The iPhone 14 line introduced satellite communications to mainstream smartphones, sort of. Naturally, following the announcement, Qualcomm announced Snapdragon Satellite for Android phones that make use of its chipsets. But despite making use of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 which supports the feature, phones by Samsung don’t yet have satellite communications feature. That may finally change next year.
Sisa Journal-E reports that an executive of the South Korean tech giant has just alluded to the company’s phones sporting satellite communication at the 2023 Semiconductor Exhibition (SEDEX). Park Yong-In, the the System LSI Business Division head of Samsung Electronics, said that technical preparations have already been made for the endeavour. Though the report does not mention any specific model.
When it comes to new tech though, it’s probably safe to expect the flagship series to be equipped with them first. But even if this assumption is accurate, it’s unclear if all the models within the Samsung Galaxy S24 line will get it, or if it will be relegated to only the Ultra model.
Or, in a potentially odd twist, this could be a situation where the feature is left out of the Ultra model. The rumour mill currently points towards the Samsung Galaxy S24 line to have both Snapdragon and Exynos models, with the company also making its own Exynos 5300 modems that support satellite comms.
For now though, we’re still at least three months away from a potential Samsung Unpacked event. And if the company is to make any further official statement on the subject, that would likely be when it happens.
(Source: Sisa Journal-E)
