341–350 of 479 posts
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You would still require a probe, shovel, and beacon. The difference comes down to whether you purchase an iPhone 14 or a device akin to Spot.
For many, the answer will be that they're buying an iPhone in any case so why buy an additional several hundred dollar device.
The article doesn't mention which satellites or which satellite provider is used. But Apple invested $450 million in Globalstar. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/11/emergency-sos-via-sat...
Apple is paying for 95% of Globalstar's new satellites and plans to use 85% of their network capacity.
Could this result in false alarms, as people call for help accidentally or in non emergencies? I know PLBs in aviation have a very high false alarm rate (98%).
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How? Push out an OTA update that installs an entirely new cellular modem with satellite communication frequencies?
Most smartphones have GPS built in, are you telling me it was impossible to utilize existing hardware for this feature? Or was it a deliberate decision. Ok, perhaps not phone calls or text. What about a beacon feature?
GPS is unidirectional. Your phone isn’t communicating back to the satellite.
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How? Push out an OTA update that installs an entirely new cellular modem with satellite communication frequencies?
Most smartphones have GPS built in, are you telling me it was impossible to utilize existing hardware for this feature? Or was it a deliberate decision. Ok, perhaps not phone calls or text. What about a beacon feature?
These are the features that, in my opinion, should drive the next generation of innovation. We don't need VR or blockchain as much as we need to go the last mile on the promise to connect everyone everywhere to give them the services they need to raise quality of life.
Predictions of where this tech goes from here: shall the satellite SOS infrastructure be adapted into full-blown satellite-based wireless service for all mobile devices? I am thinking global 5G capabilities off satellites, untethered from domestic wireless network carriers. Sort of like how doctors got pager service in 1950 progressed into the smartphones we have today.
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> a-fib detection As a paramedic, not a physician, atrial fibrillation is not a life threatening event. Many people happily live with it for decades, unmedicated. It is more problematic if you are diabetic or hypertensive, but still not an acute medical event.
As a doctor, the proliferation of apple (and other) watch ECGs has done nothing positive but lead to a massive proliferation of severe health anxiety. Go take a look at /r/askdocs for anyone curious - dozens of apple and Samsung ECG questions, people sure they’re about to die. They have nothing. I remain entirely unconvinced that putting ‘more’ health information at increased temporal frequency to consumers leads to…
> The service will be included for free for two years starting at the time of activation of a new iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. ^4
> ^4. Users who purchased an iPhone 14 model before the availability date of Emergency SOS via satellite will receive two years of the service free starting from the service availability date.
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Also, a 75% reduction (which I assume was meant by their 300 percent) is not that impressive when it comes to text compression. I'd guess that should be easily reachable with zstd by just creating a pre-shared dictionary generated from a bunch of typical emergency messages. Especially when those messages are partially auto-generated by a wizard-style questionnaire and will thus adhere to a previously-known structure…
You know damn well there's a new "Staff Engineer" at Apple who fluffed this "algorithm" up as an argument for a promotion from Senior Engineer. And likely a few product folks and managers who ballooned this entire project way out of proportion for their own career advancement.