Apple puts walkie-talkie function for iPhones on hold

Apple has put an unreleased iPhone feature on hold that would allow users to communicate with each other via radio waves. At least, that’s what the website The Information writes based on sources.

The Information relies on two sources that would be familiar with this apparently existing iPhone project. According to them, this walkie-talkie function was intended to give people with iPhones the ability to communicate with others nearby, especially in areas where there is no coverage, such as on ski slopes or in remote nature reserves.

The technology would be based on longer-range radio waves, turning it more or less into a walkie-talkie function for text messages. Apple would have collaborated with Intel for this, under the name Project OGRS, or off grid radio service. Use would be made of the 900MHz frequency, such as is the case with radio communications in sectors such as the oil and gas industry.

It is not known how far Apple has progressed with the development of the technology. It is also unclear why the company reportedly stopped the project, although one of the two sources reports that it was shut down, among other things, when the main Apple employee left the project earlier this year. It would be Ruben Caballero. He worked at Apple on modems and is said to have warned Steve Jobs in 2010 that the antenna design of the iPhone 4 could lead to a blocked signal.