Apple Working On 2 Way Radio for iPhone

Apple is once again at the drawing board this time with a patent application they made back in November, displaying that the company is proceeding towards having iPhone users send data - including text and short audio messages - over the GSM voice channel, which would deviate the servers that carriers use to assign text messages from one phone to another.

AppleInsider got a hold of the application, which described that the technology would work slightly similar to that of Nextel Direct Connect service, which would allow handset users to connect directly with each other over a cellular network rather than the phone system.

Apple's patent filing requirements notes, that carriers must have backend servers called Short Message Service Centers (SMSCs) to accommodate text messaging traffic. These SMSCs transfers text messages in a store-and-forward manner and as such may be swamped when lots of users are trying to send texts at the same time.

Apple purposed a solution that would use the voice channel that is normally used to carry calls on the cellular network as a way to carry data from one iPhone to another. Voice channels on GSM are not meant for digital data this proposal would "vocalize" pieces of data.

A user would select the telephone number on the screen of an iPhone, and use some command to send it to another iPhone, the system would then convert that data into sound. The assignee could then get the message as a voicemail, or their iPhone could alternatively convert the sound back into data.

Another possibility indicates that the messages sent could be short audio messages, which would be similar to Nextel's "walkie-talkie" where users could communicate constantly, rather than at the same time. The technology also could be used to connect multiple users on a sort of shared line.

Let's see how this unfolds, and what will Apple think of next.