Earlier this year, Qualcomm announced that it planned to set up a satellite-based communication system. Snapdragon Satellite was supposed to launch within half a year of the announcement. However, the deal has officially ended.
According to CNBC, Qualcomm ended its partnership with Iridium, a provider of satellite-to-phone technology. While the technology was successfully developed and tested, Iridium lamented that smartphone makers didn't include the technology in their devices. For your info, the project was meant to be a collaboration project with Honor, OPPO, Motorola, Nothing, vivo and Xiaomi.
The smartphone brands allegedly prefer standard solutions, so Qualcomm will still work with Iridium for such solutions. That doesn't mean that Snapdragon Satellite is gone for good. Since Qualcomm has ended its agreement with Iridium, the chip maker can now engage a new partner to work on satellite-based services. But a new option is unlikely to surface anytime soon. After all, satellite connectivity is more for emergency use than out of necessity, so there's not much incentive for smartphone makers to include it.
But is the option for satellite communication something you'd want on your phone? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned to TechNave for more news like this.
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