What's 4G and Should You Even Care?
by Will Safer, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 5:23PM
When people talk about the future of wireless communication, they sometimes speak of 4G, which is short for Fourth Generation Communications System. This is a still pretty much undefined area of wireless communications, but simply put, it means fast data, voice, and streaming content everywhere you go at any time. And so its also the topic of much interest for wireless companies, such as AT&T and Verizon, which just announced some of their goals for the bigger, better, faster wireless Internet. The FCC is starting to let these companies talk about their plans for the standard, which they say will allow better applications to be developed for wireless gaming, smartphone functionality and remote control of digital video recorders, among other tasks.
While 4G functionality and devices are still a ways off from being available (and 3G is still really in the implementation stage, as well), the fact that the wireless spectrum is being made available for use and development is a big step that could lead to powerful applications being created for personal and business use -- and, of course, to new revenue streams for the service providers (and we all know that's one of the biggest motivating factors for these companies).
The 4G standard will be able to provide speeds from 100 megabits per second to 1 gigabit per second both indoors and outdoors, with the promise of greater quality and security (and we all know that's something personal and business users want).
What could this mean for you, dear reader? Well, right now, not a whole lot. But soon you'll start to see devices and products, both wireless and plugged in at home, that are more completely integrated.
From BetaNews.
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