Qualcomm has introduced Snapdragon Satellite, which is able to join choose Snapdragon-powered premium smartphones to the Iridium satellite tv for pc community for emergency texting within the second half of 2023.

What this implies is that Android smartphones will have the ability to duplicate and broaden upon Emergency SOS, Apple’s satellite tv for pc service that permits iPhone 14 fashions to textual content backwards and forwards with emergency providers.

It seems, for now, that Snapdragon Satellite shall be restricted to the identical “emergency” texting as Emergency SOS presents, which shall be extraordinarily helpful for hikers or just those that are driving or residing in rural areas. CNET editor James Kim died in 2006 when he tried to hike 10 miles via snowy Oregon mountains after he and his household had been unable to name for assist due to poor cell service. (Qualcomm notes that you simply’ll want a “clear view of the sky” to allow the characteristic.)

Qualcomm mentioned at CES that the brand new functionality could be tied to next-gen smartphones in “select regions,” which use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform. It will finally broaden to different platforms, together with laptops and IoT units, Qualcomm mentioned. Snapdragon Satellite is deliberate to help 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), as NTN satellite tv for pc infrastructure and constellations turn out to be out there, for branded providers that can range by service and gadget maker.