Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Softpedia
Everybody has a phone in their pockets, and these devices become more critical for the experience behind the wheel. Infotainment systems now run on mobile device power, and users connect smartphones to Bluetooth to listen to their music and pick up calls.
The latest-generation devices come with life-saving technology that helps drivers too.
Crash Detection is an iPhone feature that uses the phone's sensors to detect severe crashes, including front-impact, side-impact, rear-end collisions, and rollovers. It displays a notification asking for input when it determines that you may have been involved in a crash. If you don't answer, presumably because you're hurt, the device can automatically call emergency services and provide your location to the first responders.
Emergency SOS via satellite debuted on the iPhone 14 as a new safety system, allowing users to call for help from remote areas without a cellular signal.
It now looks like this feature has caught Google's attention, so the search giant wants to bring it to Android users with the release of its next mobile operating system.
Android 14, due later this year, will sport SMS satellite support, with the Pixel and Samsung Galaxy series to pioneer its introduction (actually, Huawei pioneered the adoption of SMS satellite support, but the Chinese company can hardly be considered an Android device manufacturer anymore after the US and international sanctions).
The information was posted on Twitter by an unofficial Pixel account, but if the rumor is true, then any device fitted with the right hardware can adopt emergency SMS via satellite.
The feature helps Android users ask for help from emergency services no matter where they are. For drivers, it can contact 911 if a major crash occurs. Not long ago, a car driving on the Angeles Forest Highway fell into a canyon in a place without a cellular signal. Nobody noticed the vehicle going off the road, and because the driver was stuck in the car, they couldn't get out to seek help.
Thanks to emergency SOS via satellite on the iPhone 14, the driver contacted the first responders and shared their coordinates collected by the smartphone. The text eventually triggered a Hollywood-style rescue operation, as the emergency teams managed to save the driver using a helicopter thanks to coordinates obtained from the iPhone.
The same capabilities will therefore launch on Android devices, and if you own a new-generation Samsung Galaxy S or a Google Pixel, you should get them by the end of the year. The rest of the Android device makers will probably adopt the feature in the coming months, especially as it requires new hardware (some older models wouldn't support it). I expect Google to share more information about this life-saving feature closer to the Android 14 release date. Samsung typically starts the new Android OS rollout in October or November every year.
Crash Detection is an iPhone feature that uses the phone's sensors to detect severe crashes, including front-impact, side-impact, rear-end collisions, and rollovers. It displays a notification asking for input when it determines that you may have been involved in a crash. If you don't answer, presumably because you're hurt, the device can automatically call emergency services and provide your location to the first responders.
Emergency SOS via satellite debuted on the iPhone 14 as a new safety system, allowing users to call for help from remote areas without a cellular signal.
It now looks like this feature has caught Google's attention, so the search giant wants to bring it to Android users with the release of its next mobile operating system.
Android 14, due later this year, will sport SMS satellite support, with the Pixel and Samsung Galaxy series to pioneer its introduction (actually, Huawei pioneered the adoption of SMS satellite support, but the Chinese company can hardly be considered an Android device manufacturer anymore after the US and international sanctions).
The information was posted on Twitter by an unofficial Pixel account, but if the rumor is true, then any device fitted with the right hardware can adopt emergency SMS via satellite.
The feature helps Android users ask for help from emergency services no matter where they are. For drivers, it can contact 911 if a major crash occurs. Not long ago, a car driving on the Angeles Forest Highway fell into a canyon in a place without a cellular signal. Nobody noticed the vehicle going off the road, and because the driver was stuck in the car, they couldn't get out to seek help.
Thanks to emergency SOS via satellite on the iPhone 14, the driver contacted the first responders and shared their coordinates collected by the smartphone. The text eventually triggered a Hollywood-style rescue operation, as the emergency teams managed to save the driver using a helicopter thanks to coordinates obtained from the iPhone.
The same capabilities will therefore launch on Android devices, and if you own a new-generation Samsung Galaxy S or a Google Pixel, you should get them by the end of the year. The rest of the Android device makers will probably adopt the feature in the coming months, especially as it requires new hardware (some older models wouldn't support it). I expect Google to share more information about this life-saving feature closer to the Android 14 release date. Samsung typically starts the new Android OS rollout in October or November every year.
SMS Satellite will be added to Android, and requires appropriate hardware, it's up to the manufacturer then
— Pixel #TeamPixel (@GooglePixelFC) July 20, 2023
Pixel and Galaxy will be among the first to have it
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