Technologies

Samsung Now Has Its Own Tech for Connecting Smartphones to Satellites

Samsung is joining Apple and others in exploring how satellite connectivity could benefit smartphone users.

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 lineup is missing satellite connectivity, but it looks like that won’t be the case for future smartphones. The tech giant announced Thursday that it has procured technology to enable direct communication between smartphones and satellites. It will be integrated into Samsung’s Exynos modems and will allow for conversations and emergency assistance, separating it from Apple’s current offering.

The debut comes after a slew of other tech giants and wireless carriers, including Apple, Qualcomm and T-Mobile, have announced plans to bring satellite connectivity to smartphones. Satellite connectivity is noticeably absent from the new Galaxy S23, even though the phones include the necessary hardware for Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon Satellite service. But the announcement shows Samsung plans to offer its own approach to what has already become one of the biggest mobile industry trends in 2023.

Samsung’s system will use satellites and other non-terrestrial vehicles to bring smartphone connectivity to remote areas like deserts, mountains and oceans, according to the company’s press release. Samsung also says this technology could one day be used for disaster relief efforts and to help power autonomous aircrafts and flying cars.

Future phones with Exynos modems equipped with Samsung’s satellite technology will support two-way text messaging and the ability to share photos and videos. But Samsung hasn’t said when satellite connectivity will be arriving to its phones or which devices will support it.

Samsung’s approach would seemingly vary from the current version of Apple’s emergency satellite connectivity, which is available in the iPhone 14 lineup. Instead of initiating a two-way conversation, the user answers prompts on their iPhone to share critical details with emergency dispatchers. Qualcomm also announced the Snapdragon Satellite system at CES in January, which will use Iridium’s satellite fleet to enable emergency communications and eventually two-way texting.

Both Apple and Qualcomm plan to eventually monetize their satellite services in different ways. Apple will charge for the service after two years, while Qualcomm will offer a premium option for sending satellite-based texts for non-emergency scenarios. It’s unclear whether Samsung will charge for its satellite connectivity offering.

The announcement comes after TM Roh, president and head of Samsung’s mobile experience business, referred to current satellite options as being too limited when discussing the Galaxy S23’s lack of satellite support with CNET.

«When there is the right timing, infrastructure and the technology [is] ready, then of course for Samsung Galaxy, for our mobile division, we would also actively consider adopting this feature as well,» he said ahead of the company’s Unpacked event earlier this month.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Oct. 22, #1586

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Oct. 22, No. 1,586.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle features some letters I don’t often guess, but it’s not terribly difficult. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with S.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with T.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to an action displaying spectacular skill and daring.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is STUNT.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Oct. 21, No. 1,585 was DETOX.

Recent Wordle answers

Oct. 17, No. 1,581: GROSS
Oct. 18, No. 1,582: HAVEN
Oct. 19, No. 1,583: IDEAL
Oct. 20, No. 1,584: LIMBO

Quick tips for Wordle

#1: Check our list ranking the popularity of all the letters in the alphabet and choose your starter words accordingly. (TRAIN, STERN and AUDIO are good.)

#2: Don’t forget that letters can be used more than once.

#3: Many words are similar. You don’t want to use up multiple guesses that don’t advance your cause. So if the puzzle is STA_E, don’t guess STARE, STATE and STALE. Guess something that uses that R, T and L, like TWIRL.