Bullitt, a British smartphone company, on Friday unveiled a new phone that can send texts over space, joining the competitive market for satellite-enabled handsets.
The Caterpillar-branded Cat S75, which is targeted at the European market and will retail for 599 euros ($634.49), and the Motorola Defy 2, which caters to North America with a starting price of $599, are the two versions of the phone, which falls into the “rugged” category of durable handsets.
Both phones have 5G connection, a 6.6-inch screen, and a 5,000 milliampere-hour battery that, according to Bullitt, can last up to two days.
In order for a message to reach a user’s device, Mobile phones blast it to geostationary satellites 22,000 miles above the equator and then send it back down to the earth’s network backbone.
The message is delivered to the user as a typical SMS. To respond, they will need to have the company’s exclusive satellite messaging program, Bullitt Messenger, installed.
Compared to the almost instantaneous speed of cell phones, texts take about 10 seconds to process. A user only activates a satellite connection when they are cut off from Wi-Fi or mobile network signals.
Just after Apple unveiled the iPhone 14, which features a provision for contacting emergency services through satellite, news of Bullitt’s new phones broke. America, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Ireland all have access to the functionality.
Gadget manufacturers like Apple and chip companies like Qualcomm are counting on the untapped potential of giving individuals in remote locations who are outside the reach of terrestrial telecoms infrastructure satellite phones.
By connecting to satellites, messages can travel across large areas of land that are not covered by ground-based cellular equipment. As the range of cell towers is more constrained, you will lose signal if you travel too far from one.
If you’re a hiker who gets lost on a mountain route in a remote location or a worker on a remote construction site who wants to get in touch with their boss but can’t get mobile data, it might be useful.
Although satellite phones have been developed for many years, they have not yet become widely used. With its equipment, Bullitt aims to alter this. Numerous satellite phones are cumbersome rectangular devices with obtrusive, oversized antennae. Bullitt’s phones, however, have the appearance of standard smartphones in part because of a satellite-enabled chip made by Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek.
Tim Shepherd, Bullitt’s senior director of applications and product marketing, told CNBC that “this is definitely not a gimmick.”
Many individuals have a serious difficulty with reliable communication outside the typical boundaries of the cellular network, but satellite technology is now sufficiently advanced to solve the issue.
Bullitt claims that its phones surpass Apple’s in functionality by supporting two-way SMS messages and an emergency SOS function that the business created in collaboration with critical event management company Focuspoint International.
Bullitt’s two-way messaging service has monthly fees of 4.99 euros for a 30-message basic plan, 9.99 euros for 125 messages, and 29.99 euros for 400 messages.
On addition of a £35 one-time activation price, competitor Garmin charges £19 for 10 texts per month, £32 for 60 texts per month, and £58 for 250 texts per month.
When activating an iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro, Apple’s Emergency SOS service, which does not support two-way communications, is free for two years.
The price of the service after that time has passed has not been announced by the iPhone maker.
Bullitt is also releasing a Bluetooth add-on called the Motorola Defy Satellite Link that connects to its Bullitt Satellite Messenger app, thereby turning any phone into a satellite phone. This Bluetooth accessory works with Android and iOS devices. The puck-shaped gadget, which has a suggested retail price of $99, will be on sale in the second quarter.
Bullitt was going after a specific market, according to CCS Insight’s chief analyst Ben Wood, and their approach would work better in nations with big landmasses like the United States and Australia.
Although the company pioneered satellite communications, Wood told CNBC that the competition was nipping at its heels. Nonetheless, the target market for its gadgets is a lucrative one because it is a good fit for the technology.
At launch, Bullitt will offer satellite coverage in Europe and North America; by mid-2023, it will also support coverage in Australia and New Zealand, Africa, and South America.
The Cat S60, marketed by the firm as the world’s first thermal imaging smartphone, debuted in 2016. The company predicted that the functionality will be in 50% of smartphones in five years at the time, however that estimate was not realized.
