iPhone satellite communication features are thought to be limited to emergency uses, with support for the rumored capability understood to be limited to certain markets.
iPhone satellite features could be limited to emergency uses in select markets
Satellite
Apple wants to beam data directly to iPhones and other devices within five years
Apple has reportedly tasked its secret team of satellite and wireless technology experts with findings solutions for an alleged satellite broadband service which would beam data and provide Internet connectivity directly to its devices, bypassing the traditional carriers.
Apple rebuilding Maps from the ground up with Street View-like imagery and own data
If you've been wondering why Apple Maps isn't getting any outward-facing enhancements in iOS 12, here's your answer: the company has been busy working on a massive Maps update.
Satellite time-lapse chronicles nearly two years of Apple Park construction progress
Apple Park began construction in 2014. A new time-lapse video based on high-resolution photos by satellite imaging provider Planet Labs has condensed nearly two years of work on the main ring-shaped building in an 18-second time-lapse video. Uploaded Tuesday to Planet Labs' YouTube channel, the clip was shared yesterday by Business Insider.
Aside from the main ring-shaped building, the video also depicts construction progress on Apple's twin research and development buildings, the 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater, a wellness facility for employees and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCZZXOmC-J8
For those wondering, they used the high-resolution imaging SkySats constellation to capture the construction of Apple's new Cupertino campus.
If the Planet Labs name rings familiar to you, that's because Google recently sold its previously acquired satellite-imaging startup Skybox Imaging to Planet Labs.
The search giant acquired Skybox Imaging in 2014 for a reported $500 million.
That startup was founded by Michael Trela, who was a spacecraft engineer at John Hopkins University, and John Fenwick, who served in the U.S. Air Force. Both men joined Apple this April following Planet Labs' acquisition of Skybox from Google.
As part of the acquisition, Planet Labs now has seven satellites and plans to sell high-resolution aerial imagery starting next year.
Apple bought a firm that made a smart balloon platform for capturing impressive aerial imagery
The company best known for the iconic smartphone may be working on satellites, as per Bloomberg. This is cool, but here's something even cooler: back in 2015, Apple acquired a startup called Aether Industries LLC that specialized in “near-space technology.”
That's interesting because no one knew about this deal before Bloomberg's write-up today.
Among other technologies, Aether Industries developed high-altitude balloons used for capturing aerial images, anywhere on Earth, at up to ten times the resolution of the highest-resolution commercial mapping satellite in orbit today.
Apple may be funding Boeing’s satellite system for global broadband coverage
Today's report from Bloomberg on Apple's latest high-profile hirings includes a passage that sheds light on Boeing's alleged talks with Apple regarding a broadband satellite service. According to Boeing's regulatory filing, the aerospace giant is planning to blanket the Earth with more than a thousand satellites providing fast Internet coverage throughout the United States and internationally. According to authors Mark Gurman and Mark Bergen, Boeing has talked with Apple about investing in or partnering on the project.
Apple recruits top Google satellite executives for whole new hardware team
Mark Gurman and Mark Bergen, reporting Friday for Bloomberg, have learned from sources who didn't wish to be named that Apple is in the process of starting a brand new hardware team for which it recruited a pair of top Google executives specialized in satellites for collecting images and those for communications.
It's unclear from the report what Apple's secretive new hardware team might be focusing on, but it could be inferred from the hirings that Tim Cook & Co. might be considering a satellite constellation of their own for either image collection or some sort of communications services.
3D satellite imagery and related details for Apple Park go live on Apple Maps
Apple Maps has gained satellite imagery (though not necessarily up to date) for Apple's upcoming 175-acre campus, called Apple Park and opening next month. The massive headquarters, currently under construction in Cupertino, now show 3D Flyover imagery along with descriptions and geolocation tags in Apple Maps, 9to5Mac discovered.
Apple hires a satnav expert who holds a patent for preventing car collisions
Revered software engineer Sinisa Durekovic has joined Apple in an unspecified role in October, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources.
Durekovic was charged with managing the development of advanced satellite navigation systems used by luxury carmakers such as BMW AG, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen AG’s Audi, suggesting another possible mapping push for the Cupertino giant.
Thuraya’s new sleeve transforms your iPhone into a satellite phone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTEDgc2vu44#!
The United Arab Emirates-headquartered Thuraya has been in the mobile satellite services business literally as long as I can recall seeing their ads on MTV as a teenager. Thuraya operates in 140+ countries across Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Asia and Australia, covering two-thirds of the globe. Last summer, the company also started providing roaming services in the United States through its partnership with T-Mobile USA.
Because Thuraya has been selling pricey satellite phones and access to its global communications network for ages, their very first iPhone accessory launch is totally unexpected, but welcomed. The aptly named SatSleeve enables global satellite coverage for your iPhone by tapping an accompanying app to talk to the sleeve and route your text messages and phone calls through Thuraya’s network of satellites. Wait, there's more to this special case than meets the eye...