First satellite texting phone: Huawei beats Apple
The telecom giant Huawei from China has achieved spectacular success. The first satellite texting phone for the general public is now in her name.
Despite sanctions, the world’s first satellite texting phone
Chinese manufacturer Huawei has suffered greatly from US sanctions, but is far from dead, according to a spectacular breakthrough. As the first phone manufacturer in the world, Huawei has succeeded in developing a satellite phone that is also a very good smartphone.
Satellite texting means that a phone makes contact with a satellite and can send and receive messages via the satellite. The big advantage of this is that you can be reached by telephone anywhere in the world, even in inhospitable areas. Until now, this required expensive satellite telephones, such as Inmarsat. This is now possible for the first time with a smartphone for the consumer market.
Huawei Mate 50, the first satellite texting smartphone
You can send satellite messages of 19-20 Chinese characters with this smartphone. That equates to about the length of a text message. A Chinese character can best be compared with a short word. Another drawback is that it is only one way street. You can therefore not expect an answer via the satellite connection. For that you have to be within range of a network again.
To be able to use the satellite connection, you must of course have a subscription with a satellite provider. Several providers are already in talks with satellite networks. For example, T-Mobile is in negotiations with Elon Musk’s space company, Space X.
One way traffic disadvantage
It is likely that this phone will become popular in remote areas, as well as in China itself and in many countries in the rest of the world where the population is sparse and where there are large abandoned areas. Although it is a big disadvantage that you cannot receive messages via the same network. Of course, this phone is ideal for adventurous travelers and trekkers. The Americans are out of luck! They cannot buy this phone because of the sanctions. But as far as the rest of the world, including the Netherlands, is concerned, things look more favourable.
