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.



Netanyahu, Musk Hold Talks after Congressional Address

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addresses a joint meeting of Congress, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, July 24, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addresses a joint meeting of Congress, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, July 24, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Netanyahu, Musk Hold Talks after Congressional Address

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addresses a joint meeting of Congress, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, July 24, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addresses a joint meeting of Congress, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, July 24, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Washington on Wednesday after his address to the US Congress.

"We discussed the opportunities and challenges in AI, its impact on the economy and society, and explored ways for technological cooperation with Israel," Netanyahu said in a post on X.