Android

Garmin launched a satellite chat service

Apple has opened the door to satellite communication on smartphones: from the end of autumn, owners of the iPhone 14 family can send and receive emergency SMS messages free of charge for two years in the United States and Canada, even if terrestrial mobile or WiFi coverage is not available. For this, we have the built-in satellite chip and Apple has all the necessary contracts with the satellite partner (which is, in principle, Globalstar) and the bodies, but we do not expect global availability anytime soon.

Of course, satellite phones have always been expensive, including the service fee, and Garmin’s satellite communicators run under the inReach family name, which independently and Garmin Explorer they also work together with a mobile app so that the explorer can send a vital sign about himself and his position during the expedition and without mobile network coverage, communicate with friends and receive answers, weather data or official notifications.

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The inReach Messenger widget and the Garmin Messenger chat app on mobile [+]

In addition to buying such a small thing as the $400 that promises two weeks of operation inReach Minior the much more expensive pieces, but you also need a subscription to use the satellites, and this has not changed with the square inReach Messenger with his introduction. The new $300 device is not only cheaper, it increases the operating time by one month and creates a platform for more practical communication with friends Garmin Messenger with a mobile app that can be installed on iOS and Android.

In addition to the usual inReach services, SOS signaling and message management, the gadget provides a chat environment for simple text conversations with friends or a group when connected to a mobile phone, automatically sharing the exact position of the sender, which can of course be turned off, but that’s what Garmin’s solution is all about. We can quickly view the location of the other party in Garmin Explorer or another map mobile app, of course the essential functions can be performed independently, from the square thing.

You don’t need to buy an inReach device to use the chat application, the text chat works on WiFi and mobile networks just like on Viber, for example. In order to exchange messages via Iridium satellites, however, it will be necessary to purchase an accessory and a subscription so that we can log in even from the remotest corners of the world – as long as the use of such gadgets is legally permitted there. It’s still one step more complicated than what Apple will soon make available for the iPhone 14 in North America, but it will be limited to an emergency signal for now and uses the one less reliable Globalstar constellation, according to various opinions.

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