increased call volume due to more people being involved in backcountry recreation and less so due to increased comms coverage through cell or satellite devices. I wonder if part of the reason more people are involved in backcountry recreation is due to it not feeling as dangerous as it used to because people figure (rightly or wrongly) they can always get help from my phone. Anyway,…

i doubt it, most new folk getting into it rarely think about what happens if it goes sideways and are totally ignorant of the dangers. i usually have to be "buy an inreach please or at the very least let people know where you are going"

mostly its just made it safer because you now can call for help isntead of having to hike out

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#395

Post by rootusrootus »

modeless wrote: post #382

I'm surprised there isn't much discussion here about the similar capability announced by SpaceX and T-Mobile (first of many carrier partners) earlier this year. It will not be exclusive to emergencies, and will work with unmodified existing phones, not requiring you to hold the phone a special way, other than generally having a decent view of the sky. Even if SpaceX is delayed, there are competitors working on simila…

> I'm surprised there isn't much discussion here about the similar capability announced by SpaceX and T-Mobile

Because the Starlink satellites in question don't exist yet, and it's Elon Musk making claims about existing handsets working -- he has a spotty record when it comes to making accurate announcements.

I enthusiastically look forward to more capability in this space. But I doubt very much that Apple is introducing limitations unnecessarily. Claiming that existing cell phones will be able to reach up to a satellite, even in LEO, is such a large claim that it needs someone more trustworthy than Elon Musk to explain how it works.

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#396

Post by katbyte »

Johnny555 wrote: post #352
willcipriano wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can turn it off in the off-season making the annual cost not quite monthly * 12

My problem is I don't really have an off-season, nearly all year round I go on at least one hike a month that's outside of cell coverage (not too hard around here), which is why I got the InReach in the first place.

is 15$ a month really that expensive when it gets you the ability to communicate anywhere?

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#398

Post by threeseed »

aendruk wrote: post #393

> When users want to reassure friends and family of their whereabouts while traveling off the grid, they can open the Find My app and share their location via satellite. Everyone else in my family uses Android. No way to expose this information to them?

Find My available on the iCloud website.

Maybe you can create an account for them and add them as a Family Member.

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#399

Post by mrep »

MarkMarine wrote: post #141
alphakilo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Echoing others, I don't think this will have a huge impact as iPhone SOS is a last resort for those who are unprepared Garmin inReach is a robust and rugged satellite communicator that out classes iPhone emergency SOS greatly - inreach doesn't require "tracking" the satellite as it has a stronger antenna - inreach is more waterproof, dust proof atd shock resistant (no touch screen) - inreach has higher battery life,…

I don’t see the market for a high end dive watch without air integration, but with the UX they have. The people that don’t care about AI dive with a perdix or tables, but basically require something you can operate with gloves on. The rest of them with the money for a nice watch really want AI.

Eh, I've been thinking about getting one of the Garmin dive watches but the stupid subscription for apples is more of a deal breaker than the air integration.

Apple watch with dive computer and air integration though would be awesome. Garmins is $1500 (+700$) so the margin should be there.

Re: Emergency SOS via satellite

#400

Post by xattt »

vel0city wrote: post #83
xattt wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up during proliferation of mobile devices but in financially-limited circumstances, there are certain things that I’ve relegated to “not for me” because of an imprinted cost. Getting a smartphone and paying a recurring fee for data (when I was perfectly capable) was still a major point of hesitation for me. Satellite-based communication devices remains as one of the self-imposed unobtaniums.

An amateur radio license, a $30 handheld radio, and another $30 of PVC and wires will get you into space communications.

Somehow, the one-time cost of buying a portable unit + materials for an antenna is less prohibitive than paying for something with recurring costs :)
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