Apple has shelved a “walkie-talkie” feature that would have allowed iPhone users to communicate with each other in areas without cellular coverage, such as while skiing or hiking, according to The Information. The technology would have allowed people with iPhones (in a certain vicinity) to send messages over long-distance radio waves when cellular networks weren’t available. It would have functioned a bit like a walkie talkie for text messages and allowed iPhone users to communicate in remote areas.
The report claims Apple was working with Intel on the project, which supposedly would have enabled iPhone users to send messages directly to other iPhone users over long-distance radio waves that bypass cellular networks, adding that the technology was designed to run over the 900 MHz radio spectrum.
This feature is not to be confused with the Apple Watch’s Walkie-Talkie feature, which relies on Wi-Fi or a cellular connection.
The Information says Apple and Intel were working together on the technology, which would have been integrated into Intel chips in future iPhones, before it was put on hold. At Apple, the project reportedly went by Project OGRS (pronounced “ogres”), which is likely referencing patents it filed a year ago regarding something called Off Grid Radio Service (“OGRS”). The patents describe a wireless device-to-device communication system that sounds as if it would work, well, off the grid, much like the reportedly shelved technology would.
The technology could still show up in future iPhones, but development of the feature appears to be on hold for now.
