At CES 2023, Qualcomm announced a two-way phone messaging solution. The service will start with mobile phones built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform.

This feature relys on Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF systems, and the Iridium satellite constellation. Qualcomm said in a press release that this solution uses the Iridiums L-band spectrum for uplink and downlink. In addition, Qualcomm plans to support 8G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), which will be available for use later.

Qualcomm plans on the launch of an emergency messaging device called Snapdragon satellite in the second half of 2023.

Besides, Qualcomm says Qualcomm Satellites can expand to other devices, such as laptops, tablets, vehicles and IoT.

Snapdragon Satellite may look like a new attempt by Qualcomm to take on the Apple’s Emergency SOS feature, which began on the iPhone 14. I have emergency sOS, which came to Canada in November, and it has already proven helpful in the US, helping save a stranded snowmobiler and people who fell into a canyon.

You can find all of our coverage here from CES 2023.

Qualcomm has an image credit.