Qualcomm, Android Phone Makers Developing Satellite Messaging Feature

A Qualcomm sign is pictured at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2019. (Reuters)
A Qualcomm sign is pictured at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2019. (Reuters)
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Qualcomm, Android Phone Makers Developing Satellite Messaging Feature

A Qualcomm sign is pictured at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2019. (Reuters)
A Qualcomm sign is pictured at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2019. (Reuters)

Qualcomm Inc on Monday said it was working with a group of Android smartphone companies to add satellite-based messaging capabilities to their devices.

The San Diego, California-based company, which is the world's biggest supplier of chips that connect mobile phones to wireless data networks, said it is working with Honor, Lenovo-owned Motorola, Nothing, OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi Corp to develop the devices.

Satellite-based communications can send and receive data in remote or rural regions where other telecommunications networks are not available. Qualcomm announced that it was adding the capabilities to its chips earlier this year.

Qualcomm's work with Android device makers is likely to intensify competition between those brands and Apple Inc, which last year unveiled the ability to send emergency satellite messages as one of the flagship features of its newest iPhone lineup. Those new iPhones contain a chip from Qualcomm, though Apple told Reuters that they also contain custom hardware and software that are proprietary to Apple.

Qualcomm did not say when the new satellite messaging features from the Android smartphone brands named on Monday would become available. Earlier this year, Qualcomm said that some Android phones would have the features by the second half of this year.



Apple Names Insider Sabih Khan as COO

The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
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Apple Names Insider Sabih Khan as COO

The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)

Apple on Tuesday named insider Sabih Khan as its chief operating officer, taking over from Jeff Williams, as part of a long-planned succession.

Khan, who has been with Apple for 30 years and is currently the senior vice president of operations, will take on the new role later this month, the iPhone maker said in a statement.

Before joining Apple's procurement group in 1995, he worked as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader at GE Plastics.

Williams will continue to report to CEO Tim Cook and oversee the company's design team and Apple Watch.

The design team will report directly to Cook after Williams retires late in the year.