Generations of Cell Phone Technology

The up-ramp to present day (early 21st century) mobile age technologies has been defined, in part, by an increase of data bandwidth driving the rising capabilities of modern day smartphones and the types of mobile apps that have evolved along with increases in bandwidth:

• 1G - The first generation nationwide (analog) network was started in Tokyo, Japan in 1979. It was not until 1983 until the first 1G network was created in America.
  
  
• 2G - The second generation opened the process of signals encoded digitally rather than by analog. 2G became divided into two technologies – CDMA and GSM. Verizon and Sprint adopted CDMA while AT&T, T-Mobile and the majority of the world's operators adopted GSM.
  
  
• 3G - The third generation of cellular technology came online sometime in 1998. 3G is also divided into two primary technologies – CDMA2000 and UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA. CDMA2000 is used by Verizon and Sprint and UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA is used by AT&T and T-Mobile. This is also the era that most cell phone signal boosters began to be used.
  
  
• 4G LTE - The fourth generation, is often suffixed with an acronym, LTE, standing for Long Term Evolution. Originally used to expand the internet capabilities of mobile devices, Cell calling increasingly came to be made over 4G LTE networks. 4G tops out at a theoretical 100 megabits per second (Mbps).
  
  
• 5G - A proposed rollout of fifth generation has been projected to begin in 2019. The preliminary rollout could be as hotspots that provide ultra-fast Wi-Fi capabilities. There are lots of details surrounding 5G technology. 5G operates on three different spectrum bands. There is a Low-band spectrum can also be described as sub 1GHz spectrum; a Mid-band spectrum providing faster coverage and lower latency with speeds unto 1Gbps (Gigabits per second) on mid-band spectrum; Massive MIMO to improve (wall) penetration and coverage area on the mid-band; Beam-forming to improve 5G service on the mid-band; mmWave, or the high-band spectrum that could offer peak speeds up to 10Gbps and has very low latency. The major drawback of high-band is that it has low coverage area and building penetration is poor. Expert opinion maintains that 5G could replace other forms of wireless communication like Wi-Fi completely. 5G tops out at 10 gigabits per second (Gbps).

YouTube Video: How 5G will change your smartphone, and your life in 2019

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It is hard to ignore that advances in microprocessor design and shrinking micro-circuitry into smaller and smaller spaces has had a role in delivering mobile smartphone and affiliated devices into usage patterns of the early 21st century.

Moving forward into the future as more computing is handled from the cloud, new technologies could shape the mobile landscape in ways that are still hard to foretell:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning - We are seeing advancements in mobile AI most noticeably through Alexa, Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant. Also, mobile apps are now using software such as voice recognition to encourage hands-free use, and this is only the beginning.
  
  
• Internet of Things and Mobile-connected Smart Objects - A simple description of IoT is a communicating network of interconnected smart gadgets and savvy gadgets that have sensors, special circuits, and in-built software in them.
  
  
• Augmented Reality - Pokemon Go set off a craze that ushered in applied AR. Early use of Augmented Reality has been to modify graphic images. One of the best examples of this is the face filter options on Snapchat with Instagram experimenting with their own. A burgeoning market in AR, VR and MR apps would likely influence mobile hardware design and specification advancements.
  
  
• Mobile Wallet Apps - A rising popularity of Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, PayPal, Google Wallet, bank apps, etc., will facilitate purchases using mobile phones instead of debit or credit cards. Mobile ordering and payment through a Starbucks app allow a customer to place a drink order while some distance away and then walk in to pick the waiting order up.
  
  
• Biometrics Sophistication - Biometrics is used to enhance security for access to mobile devices and may include, fingerprint recognition, signature recognition, voice recognition, facial recognition.
  
  
• Wearable Technology Synched with Mobile Devices - Wearable technology may include, bracelets, smartwatches, healthcare monitors, and glasses which can be paired with mobile apps. A very early commercial entrant to this field has been the fitness industry offering apps where users can check their heart rates and how many miles they walked in a day, with social enhancements allowing them to compare their progress with their friends and make it a competition.
  
  
• Chatbots - Within an app screen, a chatbot can have a conversation with a customer using messenger apps to communicate with customers. Machine Learning and AI have created the field for chatbots to automate communication and create personalized customer experiences and assistance within apps. Chatbots have the ability to dig through huge amounts of data to pick out the best nugget for a customer, whether it is a troubleshooting solution or a recommendation for a new product to try.
  
  
• Enterprise Mobile Management - EMM embraces the future evolution and convergence of several mobile management, security, and support technologies considering a trend in which mobile applications have become an integral aspect of the digital ecosystem. The foundations of EMM are security, application management, financial management, mobile device management, mobile application management, application wrapping and containerization, and some elements of enterprise file synchronization and sharing

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