Loading...Technology is something that, for many people, they understand or they don’t. There is no happy medium unfortunately and while they can manage to work the thousands of television channels and maybe use a laptop to surf the Internet for a great cake recipe, they don’t understand all of the terminology.
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While you might think tech-talk is restricted to things such as HTML and SEO, you can be forgiven for overlooking cell phone-related terms. For instance, you might go online and search for a standard ‘T-Mobile cell phone’ which is fine if that’s what you’re after, but sometimes you might get a search result showing ‘T-Mobile 4G phones’ leaving you absolutely baffled.
If you’re sitting there thinking, “well it’s simple, it’s the weight – 4 grams”, you’re not alone, but unfortunately you’re not correct. The ‘4G’ part refers to ‘4th generation wireless internet connectivity.’
At present, the majority of cell phones around the world, especially those released in the last five years or so, have access to 3G, which you’re correctly thinking, is the predecessor and is being rolled out across the world in places such as the US and China. But what are the differences between 3G and 4G, and why would a 4G model be a better investment than a 3G cell?
3G was initially brought in to cater to the requirements of business users, people who travel around the country, or even the world, who need to stay in touch with the office, so phones such as the Blackberry were created, allowing them to send and receive emails on the move. However, just like all technologies, things are moving forward and the next generation is on the horizon, in the shape of 4G.
Now 3G speeds can reach up to 3 Megabits per second (Mbps), meaning that 3 million bits of data are being transferred each second, making it possible to download a 4-minute MP3 file in under a minute. 4G is expected to be even faster when it becomes more widespread in the coming years.
4G developments have been based around achieving “ultra-broadband” speeds, even managing to compete with – and beat – some household Internet speeds.
In summary, the 4G cell phones are an improved and enhanced version of previous generations, so if you have the opportunity to purchase the same cell phone at the same price, but one offers 3G and the other 4G, definitely go for the newer version as it offers a glimpse into the future of the mobile Internet.