Bullitt claimed that starting in April, select operators in North America, Latin America, and Canada would start selling the Motorola Defy 2 for prices starting at $599.
Pre-orders for the business’ Caterpillar-branded Cat S75 model, which is intended for markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, start at 599 euros ($634).
Thanks to hardware from Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek, both Android phones have a 6.6-inch display and can connect to terrestrial 5G networks as well as geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites without the use of an external antenna.
If the smartphones are unable to connect to Wi-Fi or cellular networks, they are programmed to look for a GEO link.
Bullitt’s proprietary satellite messaging app, which is accessible to Android and iPhone users, is required to reply to texts sent from space.
Silicon Valley startup Skylo, which has agreements with GEO operators like Inmarsat to use their satellites for a separate business that specializes in connecting remote Internet of Things (IoT) devices, is responsible for making the service possible.
By the end of March, these satellite services will be made available to Bullitt’s customers in Europe and North America, according to Tim Shepherd, senior director for applications and product marketing.
By the middle of 2023, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, and Africa are expected to join. According to Shepherd, messages sent via satellite would initially be limited to 140 bytes, or 140 characters in most languages.
Users could share their location, he claimed, but voice services, gifs, and images would use up more bandwidth. According to him, the main issue with moving from dependable two-way text-based messaging over satellite to more flexible voice and data use is bandwidth availability.
As more satellites are put into orbit, standards must advance to support higher data throughput over satellite connections, which is important. Our platform’s components can be modified by Bullitt and probably other services to allow for the delivery of voice and more data-intensive services to users. A subscription is required to send or receive messages via satellite, and it costs $4.99 per month for the Motorola Defy 2 and €4.99 per month for the Cat S75.
This means that before sending a message, which can take up to 15 seconds to send using an iPhone 14, users must first be guided by an app to lock onto a Globalstar satellite. It usually takes one of Shepherd’s smartphones 20 seconds to establish the initial GEO connection with a clear view of the sky, the company claimed.
Apple only uses Globalstar satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which are closer to Earth than GEO satellites and unlike them are constantly moving across the sky, for its satellite services, which are limited to SOS. Similar to the satellite-enabled emergency services Apple currently offers for free with its most recent iPhone, Bullitt claimed the subscription would include a free trial of an SOS service that uses emergency response centers run by FocusPoint International.