Google Pixel 'Satellite SOS' support may be free for two years | Hacker News Reader

Google Pixel 'Satellite SOS' support may be free for two years

9to5google.com

18 pointsaxiomdata31612 comments

Free on Apple forever, right?

Why would I pay for this feature? It seems so cheap to actually market since it’s so rarely used.

It's technically supposed to be a paid service on iPhones too, but Apple recently extended the free trial, so nobody is actually paying for it yet. [0]

[0] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/11/apple-extends-emergen...

Apple is also free for 2 years[0], but last year they extended it for another[1].

[0]: https://www.apple.com/ca/newsroom/2022/11/emergency-sos-via-...

[1]: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/11/apple-extends-emergen...

Apple is launching satellite iMessage this fall, I imagine that’s what they will start to charge for after X years.

SOS uses do little data in comparison it’s not worth charging

Well doesn't SOS basically call rescue services to your location? So seems like it would be very rare for people to abuse as you would likely have to pay a lot for the rescue services rendered.

isn't use of an ePIRB free? sure, the station isn't but I always assumed pulling the ripcord was not when money entered the room: Thats when the helicopter takes off.

> Google Pixel 'Satellite SOS' support may be free for two years

What kind of antenna do you need for this ?

It should always work, just like every table saw should have an anti-finger-removal sensor. Pay-per-use might make sense if the incremental cost wasn't vanishingly small unlike, say, teams of people searching the woods or calling an ambulance helicopter. "Did not pay" or "no insurance" should never be a reason to not save a life.

This seems more like a feature that should be regulated into existence.

Satellite providers that offer coverage to handheld devices should be compelled to, free of charge, relay _emergency_ requests that are in the correct format to the relevant authorities with as much information as possible. On the same note, abuse of that service should be a crime worth going after. Not a 'parent with kids that played with all the buttons' goes to jail level thing, but no one should be going out of their way to activate it either.

That way, just like any phone can contact emergency services, even without a plan, so too could they use that part of the new service. A service which might offer data and messaging for NON emergency use as well (that one paid for by the consumer directly).

This is exactly what’s already happening, without any regulation. I doubt they’ll ever charge for emergency calls, this would only give bad PR. I think we’ll get more information about the paid plans from Apple really soon, possibly during the September keynote. Google seems to be about 2 years behind: introducing emergency calls now, Apple did that 2 years ago. But it’ll come. That’s why Apple said free for the first year (and later extended for another year), because they weren’t ready yet to open it up more (for non-emergency communication, which will cause _a lot_ more traffic).

You can already get that with a Garmin inreach and similar devices - but for a monthly fee. But satellite comms are extremely expensive, I don't see how you would compel iridium whose whole business is precisely comms in non covered areas to abandon their revenue

Google probably/might use AST SpaceMobile which will be 725 - 740 km

Apple - Globalstar 1400 km

Starlink 550 km, approval for 340 to 360km

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