Samsung plots major phone upgrade that will give users faster data than iPhone

SAMSUNG has announced a new partnership to help it build a 6G wireless network that would give devices faster data than iPhones.

The Korean tech giant announced today that it has partnered with Princeton University, in the US, to bring the next-generation network to life.

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After joining Princeton’s corporate affiliates programme, Samsung will work with the University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science to figure out what 6G will look like for smartphone users.

Several commercial partners are also part of the programme, including Vodafone, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Nokia Bell Labs and MediaTek, are also working on 6G development.

The shared ownership of the technology means that it will be available on all phones.

However, some countries or phone companies may roll it out to users before others.

South Korea was the first country to offer 5G in March 2019, following the introduction of 4G in Norway in 2009.

But smartphone company’s began offering 5G to consumers more widely in 2020.

Once 5G was deployed, Samsung dove into 6G development, publishing a white paper on the prospective network in 2020.

Still, many people still use – and are satisfied with – 4G everyday, as 5G is only compatible with newer smartphones.

But the effort will turbo-charge the commercialisation of 6G nonetheless.

The next-generation network could be rolled out in by the end of the decade – if we look at the 10-year gap between 4G and 5G.

“The wireless industry has benefited significantly from fundamental research in the past few decades,” Dr. Charlie Zhang, Senior Vice President at Samsung Research America said.

“We encourage Princeton’s researchers to continue innovation and develop disruptive technologies that could bring major breakthroughs in 6G.”

What could 6G look like?

Analysis by Millie Turner, Technology & Science Reporter for The Sun.

It’s not yet clear what 6G will look like in practice – it will be a lot like 5G, just, better.

Some scientists believe 6G networks will offer maximum speeds of 1Tbps (terabit per second) – that is 100 times faster than the hypothetical top speed of 5G, at 10Gbps.

According to experts DigitalTrends, that’s enough to download 142 hours of Netflix in one second.

The final standards that will define what a 6G connection is will probably be down to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

But if generation of mobile data has brought something new, alongside faster speeds, then what is 6G’s unique selling point?

Well, experts at Surrey University in the UK reckon 6G could act as “teleportation for the senses” when smartphones are connected with smart wearable devices.

“With 2G, we could send ringtones, 3G we had pictures, 4G we had video, and in 5G we have virtual reality and augmented reality, which is 3D video,” Professor Rahim Tafazolli, director of the 6G Innovation Centre at Surrey University, told The Times.

“6G should be four-dimensional, with sensors that transmit people’s touch, sense of smell and taste, and all the ambient information around a person.”

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk