Mobile World Congress: 5G, IoT, Virtual Reality Grab Spotlight

By | February 22, 2016

Scalper1 News

Next-generation 5G wireless technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) and virtual reality are dominant topics at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the biggest wireless industry trade shows. The 5G wireless networks are expected to be 50 to 100 times faster than the 4G LTE networks now utilized. IoT refers to wireless technology that connects industrial, medical, automotive and consumer devices to the Web. VR refers to computer-generated artificial environments. Among developments at the Mobile World Congress: — Sweden’s Ericsson ( ERIC ), Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Intel ( INTC ) said they would cooperate to develop a 5G network router for business and residential services. The three companies belong to Verizon Communications ’ ( VZ ) 5G technology forum . — Ericsson also said it’s collaborating with AT&T ( T ) to bring its “Digital Life” home security and automation platform to more service providers outside the U.S. AT&T recently licensed Digital Life to British wireless firm O2, owned by Spain’s  Telefonica ( TEF ). — China Mobile ( CHL ) and Nokia Networks demonstrated some industrial automation and robotics applications for 5G technologies. — Nokia ( NOK ) also demonstrated virtual reality applications for 5G technology. — Facebook ( FB ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, appearing during Samsung’s keynote address at MWC, called VR the next big social network platform. “Zuckerberg thinks that VR can be a social platform, starting with 360 videos and pushing forward to more immersive content,” said Brian Pitz, a Jefferies analyst, in a research report about the Mobile World Congress.  “Zuckerberg discussed the partnership between Samsung and Facebook (through the Oculus platform) to bring the VR experience at a reasonable price point to consumers.” Scalper1 News

Scalper1 News