(Reuters) -Elon Musk said on Thursday that his company SpaceX had promising talks with Apple Inc over using Starlink’s satellite services to underpin the iPhone 14’s new emergency SOS feature.
“We’ve had some promising conversations with Apple about Starlink connectivity,” Musk said in a tweet.
“For sure, closing link from space to phone will work best if phone software and hardware adapt to space-based signals vs Starlink purely emulating cell tower,” he said. (https://bit.ly/3eD2i8p)
At the launch of iPhone 14 on Wednesday, Apple said it had selected satellite services firm Globalstar Inc as its partner to power the feature that helps users sends emergency messages from remote locations.
Apple said it had also dedicated $450 million from its advanced manufacturing fund toward satellite infrastructure to support the service, which is currently available in the United States and Canada.
U.S wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc has said it will use Starlink satellites to provide mobile users with network access in parts of the United States, allowing users to connect mobile phones directly to satellites in orbit.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
