(Pocket-lint) – Huawei has teased what appears to be satellite communication capabilities for the Mate Xs 2, with an official announcement coming this week.
The teaser came via the Huawei Weibo page and YouTube channel, with a video showing off how someone will be able to use their Mate Xs 2 to communicate with someone even when they are in the middle of nowhere. It’s a feature that Apple announced alongside the iPhone 14 unveiling in September, but now it’s going to have some fresh competition.
The gist appears to essentially be the same, though. People will be able to send short messages via satellite when they are no longer within range of cellular towers or Wi-Fi. It’s a feature specifically designed for emergency situations, with people having to use built-in software to get line-of-sight with a satellite before sending their message. Otherwise, it simply won’t work.
Huawei says that it will be using Beidou satellites for its new feature, whereas Apple’s iPhones connect to Globalstar ones.
We can expect more information about the new feature on 5 November when Huawei holds a special developer conference in China. The Mate Xs 2 would be the world’s first foldable with support for satellite emergency communications of course, although we’re not sure how comfortable we’d be using a bendy phone at the top of a mountain in the wind and snow.
Writing by Oliver Haslam.
