Various aspects of 4G Wireless as a New Generation of Internet

We now live in a post-industrial age where commerce and the economy are largely fuelled by the internet. However, there is no doubt that being tethered to a fixed line connection out of necessity and not desire, could be a limiting factor. With 4G wireless web services pumping out download and upload speeds that were previously only attainable via a Time Warner Cable internet connection, you can uproot the functions of your office and access the same features in your pocket.

In its way, 3G hinted at the possibilities that lay ahead. It let people send and receive emails with attachments from their smartphones. It also let them update Twitter and Facebook whilst on the move and it even let them chat to friends and family via a video link. However, whilst it was theoretically possible to carry out the least data intensive of these functions over a 3G network, few people were actually able to do things like stream clips from YouTube or hold a video conference call, utilising this ageing network technology.

With 4G, there are far fewer limitations on the kinds of services that you can access from your portable device. High definition video streaming will become second nature and working when out of the office will no longer leave you biting your nails, as you watch individual kilobytes of a project upload as a deadline approaches.

4G has come about just in time to piggyback on another technological revolution, namely that of the tablet computer. When Apple introduced the iPad in 2010, it was a surprise hit because it delivered an experience already available on the iPhone, but with a bigger screen. Its sequel made the device lighter and slimmer and still used 3G networking to connect roaming users to the web when Wi-Fi networks were unavailable. Now, there are many rumours surrounding the iPad 3, which suggest that some form of 4G capability could be part of this hardware update.

4G would be a perfect fit for the iPad family, as the big screen makes it easier to be productive when on the move, whether it is for typing emails and creating documents or editing video and composing music. The higher resolution and greater onscreen real estate also mean that you can realistically sit down and catch up on a TV show or watch an entire HD film without straining your eyes over the tiny display of your mobile handset.

4G is still an emerging networking technology and it is made up of a number of different iterations, most of which are not cross-compatible. This means that coverage is only available in major urban areas where there are enough potential customers to make creating a 4G network financially viable. Once mainstream devices from Apple and its contemporaries popularize 4G wireless internet, the implications of it reaching saturation point should become clear for the next generation of web users.