4G? Psh. Tell us when a software update transforms our phones into 5G devices: Then we'll be excited.
Yes, you read that right. A Tuesday software update released by Apple bumped all iOS devices up to version 5.1 of the operating system. And users of iPhone 4S smartphones on AT&T's network might have been a bit surprised to see the traditional "3G" icon in the device's upper-left corner magically replaced by a brand-new "4G" icon.
In other words, Apple has finally patented a method for upgrading the hardware of one's device over the airwaves.
We kid. In actuality, the update relates to the controversial way that AT&T defines its mobile networking. In AT&T land, the company considers its HSPA+ network ? a speedy upgrade to AT&T's HSPA-based "3G" network ? a "4G" network.
Much has been written about how AT&T's playing a "marketing game" with the 4G terminology, but is it really the carrier's fault that it brands non-LTE devices as "4G?" Should potential smartphone purchasers grab the torches and pitchforks at AT&T's suggestion that HSPA+ smartphones play in the same family ? and supposedly equal the speeds ? of their LTE counterparts?
Spoiler: All of the major U.S. carriers share a little blame.
When the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) released its first definition of "4G," the umbrella term included just two networking technologies: WiMax 2 and LTE-Advanced, representing two standards that could hit the ITU's "4G" speed requirements of 100 Mbps while mobile and 1 Gbps while stationary.
Technically, both HSPA+ networks and LTE networks were all still considered "3G" by the ITU, even these networks all represented a significant speed boost from carriers' previous "3G" networks ? often based on EDGE (often referred to as 2.75G), UMTS, or HSPA (3.5G).
So how did the carriers solve this dilemma? They ignored the ITU standards and just started branding their new networks as "4G." All it took was one domino to fall, for which carrier wanted to be the one that stuck to correct terminology of a "3G" network in the face of a competitor waving a big flag with "4G" emblazoned on the side? Exactly.
Even the ITU ended up bending the knee to carriers' misuse of "4G" as previously defined, as it eventually expanded the "4G" definition to include LTE, WiMAX, and HSPA+.
"As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as '4G,' although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed," said the ITU in a statement.
In other words, your AT&T iPhone 4S now says 4G because that's exactly what it is: an HSPA+ device that runs on a "4G" network, even though the network is technically AT&T's 3G network, not the company's separate 4G LTE network.
Confused? You're in good hands. Even Apple itself is having trouble with the marketing-speak: The company says that its new iPad, "works on GSM/UMTS worldwide network technologies including HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA ? the fastest 3G networks out there."
For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).
Source: http://feeds.ziffdavis.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/breakingnews/~3/kFH9yT0kgtE/0,2817,2401422,00.asp
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