Consumer: I want 4G . . . whats 4G?

[Bateluer]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/07/4g-shocker-study-finds-consumers-want-what-they-fail-to-underst/

We've certainly seen our fair share of 4G devices in the Las Vegas sun (well, convention center) this year, but as you might have guessed, a recent study finds that increased awareness does not necessarily equal increased understanding. As the Nielsen Company recently discovered, the majority (54 percent) of consumers who know or care about 4G were relying on the old International Telecommunications Union definition of mobile data speeds over 100 Mb/s, even though carriers have sort of been making up their own rules (for instance, T-Mobile and AT&T are calling their HSPA+ networks 4G). And what to make of the large percentage of people who think that 4G somehow refers to the iPhone 4? That one's a perpetual head-scratcher. But in the end, the study finds that none of that really matters: almost three in ten consumers are gearing up to buy a 4G device within the next twelve months. And that's what really matters, right?

The shoddy marketing doesn't help the situation, when you have phones being released for 3G networks with '4G' monikers, or just a '4' in its name.

 

[Lifted]

The iPhone 4G is 3G, but the 4GS will be 4G? Or will the iPhone 5G be the first 4G?

 

[Bateluer]

The iPhone 4G is 3G, but the 4GS will be 4G? Or will the iPhone 5G be the first 4G?

Find out at MacWorld, end of January.

Samsung Infuse 4G, with no 4G. HTC Inspire 4G, with no 4G. iPhone 4, with no 4G. Sprint's WiMAX, Verizon's LTE, T-Mobile's HSPA+, none technically full 4G. Faster than 3G, not not at the threshold of 4G.

 

[vshah]

i want the one with the bigger gee bees!!!

 

[s44]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/07/4g-shocker-study-finds-consumers-want-what-they-fail-to-underst/
The shoddy marketing doesn't help the situation, when you have phones being released for 3G networks with '4G' monikers, or just a '4' in its name.

The iPhone is of course confusing, but now that T-Mo has won its fight with the standards folks (HSPA+ and the basic forms of LTE/WiMax we're getting now *are* "officially" 4G), they aren't doing anything shady.

Samsung Infuse 4G, with no 4G. HTC Inspire 4G, with no 4G. iPhone 4, with no 4G. Sprint's WiMAX, Verizon's LTE, T-Mobile's HSPA+, none technically full 4G. Faster than 3G, not not at the threshold of 4G.

Wrong, wrong, right, wrong, wrong, wrong.

edit -- link

 

[Bateluer]

The iPhone is of course confusing, but now that T-Mo has won its fight with the standards folks (HSPA+ and the basic forms of LTE/WiMax we're getting now *are* "officially" 4G), they aren't doing anything shady.

Wrong, wrong, right, wrong, wrong, wrong.

edit -- link

No. iPhone 4 had no 4G at all, no LTE, WiMAX, or HSPA+. You should know this. And they are still using shoddy marketing, money to the ITU to redefine '4G' is even more shady than just misleading advertising dude.

 

[s44]

No. iPhone 4 had no 4G at all

That's the one thing you were right about, yes.

As for lobbying -- give it up, the whole generation thing is about marketing anyway. (And fine, blame T-Mo, but AT&T waited until the change to brand their new stuff "4G".) As I said at the time, any standards group that thinks EDGE and HSPA+ are the same thing is as useful as a hole in the head.

Bottom line: AT&T and Verizon are right in their advertising, and were never wrong. T-Mo may have been wrong, but not in any useful sense, and are right now anyway.

 

[abaez]

That's the one thing you were right about, yes.

As for lobbying -- give it up, the whole generation thing is about marketing anyway. (And fine, blame T-Mo, but AT&T waited until the change to brand their new stuff "4G".) As I said at the time, any standards group that thinks EDGE and HSPA+ are the same thing is as useful as a hole in the head.

Bottom line: AT&T and Verizon are right in their advertising, and were never wrong. T-Mo may have been wrong, but not in any useful sense, and are right now anyway.

What change? You know that AT&T is moving towards calling their 3G 4G now? Notice they don't say "The Fastest 3G network anymore" ?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704405704576063912912052074.html

"As recently as September, AT&T executives had referred to the company's current network, which runs on a technology it calls HSPA-plus, as 3G. But AT&T has subtly shifted its marketing message since then, now proclaiming "the nation's fastest mobile broadband network" instead of the fastest 3G network.

The 4G network claim is already prominent on its consumer website and will be affixed to new phones being rolled out for its network this year.

The whole industry has come to equate more speed with 4G," said Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T's wireless unit. He says consumers generally won't notice the difference in speed between AT&T's HSPA-plus and upcoming LTE networks, so it makes sense to call both 4G.

So essentially, the iPhone 4G is on a 4G network according to AT&T marketing.

 

[s44]

So essentially, the iPhone 4G is on a 4G network according to AT&T marketing.

Only by broad implication -- note that AT&T has not referred to a 4G network yet. The actual "4G" tag is only (and correctly) being used for their upcoming HSPA+ devices.

Again, this is fallout from the mid-December T-Mo victory with ITU (see link in post #5) that got HSPA+/current LTE/current WiMax "officially" designated as "4G".

 

[zerocool84]

Complaining about the iPhone 4 not having 4G??? Seriously???? I didn't know generation numbers had to mean what generation of data it was using, not what generation of phone model it is.

 

[Axon]

I mean, I'm fairly sophisticated with tech stuff, and other than the DL/UL speeds I've read and the names of the network tech, I couldn't tell you what 4G is.

 

[Rayb]

I mean, I'm fairly sophisticated with tech stuff, and other than the DL/UL speeds I've read and the names of the network tech, I couldn't tell you what 4G is.

Look at it this way, once you get constant speed upwards of 10mbps on any mobile network at anytime then you have 4G.

 

[corkyg]

I just wish 3G were more available and reliable. 4th Generation is nice - but too many areas are still on 1XRTT.

 

[wirednuts]

instead of making their networks faster and less reliable, i would rather have them work on delivering sustained speeds that dont fade or dropout as youre driving.

theres only so many cell towers though, and itll be another decade or two before cullular internet is REALLY something to get excited about.