Slack (launched in 2013) is primarily a workplace collaboration tool with structured channels and threads, and in 2024–25 reported roughly 65–79 million monthly active users and 42–47 million daily active users. Discord (launched in 2015) focuses on real-time voice and video for online communities, with a default server member limit of 250,000 (raiseable) and around…
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Apple launched Emergency SOS via satellite on the iPhone 14 series in late 2022 using Globalstar’s LEO network. Samsung Galaxy S25, launched in 2025, is the first commercially available phone to include Snapdragon Satellite for two-way messaging via Iridium’s LEO constellation, with Android 15 native support. Bullitt Group’s Bullitt Satellite Messenger rolled out in Q1…
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In August 2022, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced the Coverage Above and Beyond partnership to end mobile dead zones by connecting standard smartphones to Starlink satellites, branded as T-Satellite with Starlink, aiming to cover roughly 500,000 square miles of the U.S. Starlink Gen2 satellites feature Direct to Cell antenna arrays that enable direct-to-device connectivity with unmodified…
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Bangladesh bans satellite phone use; possession can lead to arrest and imprisonment. North Korea prohibits all unauthorized communication devices, foreigners must surrender phones and privacy is not guaranteed, with detention possible. India restricts satellite phones to government‑approved Inmarsat devices, requiring a license (No Objection Certificate) from the Department of Telecommunications before bringing one in. China…
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In 2022, Apple’s iPhone 14 introduced Emergency SOS via satellite, later expanded in the iPhone 15 to support satellite texting via Globalstar. In April 2023, AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 demonstrated a two-way 4G call using a standard smartphone on Earth with a 64 m² satellite antenna. Lynk Global demonstrated the first direct satellite text to…
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Geostationary orbit sits at about 35,786 km above the equator and completes a sidereal day (~23h56m), so satellites appear fixed over one longitude; Arthur C. Clarke popularized it in 1945, giving the region the nickname the Clarke Belt. A GEO satellite remains stationary relative to the ground, allowing ground antennas to point at a fixed…
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The iPhone 14 introduced Emergency SOS via satellite in September 2022 using the Globalstar network, with a US/Canada launch in November 2022 and expansion to 17 countries by mid-2024. The Huawei Mate 60 Pro, released in August 2023, became the world’s first smartphone to support direct satellite voice calls via China’s Tiantong-1 GEO constellation. Iridium…
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