Until we got 4G, we never realized how awesome internet speeds could be on our mobile phones. Everyone loved it and now we have got so used to it that we laugh about the days when we waited for pages to load on our GPRS enabled phones. The jump from 2G to 3G and then 4G was quick and easy, and many of us did not even realize how we transcended from one to another. We only realize the difference when we are in a situation where we are forced to use a previous generation speed like 3G or 2G. I think our transition into 5G, which will envelop the world almost completely by 2020, will be as smooth as easy. Let us look at the possible life-changing effects of 5G when it will be available for us.
- Better Spectrum
High transfer speeds over wireless connections have already been reached in the past few years. Samsung is known to have achieved a data transfer speed of 7.6 Gbps while Nokia proudly achieved a speed of 10 Gbps. While these were conducted in the lab, NTT Docomo and Huawei were able to achieve a speed of 3.6 Gbps in real world conditions. So we are already looking at speeds better than 4G right now.
But the reason why 5G can make life even better is that it plans to address the ongoing spectrum issue. While great speeds are good, we are all aware of the difficulties of downloading something at peak times when everyone else maybe using the spectrum. With 5G, we may end up using higher frequency bands or we may notice a better use of the current spectrum. There is a chance that 5G may combine the two together for better results, but with a better spectrum, 5G is something that we must really look forward to.
- Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
5G is not only good for watching Netflix videos. There will be more than just videos by the time 5G launches. We are already prepping up for more AR and VR devices and with the demands of 4K video going up, there is a lot more to look forward to. You will be able to avoid latency and with faster speeds, watching videos will be a treat. We will be able to transport ourselves into the world of augmented reality without having to deal with pixilation and unwanted buffering, the same goes for VR devices which will be better supported by a 5G network.
- Device to Device Communication
With 5G, devices would be able to communicate with each other easily and quickly so that your phone or tablet will be able to help you find the best routes, check for the traffic and help you in many other ways more efficiently than what it does today. We are talking about virtual assistants that will be more powerful than Siri and Cortana and ones that will have more intelligence than them as well.
The fact that our imaginations of the future is as limited as our knowledge of the present only means that 5G may be able to encompass a lot more than what we can think of. Our ideas base on what we experience in our present.
Our futuristic minds can only think of the future in ways that augment our present but there is no knowing how different it can be till we reach the time when 5G is actually available. This is what we can visualize for now, only hoping that the future will surprise us with even better features in the 5G network.