Please disrupt the personal satellite beacon market. Currently the only options are proprietary devices that cost several hundred dollars AND a subscription plan that will run you $12 a month or more.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213426
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/send-your-location-vi...
With iPhone 15, they also introduced the ability to call for roadside assistance from AAA via satellite too. (I’m not sure if this is also available on 14 now or not.)
> If your missing device can’t connect to the internet or has little to no battery life, the Find My app can still help you track it down using the Find My network — hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices around the world.
So this isn't going to help you in the wilderness.
The passage you quoted is talking about the iDevice-to-iDevice communication that can happen behind the scenes allowing you to find a lost phone in the wilderness if someone else so happens to walk by the phone.
Having a limited number of plain text message requests would be nice as well, maybe there will be more options once they add paid tiers.
https://semiconductor.samsung.com/news-events/news/samsung-e...
There was a lot of back and forth over the system, but it did not help at all. The thing that saved her was one 40 character message to a friend. Because apparently you get one of those, and no replies...
https://www.climbing.com/news/iphone-sos-button-saves-injure...
I currently pay for an inReach Messenger, and use it on a weekly basis. The $12/mo base cost is peanuts for what it actually provides me.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/iphone-14-emergency-sos-fac...
Speculating obviously, but that article makes it sound like Apple might have tried do something else and that whatever they came up with is more equipped to deal with frontcountry issues.
Sounds like I should keep packing my inReach.
If it were my life on the line, I'd carry 2 different PLBs: probably a Garmin and an inReach.
Disclaimer: Ex Trimble Nav Ltd. radio group here. :]
Even E911 locating in the US just doesn't work at all with nonzero and unknown combinations of phones, carriers, and jurisdictions. US LEOs have almost universal, real-time locating ability from N km to sub 1 m accuracy if it's in range of a single tower of any phone without a warrant. If a phone can send an SOS to a comm satellite, while there's a recent good fix from 3+ GNSS satellites, then that's useful.
The risk to avoid will be over-reliance on a consumer grade cell phone as a substitute for the ruggedized and proven EPIRB system.
Consider a 406 MHz PLB [1][2][3]. Several hundred dollars. But no subscription fee.
They're terribly marketed, a vacuum Garmin et al happily fill. And you can't send text messages. But as an emergency beacon, they are best in class. (Garmin transmits at <2 watts. Cell phones maybe 125 mW. 406s, meanwhile, scream at the sky at 5+ watts; that's in class with a cell tower.)
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=37850377
[2] https://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/emergency-406-beacons/
[3] https://www.rei.com/product/161982/acr-electronics-resqlink-...
COSPAS-SARSAT is usually a secondary payload of other satellites, is store-and-forward (i.e. if you're far from a ground station, it might take a while for a satellite to forward your emergency signal), and for most (but see [1]!) PLBs does not offer a return channel, i.e. you won't know whether your signal actually made it through or whether you'll need to keep moving to get line-of-sight.
> Garmin transmits at <2 watts. Cell phones maybe 125 mW. 406s, meanwhile, scream at the sky at 5+ watts; that's in class with a cell tower.
They use exactly as much transmit power as they need to. Importantly, Iridium modems get instant feedback on whether their transmission has made it through and can retransmit if required. Screaming isn't always the best way to be heard :)
[1] https://www.euspa.europa.eu/newsroom/news/first-galileo-retu...
I think Iridium can handle four calls at a time. In any case, you don't want to be reduced by Siberia from Alaska.
> use exactly as much transmit power as they need to
Garmins have a ceiling. Terrain attenuates. There are more places you will be alone with a Garmin than a 406 MHz PLB.
> Iridium modems get instant feedback on whether their transmission has made it through and can retransmit if required
406 MHz does this [1]. Would love to hear anecdotes, ideally from SAR, where this saved a life versus providing comfort.
[1] https://www.acrartex.com/products/resqlink-view-rls-personal...
It supports over a thousand simultaneous calls per satellite! And that’s voice calls; text messages like those used by InReach need much less resources still.
> Garmins have a ceiling. Terrain attenuates. There are more places you will be alone with a Garmin than a 406 MHz PLB.
What “ceiling”? As long as you have line-of-sight, the transmit power is enough to reach the satellite, and given polar orbits, you almost always do if you can see a bit of sky.
If you don’t have line-of-sight, COSPAS-SARSAT won’t work either, would it?
I assume the higher transmit power there is mostly to enable reaching satellites farther out (like the GPS and Galileo satellites, which are in MEO).
> 406 MHz does this […]
In some regions only, I believe, and with some beacons. It is a very important development though!
Sorry, I meant inter-satellite. Iridium’s inter-satellite capability is highly limited and irrelevant for emergency comms.
> As long as you have line-of-sight, the transmit power is enough to reach the satellite
In ideal conditions. 5 watts vs something like 1.6 makes a huge practical difference.
> In some regions only
I believe with 100% coverage with Garmin. There is a reason 406 MHz is the requirement for aviation.
It absolutely isn't, where are you getting this from? Both routine and emergency communications regularly traverse inter-satellite links. For a while, Iridium only had a very small number of operational ground terminals; nothing would work without inter-satellite links in that scenario.
> In ideal conditions. 5 watts vs something like 1.6 makes a huge practical difference.
Can you name a scenario where you'd get a signal through to a satellite with 5, but not 1.6 watts? This is absolutely negligible; even just rotating your transmitter ever so slightly will make a much, much bigger impact.
I have never not received an Iridium signal when there was line-of-sight to the satellite.
> There is a reason 406 MHz is the requirement for aviation.
Aviation and marine safety of life specifications care a lot about redundancy and availability. COSPAS-SARSAT is conceptually very simple and does not require ongoing subscriptions, so it makes for an excellent fallback option if other communication methods are unavailable.
For example, for passenger or cargo ships, you need at least two other bidirectional means of long-distance communication when crossing oceans. For polar routes outside of geostationary satellite coverage (i.e. Sea Area A4), the only real options (certifiable under SOLAS/GMDSS regulations) are HF radio and Iridium.
Given the value in an emergency, I’d consider that fair!
And if you really only care about calling emergency services in the backcountry or at sea, you can always get a PLB (which have no recurring fees at all).
It's tracking vehicles (big and small) in third world countries with the aim of support, crime detection, asset recovery and law enforcement.
Terrestrial cell coverage is a function of population density much more than anything. In fact, I'd expect rural areas in the US and Candada to benefit from this just as much, if not more.
In the wilderness of Yukon and Alaksa we found we didn't need to call emergency services, but it was very handy to contact friends.
"I'm very stuck, but fine, come get me".
"I shot a moose, it would be great if you'd come and help me quarter it."
"We're perfectly fine, but delayed a couple of days."
Things like that are what we used our gen 1 spot for, and it was great.
Importantly, with most current PLBs you don't actually see if your emergency call has been received at all, which can make an important difference for survival (i.e. it informs the decision whether it's best to stay put and try to hold out, or whether getting to higher ground with clearer sky is essential).
Fortunately, at least that part is changing: Cospas-Sarsat (the service listening for PLB emergency calls) can now use Galileo satellites as a return channel to send an acknowledgement to the newest PLBs in some regions [1].
It doesn't address the "type of emergency" concern, though – not everything requires a helicopter.
[1] https://www.euspa.europa.eu/newsroom/news/first-galileo-retu...
I really don't want to press the PLB emergency button unless my life is in danger and I need to be rescued by helicopter. PLBs are not good at all for "my car has failed and I'm 15 miles down a forest road".
An InReach Mini 2 will cost you $130/year more than a PLB over 10 years of ownership.
What's your life worth to you?
How independently resourceful are you?
Is your name Bear Grylls?*
* Even he flubbed a parachuting emergency and nearly bought the farm. In fairness, so did my paratrooper grandfather as he busted 2 knees and his neck... he had to wear a neck support most of his life.
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It's vital that PLBs be correctly registered and continually updated (2 years AND at every details change) with reliable emergency contacts who are always responsive. For multiple reasons, I would always call the one or more of PLB emergency contacts to let them know you're heading beyond cell service. US EPIRB operators register them here: https://beaconregistration.noaa.gov/RGDB/index
If you also need a PLB, don't cheap out on a safety product.
But if you're wanting reliable Gigabit unlimited data globally for <$1000/month, then you're asking for something for nothing.