Huawei just announced its latest phones, the Pura 70 range. There are plenty of updates and improvements, including a retractable zoom lens, but the company also introduced a key communications feature: Satellite+ will allow images to be sent by satellite when there’s no cellular connectivity.
This is a first for a regular phone, and follows on from last fall’s announcement of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro which was also a world first, in that case the first to enable satellite phone calls. That capability is also on the new Huawei Pura 70 Ultra.
The new model’s image-sending feature is also pitched as something for use in emergency, when you’re in a place with no cellular connectivity. To send images via satellite, with its limited bandwidth, the files are heavily compressed, which can lead to distortion or blurring of the picture. Hence the emphasis that this feature is for emergency usage only.
To use it fully, the sending and receiving phones require a particular app, called Changlian. If the phone to which you’re sending the message doesn’t have it, then as Huawei’s Bruce Lee explains, the recipient will see only a regular text message.
Even so, this is a very big step forward, and highly valuable if, for example, it can show your location in a way that makes it easier for emergency services to pinpoint you.
Other details so far revealed, as spotted by Huawei Central, include the fact that you can edit a message after it’s been sent. It also explains, “Huawei Pura 70 Ultra also supports wireless communication with the help of an advanced fusion (Lingxi antenna, Lingxi network, and Lingxi AI algorithm) for a better, stable, and strong communication experience under weak signal conditions.”
Huawei also released a video showing how it’s used.
Apple’s satellite connection was ground-breaking, introducing clever software to help users to point the iPhone directly at a satellite passing by unseen overhead. And there have been numerous stories of lives being saved using the feature.
So, to see something even more advanced coming to Huawei’s handsets will surely have Apple and rivals thinking of what more they can do.
By the way, if you’ve noticed a different branding on the latest phones, well done. The Pura 70 is the direct sequel to last year’s P60. This fall, we may see if Huawei rebrands its M series phones with a new name. There’s no word yet on what this might be.
