Outdoor leisure gets more exciting with 5G thrills in South Korea

SEOUL — Telecom service provider KT has taken over Surfyy Beach, a rising surfers’ beach party area in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, with various activities related to 5G services for 10 days from Friday to Aug. 18.

The first thing visitors can see is a banner “KT 5G 5WAG,” written so that the number 5 in the last word looks like the alphabet “S.” The words are emblazoned across a giant screen installed at the entrance to the beach, which livestreams footage of jet surfer riding the waves wearing KT’s 360 degrees neckband camera called Real 360.

Next to the screen is KT’s 5G experience zone, and KT ON Restaurant where a robot serves free shaved ice.

Ranging from a zip line ride, Super VR goggles that play horror films and an icy liquid-nitrogen cryotherapy tank, KT has prepared summer specific events to bring the 5G network closer to people’s lives.


“Work-life balance has become an important facet of modern life since the adoption of the 52-hour workweek regulation in South Korea,” said Kim Won-Kyung, senior managing director at KT, at a press event held in Gangwon Province on Friday.

KT’s initiatives are driven by the outdoor activities market here, which has been growing steadily at an annual average of 7 percent over the past few years, he added.


“More millennials want to enjoy special, extreme sports, and share their adventures with friends via social media in a faster, easier way,” Kim said. To meet their needs, KT is attempting to expand its 5G services to a variety of outdoor activity spots.

“People are not yet familiar with 5G services. The industry’s claims about the hyperspeed connections come off as way too technical and irrelevant to everyday life,” said Sung Eun-mi, KT’s VP of 5G services.

“So what value can the 5G technology really offer? To show this we focused on the marriage of dynamic leisure activities and low-latency services,” Sung said.

It has been around 130 days since KT first launched its next-generation 5G services in Korea.

Starting Sept. 1, KT will open 5G Activity Shops in Gangwon Province, Gyeonggi Province, North Chungcheong Province, Ganghwa Island and Jeju Island, where it will freely distribute Real 360 cameras and 5G devices for users to try out while surfing, going on a zip line, riding ATV bike, para gliding, riding on luge, alpine coaster and cart riding.


In a bid to draw more subscribers to the service, the firm is planning to roll out more cultural events across the nation in 2020 paired with 5G broadcasting.

Meanwhile, back on Surfyy Beach, those who complete four quests, such as downloading KT’s 5G karaoke app, get a chance to try out cryotherapy on the beach for free. After spending two minutes in the freezing minus 145 degrees Celsius of liquid-nitrogen tank you wish to rush back under the scorching sun.

Visitors who upload a photo taken from the 5G experience zone including the “stairway to heaven,” a short flight of 10 stairs ending at a red frame against the sky in the shape of Samsung’s latest Galaxy Note 10, are rewarded with a free shaved ice served by a robot at KT’s ON Restaurant temporarily opened at the Corona Sunset Bar at Surfyy Beach.

The telecom firm’s domestic rivals — SK Telecom and Uplus — are also rushing to increase user exposure to 5G services. SKT is operating 5G virtual reality and augmented reality activities at Busan’s Haeundae Beach, Jeju’s Hamdeok Beach, Boryung’s Daecheon Beach and Donghae’s Mangsang Beach.

LG Uplus, on the other hand, has opened U+ 5G halls at Megabox movie cinemas in Coex, World Cup Stadium and Hanam Starfield Mall, where it offers people exclusive virtual overseas travel experience.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Apple’s complete 2020 iPhone lineup to support 5G

MacRumors reported yesterday, July 28, that the highly-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reason to believe that all 2020 iPhone models will support 5G connectivity.

Though Apple has yet to officially disclose its 5G smartphone plans to the public, notable Apple analyst Kuo wrote in a document to investors that the company is planning for its entire 2020 iPhone portfolio to support 5G connectivity.

It was previously believed that only two out of three phones, the high-end iterations, would support the latest cellular network.

According to Kuo, the purpose behind this change is to ensure that Apple can offer its audience an option that will adequately compete with lower-priced Android smartphones that will support 5G.

He provided two additional reasons as to why Apple would give its lowest-tier model this flagship technology, the company now has more resources to expand this type of technology thanks to its recent acquisition of Intel’s modem chip division, and it would aid in the development of its AR ecosystem.

This year is expected to see the launch of a slew of 5G smartphones including Huawei’s Mate X, Samsung’s S10 and Galaxy Fold, and Motorola’s Moto Z3.

Though Apple will be far from the first company to offer a 5G-supporting device, when it launches next year it will have the most comprehensive product line in the industry. HM/JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

First batch of 5G phones get quality certification in China

BEIJING — The battle over 5G smartphones has intensified in China, with the first batch of eight 5G phone models having obtained the quality certificate needed to hit the market.

Huawei Technologies Co’s four 5G models, including Mate 20X 5G and Mate X 5G, have obtained China Compulsory Certification, according to the website of the China Quality Certification Centre.

Other smartphone vendors Oppo, Vivo, ZTE and One Plus also each have one 5G model that secured the certificate.

It is worth noting that Xiaomi, Samsung and Lenovo failed to make their way into the first batch. Xiaomi said on Wednesday that it will apply to conduct quality tests next week in accordance with its product launch schedule.

Smartphones in China need to acquire three licenses before they are allowed to be sold to the public. The licenses include China Compulsory Certification, a license to allow smartphones to get connected to the 5G network, and Radio Type Approval Certification.

Oppo said on Wednesday that its Oppo Reno 5G model has already secured all of the three licenses and the phone will be available in the China market in the third quarter of this year.

Tang Hai, chief 5G scientist at Oppo, said obtaining the licenses proves that the quality and the performance of Oppo’s 5G smartphone is recognised by industry regulators. The company’s Reno 5G has already been available in Switzerland since May.

Huawei announced in June that its Mate 20X 5G had obtained the country’s first license to allow terminal telecommunication equipment to enter the 5G network in China. The company is scheduled to release the phone on its home turf on July 26.

On Wednesday, the IMT-2020(5G) Promotion Group, an organisation affiliated with the country’s top industry regulator to boost the development of the superfast technology, said Huawei’s self-developed 5G chip has already passed the tests of all networks.

Qin Fei, general manager of Vivo’s telecom research institute, said the company’s 5G smartphone will hit the streets in August and the testing speed of its model has reached one gigabit per second.

Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, said this year will only see a very small number of 5G smartphones sold, but companies are all trying to have the first-mover advantage to appeal to consumers.

According to a report by market research company Counterpoint, global 5G smartphone shipments are expected to reach 108.2 million units in 2021, up an estimated 255 per cent year-on-year.

source: technology.inquirer.net

World’s first 5G phone released in South Korea

SEOUL — Telecom giant Samsung Electronics on Friday released the Galaxy S10 5G, the world’s first available smartphone with built-in fifth-generation communications, as South Korea seeks to build a lead in the transformative technology.

On Wednesday the South became the first country to launch nationwide 5G services, with three superfast networks going live offering data speeds that allow users to download entire movies in less than a second.

Hours later US giant Verizon began commercial services in Chicago and Minneapolis, after rival AT&T made a 5G-based system available to selected users in parts of 12 cities in December.

South Korea’s three mobile carriers — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — held launch events across Seoul for the Galaxy S10 5G, whose base version costs 1.39 million won ($1,200).

Interactive virtual-reality displays and robot demonstrations were on show to tout the capabilities of the latest iteration of mobile internet speed, and new users were excited about the possibilities, especially live streaming of sports games and university lectures.

“I watch a lot of videos often, movies and lectures,” said buyer Shim Ji-hye, 38. “I hope faster speeds will help me manage my time better.”

Another user said he was most excited about virtual reality content — which includes games and even “celebrity VR dating” apps according to the country’s mobile carriers.

With 5G, said researcher Lee Sang-yoon, VR content “can be enjoyed in real time with no delay… I’ll be able to enjoy it in better resolution and speed”.

By Friday afternoon, 15,000 buyers had subscribed to the LG UPlus 5G service, and more than 10,000 to KT’s offer, the carriers said.

Figures were not immediately available from SK Telecom, the market leader.

Internet of Things

Before Friday’s roll-out of the Samsung phone, the 5G service had been restricted to a handful of specially selected users in South Korea.

Rival manufacturer LG is due to launch its V50 ThinQ, another 5G phone, in the South later this month, while in the US, Verizon’s network works with Lenovo’s Moto Z3 smartphone fitted with a special accessory.

Commercializing 5G gives South Korea the chance to build around the technology, which is crucial for the future development of devices such as autonomous vehicles and the Internet of Things.

It is expected to bring about $565 billion in global economic benefits by 2034, according to the London-based Global System for Mobile Communications, an industry alliance.

The implications of the new technology have pitted Washington against Beijing — whose firms dominate 5G technology — in an increasingly bitter standoff.

The US has pressed its allies and major economies to avoid 5G solutions from Chinese-owned telecom giant Huawei, citing security risks that technological backdoors could give Beijing access to 5G-connected utilities and other components.

Chinese entities own a total of 3,400 5G patents — more than a third of the total, according to data analysis firm IPlytics — with 1,529 of those registered by Huawei.

South Korea comes next, with its companies holding 2,051 patents, while US firms have 1,368 together.

Neither KT nor SK Telecom use Huawei technology in their 5G networks, but it is a supplier to LG UPlus, the companies told AFP.

source: technology.inquirer.net

iPhone XI to feature long-distance 3D camera, says report

It’s no secret that the iPhone will get a radical upgrade in 2020 when Apple integrates 5G tech into the model, but what can we expect from the upcoming 2019 generation?

According to BloombergQuint, which was recently in contact with Sony, that company will be “boosting production of next-generation 3D sensors after getting interest from customers,” customers that include Apple Inc. In fact, Sony will be undergoing mass production in late summer to meet demands.


These new camera chips are expected to hugely impact mobile photography, gaming and phone user interface, and Sony hopes such tech will reinvigorate the slumping market.

Additionally, several rumors claim that Apple’s next flagship iPhone model will have three rear lenses that potentially have augmented reality functioning.

Apple will reportedly be using new camera features like these to draw their audience to the 2019 model, likely to be released in September, which will be difficult considering the already quickly growing anticipation for the 2020 generation.

In November, Fast Company noted Apple’s plans to release its first 5G iPhone in 2020 which will be powered by Intel’s 8161 5G modem chip, a release that may come a bit late considering some other phone giants’ first 5G devices are slated for the first half of 2019.

Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus all revealed plans to release their own 5G handsets early next year. JB

source: technology.inquirer.net