Why The 4G Phone Will Kill Pay By Minute Calls
4G phones are coming and both WiMAX and LTE variations of the service will soon be able to deliver high quality voice calls over an IP network, rather than a standard mobile phone network. That means that rather than pay by the minute, we could soon be paying a flat rate for all 4G calls.
It’s the like the difference between using Skype and a normal pay as you go landline.
Analysts predict flat rate mobile phone calls on a 4G phone will be commonplace within three years. Even if mobile operators would prefer to continue charging by the minute, the availability of flat rate services like Skype and TruPhone via their own 4G network means they’ll have no choice but to offer flat rate phone calls themselves.
Clear 4G Car
Clear is demonstrating its 4G service inside an experimental 4g car -a Ford Flex – at the Chicago Auto Show. The demo aims to showcase an average download times of 3 -6 Mbps with a peak download speed of 10 Mbps via the Clear Chicago 4G network.
Clear is working to expand its current 4G network beyond Chicago with launches due this year in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Houston and San Francisco.
4G Phone Calls: Clear As MP3
Phone calls on your mobile 4G phone could sound as clear as an MP3 or CD.
At the Mobile World Congress the inventor of the MP3 format, Fraunhofer, will demo 4G phone calls in stereo CD quality over a 4G cell network. As well as improving the quality of phone call audio, the innovation could bring a welcome quality boost to audio and video streaming services that phone operators offer.
Fraunhofer says its new AAC Enhanced Low Delay codec gives CD quality audio with very low coding delays and bit rates. It’s said to even perform well under adverse network conditions.
Such a boost in phone call quality could make mobile conference calls much easier to understand and less painful to attend. But then maybe there’s no technology that can do that…
4G Cars – You Car Will Get a Better Mobile Connection Than Your Phone
4G connected cars have been a big thing at tradeshow CES in Las Vegas, with car companies falling over themselves to demonstrate how mobile broadband internet access is a coming reality in cars.
While most concept cars use a standard 4G mobile phone connection to stream videos, traffic info and maps to cars, Alcatel-Lucent has been showcasing a custom Toyota Prius with its own built-in 4G / LTE mobile connection, effectively turning the Toyota into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
Speeds quoted have been five times that of 3G – at almost 15 Mbps. On occasion, speeds have hit 56 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload.
Mobile games are also on the cards. The founder of Game company GameStreamer said, “People passionately enjoy games and are already actively playing them through Internet connected devices such as PC’s, consoles and mobile phones. We felt enabling video games in a connected car was a natural addition to these devices and one game players will welcome with open arms.”
But let’s hope that doesn’t happen while they’re driving :-)
Although the 4G car remains only a concept for now, Alcatel-Lucent is busy building the Verizon 4G network – aiming to have the entire United States covered by 2013.
4G Crashes Cable TV
We all know that 4G phones provide blisteringly fast mobile internet connections but did you also know 4G phones can crash your cable TV set top box?
Astoundingly, “experts” seem to have only just realized that cable TV boxes operate on the same frequency spectrum as LTE 4G technology. Any 4G phone which is near to a set top box may cause interference or make the box crash and need a restart.
Luckily, there’s nothing decent on TV these days anyway.
The 4G Car
Soon the must-have option for new cars won’t be a sunroof or leather seats – it will be ultra high-speed, high-bandwidth 4G connectivity. At least, that’s the claim of NG Connect, a consortium of companies that recently showcased a prototype Toyota car with 4G internet.
Led by Alcatel-Lucent, the group also included names like Atlantic Records. The aim is to deliver unlimited music, video, maps, etc. to moving cars, via 4G. It could even be used to send information from shock sensors to help city authorities know where to repair potholes.
The Toyota prototype comes soon after the Mercedes-Benz 4G car. The first commercial 4G car is expected to hit the roads in 2012.
4G Wireless in your Mercedes-Benz
Not strictly speaking a 4G phone but fun anyway…
Mercedes-Benz have recently been testing a high speed wireless internet system for their range of cars. The infotainment system myCOMMAND has passed its first on-road on a 4G network. During the test in Munich, bandwidth speeds were up to 25Mbps even when moving at 40 km/h.
The myCOMMAND system provides in car maps, navigation with street views and high quality streaming audio / video. I’ll take three.
