Huawei has introduced the Mate 50 series, ahead of Apple's September event with a feature that the iPhone 14 is expected to offer: the ability to send texts via satellite communication.

The Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro will be able to send short texts and use navigation thanks to China's BeiDou global satellite network, allowing communication in areas without a mobile signal, the Telegraph reports.

If you feel like you're hearing a lot about satellite-based communications these days, it's because T-Mobile and SpaceX have announced a partnership aimed at bringing the feature to T-Mobile subscribers via Starlink satellites.

And rumors of Apple's satellite messaging feature have been swirling since last year.

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In all these cases, the technology is likely to be limited, at least initially.

T-Mobile says its system will allow text and even picture messaging, but voice and data calls won't come until later.

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Based on Huawei's description of the system, it appears that the Mate 50 phones will be able to send texts via satellite but won't be able to receive those messages.