Apple's iPhones to Support Starlink Direct-to-Cell Coverage in US 

Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
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Apple's iPhones to Support Starlink Direct-to-Cell Coverage in US 

Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)

Apple's iPhone devices are now eligible to test SpaceX-owned Starlink's direct-to-cell capability that provides coverage from space, according to T-Mobile, a partner in the program.

T-Mobile and Elon Musk's SpaceX are currently testing the Starlink cell network on a trial basis after receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission in November last year.

The trial offers 'text via satellite', while voice and data features will be added in the future, according to the T-Mobile website.

T-Mobile initially only listed a few Android smartphones as eligible devices to test the network, but has now added iPhone devices with the latest iOS 18.3 software update.

Bloomberg News first reported on Tuesday that Apple, SpaceX and T-Mobile had been secretively working to add support for the network in its latest iPhone software.

Apple and SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside regular business hours.

In October last year, the FCC had allowed SpaceX and T-Mobile to enable Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capability to provide coverage for cellphones in areas of North Carolina hit hard by Hurricane Helene.



Samsung Expects a 56% Drop in Q2 Operating Profit, Far Short of Estimates

The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on July 4, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on July 4, 2016. (Reuters)
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Samsung Expects a 56% Drop in Q2 Operating Profit, Far Short of Estimates

The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on July 4, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on July 4, 2016. (Reuters)

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday projected a 56% drop in second-quarter operating profit from a year earlier, missing analysts' estimates by far.

Its chip business struggled with weak sales of artificial intelligence chips, dogged by delays in the supply of its latest chips to Nvidia and continued losses in its contract chip manufacturing business, analysts said.

The world's largest memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 4.6 trillion won for the April-June period, versus a 6.2 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate.

That would compare with 10.4 trillion won in the same period a year earlier and 6.7 trillion won in the preceding quarter.

Revenue would likely fall 0.1% to 74 trillion won from a year earlier, the filing showed.

Samsung is expected to release detailed results, including a breakdown of earnings for each of its businesses, in late July.