What is 5G and what will it mean for you?
What is 5G exactly?
It's the next generation of mobile internet connection and offers much faster data download and upload speeds.
Through greater use of the radio spectrum, it will allow far more devices to access the mobile internet at the same time.
What will it enable us to do?
"Whatever we do now with our smartphones we'll be able to do faster and better," says Ian Fogg from OpenSignal, a mobile data analytics company.
"Think of smart glasses featuring augmented reality, mobile virtual reality, much higher quality video, the internet of things making cities smarter.
"But what's really exciting is all the new services that will be built that we can't foresee."
Imagine swarms of drones co-operating to carry out search and rescue missions, fire assessments and traffic monitoring, all communicating wirelessly with each other and ground base stations over 5G networks.
Similarly, many think 5G will be crucial for autonomous vehicles to communicate with each other and read live map and traffic data.
Mobile gamers should notice less delay - or latency - when pressing a button on a controller and seeing the effect on screen.
Mobile videos should be near instantaneous and glitch-free. Video calls should become clearer and less jerky. Wearable fitness devices could monitor your health in real time, alerting doctors as soon as any emergency arises.
How does it work?
It's a new radio technology, but you might not notice vastly higher speeds at first because 5G is likely to be used by network operators initially as a way to boost capacity on existing 4G core networks, to ensure a more consistent service for customers.
So we may see clusters of smaller phone masts closer to the ground transmitting so-called "millimetre waves" between much higher numbers of transmitters and receivers. This will enable higher density of usage. But it's expensive and companies could face challenges deploying lots of new masts.
So how fast could it be?
The fastest current 4G mobile networks offer about 45Mbps (megabits per second) on average, although the industry is still hopeful of achieving 1Gbps (gigabit per second = 1,000Mbps)
Chipmaker Qualcomm reckons 5G could achieve browsing and download speeds about 10 to 20 times faster in real-world (as opposed to laboratory) conditions.
That would allow you to download a high-definition film in a minute or so.
The speed you get will depend on which spectrum band the operator runs the 5G technology on and how much your carrier has invested in new masts and transmitters.
5G Browser is perfect for all existing android networks
The 4 most essential social media apps
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. YouTube
4. Instagram
These are the four social media apps that are the bare minimum for any social media marketer. They represent the biggest social platforms out there right now.
They are:
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Let’s be honest: If you aren’t using them, are you really a social media marketer?
If you already know about these apps, feel free to skip to the tools section. If not, let’s dive in.
9Apps 4.9
