At MWC 2023, MediaTek is announcing support for 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) in its chips, with an aim at smartphones. That technology will be available in smartphones launching imminently, and MediaTek is also announcing that it will launch support for 5G New Radio NTN (NR-NTN) in the future.

Like efforts from Qualcomm and Samsung, MediaTek’s technology will allow for two-way messaging via satellite in an effort to “fill the gaps” left by traditional networks, especially in emergency situations. MediaTek is starting with smartphones but intends to expand this technology to other form factors in the future, including cars.

Satellite networks aim to fill gaps in mobile coverage, offering a reliable way for devices to communicate in remote locations. With satellite-enabled smartphones, consumers can stay in touch when they are hiking, driving in secluded areas, on a boat, or in other situations where there has traditionally been no connectivity; this will not only provide users with peace of mind, but also enable them to request assistance in emergency situations. Today the biggest market opportunity for 3GPP NTN technology is smartphones, although there is a growing demand for satellite connectivity in IoT applications such as agriculture, forestry, and logistics. The automotive industry will also be a major market for satellite communications technology in the coming years.

MediaTek confirmed that Bullitt will be the first to launch satellite connectivity based on MediaTek hardware, starting with the CAT S75 smartphone as well as the Motorola Defy 2 smartphone. CAT S75 is available for pre-order starting today, while Defy 2 is launching in Q2.

But, more interestingly, MediaTek will also provide the foundation for satellite connectivity in the Motorola Defy Satellite Link.

This Bluetooth accessory allows users on either Android or iOS to connect their smartphone to satellites using the Bullitt Satellite Connect platform. This supports two-way messaging, location sharing, and emergency SOS. The accessory will be available starting in Q2 of this year for $99 or for $149 with 12 months of service (up to 30 two-way messages per month).

The Dimensity 7200 is a 5G-capable chip that is the debut of MediaTek’s 7000 series.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 is that it is built on a 4nm process, the same process used for flagship chips such as MediaTek’s Dimensity 9200, as well as Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It’s notable as most mid-range chips tend to be built on less-efficient, more outdated build processes. The chip is also produced by TSMC, which only doubles down on the efficiency boosts.

Dimensity 7200 has an octa-core design, with two Cortex-A715 cores at 2.8GHz and six Cortex-A510 cores. It also supports Arm’s Mali-C610 MC4 GPU and MediaTek’s HyperEngine 5.0 enhancements for gaming. The chip’s modem supports sub6 5G networks as well as Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3/LE.

Modern features the 7200 further supports includes 4K HDR video recording, cameras up to 200MP, recording videos from two cameras at once, and FHD+ displays at 144Hz. Memory can hit up to 6,400Mbps and UFS 3.1 storage is supported.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9200 is a chipset designed for high-end Android phones, and it brings a lot of firsts, including Arm’s new Cortex-X3 core, Wi-Fi 7 support, and more. But it’s also going to be one of the first chips to drop support for 32-bit in a bigger way, which has an impact on future Android phones.

Reiterated as a part of today’s MediaTek Executive Summit, the company confirmed that the Dimensity 9200 drops support for 32-bit on its “performance” cores. This refers to the primary Cortex-X3 core as well as the Cortex-A715 cores. The company also noted this to Android Authority earlier this week.

What does this mean? While the Dimensity 9200 does support 32-bit apps, it’s only with the less powerful cores. Android as a whole, as mentioned, has been moving toward a 64-bit-only future for quite some time, but this is a major step toward that.

The Google Pixel 7 blocks 64-bit apps on a software level, with the Tensor G2 chip under the hood still technically offering support. Google explained that dropping 64-bit support leads to better performance overall. New CPUs running 64-bit code see 25% better performance and Android as a system uses 150MB less RAM at any given time. MediaTek, though, probably won’t see the RAM benefit given that the chip still supports 32-bit on its lesser cores. It will likely be up to device makers to block 32-bit on a software level to see the gains that Google is referring to.

MediaTek somewhat backs up Google’s claims about dropping 32-bit and how that will affect performance on the Dimensity 9200. The company cites an LZBench benchmark which tests the speed of data compression. MediaTek says that compression is 92% faster with 64-bit over 32-bit and 80% faster on decompression.