Why did Apple halt work on a new iPhone text feature that works without a mobile signal?
Firm worked with Intel chip maker on project to build system so the smartphones could communicate ‘over long distance radio waves that bypass cellular networks’, report says
Apple has reportedly halted development on a new iPhone feature that would have let people text one another in areas without a mobile phone service.
A report by the subscription news service, The Information, said Apple had teamed up with Intel to build a new technology that would let iPhones communicate with other iPhones “over long-distance radio waves that bypass cellular networks, said two people familiar with the project”.
The project may not be totally ‘dead’ … A lot of people would commit themselves to the Apple ecosystem, or entrench themselves even further, if they knew text-messaging would work reliably regardless of their reception or coverage
Check out the most salient points from the report:
At Apple, the project was internally code-named Off-Grid Radio Service, or OGRS (pronounced “ogres”).
At Intel, it was called “Project Shrek”.
Apple filed a series of patents relating to OGRS earlier this year.
At Apple, the project was internally code-named Off-Grid Radio Service, or ‘OGRS’ – pronounced ‘ogres’; at Intel it was called ‘Project Shrek’
The technology would have used Intel chips from forthcoming iPhones and work over the 900 megahertz radio band that utility companies often use.
Rubén Caballero was the Apple executive in charge of this project. He apparently had called this his “baby”.
Caballero left Apple in April. His modem team was combined with senior vice-president Johny Srouji's hardware team in January, and Srouji assumed control over the new unit, Reuters reported.
Apple has invested billions into wireless technologies
