The rumours find further resonance from the fact that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had once exclaimed in 2013 that he would want to die on Mars.
North American EV maker Tesla's rumoured Pi Phone would be enabled with Starlink technology, implying that the phone would be perfectly functional on Mars, Gulf News suggests. Starlink technology is among the more important projects of Elon Musk and is deemed to be perfectly compatible with the next-generation smartphone.
Tesla is closely related to Elon Musk's venture called the 'SpaceX', which aspires to send humans to Mars. Starlink, on the other hand, seeks to build a network of low-orbit satellites to enable easier internet access anywhere. The ambition of the company is to send more than 40,000 satellites to Earth's lower orbit. Gulf News quoting data from space industry trackers, reports that there are 1,600 Starlink satellites in the orbit. It added that the numbers would continue to grow as reusable rockets make launches cheaper.
The rumours find further resonance from the Tesla CEO exclaiming that he would want to die on Mars. "I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact," he stated back in 2013.
In addition to the rumoured operability on Mars, the Pi Phone is also expected to have four cameras, solar charging and skin with a futuristic design that can change colours.
Tesla, which is known for futuristic ambitions and AI innovations, was rumoured to make a satellite smartphone that would work where traditional WiFi or 5G could not travel. The rumours, if true, would imply that it could skip the need for terrestrial connectivity.
The Gulf Report adds that Model Pi could come with a brain-phone interface designed by Neuralink. The Musk controlled company is developing ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces that could draw connections between humans and computers.
While there is no confirmed date as to when the smartphone would be revealed, rumour mills suggest it could be "later this year", Gulf News reported on November 4.