[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #304: Wireless advances

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4Cast #304: Wireless advances
October 17th, 2012

While wired Internet broadband capacity and usage keeps relentlessly 
increasing, the truly interesting action is happening in wireless 
Internet. Technology companies are not devoting a great deal of effort 
to doing innovative stuff with cable modems; they're working on 
innovative stuff for mobile devices. Even as wireless carriers compete 
fiercely to get us to use their brand-new 4G cellular wireless networks, 
work is already starting on 5G cellular. It looks like this next 
generation of wireless technology could drive a change in the way we use 
the Internet in our daily lives, with the expansion of the so-called 
Internet of Things (IoT) and new developments in machine-to-machine 
(M2M) networking.

  * 5G research centre gets major funding grant
    <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19871065> (BBC News) "Prof
    Rahim Tafozolli said work had already begun. 'The boundaries between
    mobile communication and the internet are blurring, so the fifth
    generation is internet on the move,' he told the BBC. Prof
    Tafozolli, professor of mobile wireless communications and the
    director of Surrey University's Centre for Communications Systems
    Research, said: '4G for us is old hat. We started working on 4G 10
    years ago.'"
  * Start thinking about 5G wireless
    <http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/08/technology/5G-wireless/index.htm>
    (CNNMoney/David Goldman) "Each generation of network technology has
    enabled a new set of features: 2G was about voice, 3G was about data
    and 4G is about video. 5G, [Bell Labs' Tod] Sizer predicts, will be
    about intelligent networks that can handle billions of connected
    devices while remaining stable and operational. That will be tricky
    if the future proves as connected as industry leaders forecast."
  * Empowering "things" for our Internet of Things
    <http://www.wfs.org/blogs/thomas-frey/empowering-%E2%80%9Cthings%E2%80%9D-for-our-internet-things>
    (World Future Society/Thomas Frey) "Our mushrooming 'Internet of
    Things' is growing exponentially, and estimates of its progression
    vary tremendously. GSMA [GSM Association] estimates connecting 24
    billion devices by 2020, while Cisco and Ericsson think we will hit
    50 billion. Depending on a few key breakthroughs, these estimates
    may all be on low end, and here's why. Telecom carriers are
    primarily concerned about devices that connect directly to the
    Internet, but a rapidly growing category of peripheral devices are
    designed to connect indirectly through smartphones, home or office
    Wi-Fi, or other smart devices."
  * M2M technology ushers in the age of total connection
    <http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/M2M-technology-ushers-in-the-age-of-total-connection>
    (ComputerWeekly/Kathleen Hall) "One issue for the deployment of M2M
    is the lack of seamless connectivity for wireless and patchy 3G
    coverage. The GSMA says spectrum will be crucial in achieving a more
    networked economy, supported by a sufficiently flexible regulatory
    environment in the telecoms sector and in other industries. In the
    next four years the mobile industry will invest $793bn in expanding
    the coverage and capabilities of mobile networks, according to GSMA."

*/Historic fact:/*

Arguably the first smartphone was the IBM Simon 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUG7nwMmoUc>, which was distributed by 
BellSouth from late 1994 to early 1995. It offered users a calendar, 
address book, calculator, email, fax services, and games. It cost $899 
with a two-year contract.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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