Some see it as science fiction, or, at best, high-tech pie in the sky in the current wireless climate. But industry planners and researchers are looking ahead to the day, perhaps in eight to 10 years, when fourth-generation (4G) technology begins to make its mark.
With rollouts of 2.5G and 3G just now starting to get traction, most experts remain subdued about 4G. For one thing, there is still no unified  blueprint governing what the next next generation of wireless technology will look like.
"Talking about 4G now is like talking about 3G back in 1992," Datacomm Research president Ira Brodsky told Wireless NewsFactor. "I don't think anyone has yet figured out what we really need 4G for."
Virtual Presence
However, experts do agree on some of the things that will be possible in a 4G wireless world. Ran Yan, vice president of wireless research for Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories, said services might include enhancements to existing global positioning system (GPS) technology.
In addition to locating individuals, a 4G version of GPS tech might be able to let people be virtually present in a variety of places.
"The idea is that you could become connected through your mobile device with other locations that you care about," Yan told Wireless NewsFactor. "For example, if you are away and someone rings the doorbell at your house, you could see who it is and decide if you want to respond in some way."
As bandwidth barriers fall, increasingly media-rich content should also flow seamlessly between devices, Yan said.
Media-Rich Apps
Media-oriented applications could be among the most likely to take hold in 4G, especially as data download speeds reach or exceed 100 megabits per second.
"For example, you could pretty quickly download a bunch of videos to your car before a trip so the children will have something to watch," Brodsky said.
On the enterprise side, 4G capabilities could allow remote users to access fully functioning business programs as if they were working at a desktop PC, making it unnecessary to "dumb down" software for use in mobile environments. Brodsky said the technology also is expected to make more robust applications available to wireless local area networks (WLANs) and to expand their reach.
Sci-Fi Realm?
Other 4G possibilities seem as remote from current market realities as science fiction. Still, the day may come when 4G enables the use of hologram-generating virtual reality programs that give users an artificial presence just about anywhere. (continued...)
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