Cross-country 5G video calls with augmented reality shown to work

Source: Singtel. An Optus engineer at Optus’ live 5G site in Sydney, Australia uses a OPPO 5G test device during a 5G AR video call to Singtel engineers in Singapore.

Singtel, Optus and Ericsson have shown the shape of things to come after completing a successful end-to-end 5G video call with augmented reality (AR) between Singapore and Australia.

Made with OPPO 5G test devices equipped with Qualcomm 5G modems on 5G networks in both countries, this call shows that AR can be successfully used on a real-time 5G video call using Ericsson’s networks. Engineers made instant on-screen annotations to exchange views on their respective live 5G sites.

 AR provides users with a more inclusive form of communication, opening up new possibilities for enterprises, ranging from mobile collaboration between experts in different locations, on-the-job training to remote assistance. Examples of consumer use cases will include immersive gaming, virtual tactile shopping and holographic calls.

Allen Lew, CEO, Optus said, “Once again Optus has proven our 5G agility, working collaboratively with our colleagues in Singapore to successfully land a ground-breaking 5G inter-country AR video call. Just last month we achieved another first, with the launch of our plans for our 5G Home Broadband product for Australian consumers and today’s announcement is another step in our commitment to lead 5G delivery in Australia.”

Mark Chong, Group CTO, Singtel, said: “This call is a significant marker in our journey to 5G as we develop a robust 5G ecosystem to ensure that our enterprise and consumer customers will enjoy an enhanced connectivity experience. 5G is a key enabler that will bring the future of AR, autonomous vehicles and smart cities closer to reality.”

Martin Wiktorin, Country Head, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, Ericsson added: "The success of this video call using 5G test devices and AR in a multiparty environment, brings us a step closer to having our mobile broadband experience transformed with a mere click. With the establishment of 5G connectivity on smartphones soon becoming a reality, consumers and enterprises will be able to unleash the full potential of 5G by integrating this new technology into their daily lives and operations.”

Peter Huang, President of OPPO APAC added: “Once again, OPPO has pushed the boundaries of what is possible in a smartphone. The call is another 5G first for OPPO, and demonstrates our commitment to become one of, if not the first manufacturer to commercialise a 5G smartphone.”

According to Ericsson’s Towards a 5G consumer future – Consumer and Industry Insight report 2018, the idea of 5G services appeals to 76% of smartphone users consulted for the survey. In fact, over one-third of users expect 5G to offer capabilities beyond speed and network coverage. This refers to improvements such as better battery life for devices, reliability, guaranteed quality of service as well as the ability to extend connectivity beyond devices to include the Internet of Things (IoT).

Ericsson releases its 10 hot consumer trends for 2019

Source: Ericsson website. Infographic of the 10 hot consumer trends for 2019.

· Consumers expect smart speakers to take part in family arguments, just like other family members

· Virtual assistant users think devices that understand our moods will be mainstream in three years

· Augmented reality and virtual reality (AR and VR) users want hands-on virtual guidance for tasks such as cooking or making repairs

Ericsson has released the 8th edition of its ConsumerLab trend report, 10 Hot Consumer Trends 2019, representing predictions of 34 million early technology adopters.

The latest edition of the annual report evaluates consumer thoughts and predictions on near-future technology including artificial intelligence (AI), VR, 5G and automation. The report reveals that autonomous and mood-predictive technology could soon play a bigger role in people’s everyday lives.

Dr Michael Björn, Head of Research Agenda at Ericsson Consumer & IndustryLab, and main author of the report, says: “Imagine a smartphone that not only knows what you do but also knows who you are. Today, AI can understand your personality just by looking into your eyes. It’s clear that technology adopters see a future where our devices know us better than we know them.”

The 10 hot consumer trends for 2019 and beyond are:

Awareables

More than six in 10 virtual assistant users think devices that understand our moods will be mainstream in three years.

Smart quarrels

Over 65% of virtual assistant users think smart speakers will argue like family members in three years.

Spying apps

Over 45% of consumers think apps collect data about them even when they are not using the app.

Enforced agreement

Always having to accept data collection cookies annoys 51% of consumers.

Internet of skills

More than 50% of AR or VR users want apps, glasses and gloves that give virtual guidance for practical, everyday tasks such as cooking or carrying out repairs.

Zero-touch consumption

Around half of virtual assistant users want automated bills and subscriptions, as well as self-restocking household supplies.

Mental obesity

A third (31%) of consumers soon expect to go to ‘mind gyms’ to practice thinking, as everyday decision-making becomes increasingly automated.

Eco Me

Nearly four in 10 (39%) of consumers want an ecowatch that measures their carbon footprint.

Digital twins

Nearly half (48%) of AR or VR users want online avatars that mimic them exactly, so they can be in two places at once.

5G automates society

Around 20% of smartphone users believe 5G will better connect IoT devices, such as household appliances and utility meters.

On whether we should see this near-future technology as a threat or an opportunity, Dr Pernilla Jonsson, Head of Consumer & IndustryLab at Ericsson says: “We have already entered the age when humans and intelligent machines are interacting and working together. So far, we’ve only taken small steps into the future. Most of the zero-touch future is yet to be developed – and how we create that future is still in our hands.”

Details:

Watch the video

*The insights in the report are based on Ericsson ConsumerLab’s global research activities over more than 23 years, and primarily draw on data from an online survey conducted during October 2018 of advanced Internet users in 10 influential cities across the world.

Internet of Things to overtake mobile phones by 2018: Ericsson

• Sixteen billion connected devices forecast to join the Internet of Things (IoT) by the end of 2021
• Smartphone subscriptions to surpass those for basic phones in Q3 this year
• Teenage use of cellular data for smartphone video grew 127% in 15 months

The latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report* reveals that the Internet of Things (IoT) is set to overtake mobile phones as the largest connected device category by 2018.

Between 2015 and 2021, the number of IoT connected devices is expected to grow 23% annually, of which cellular IoT is forecast to have the highest growth rate. Of the 28 billion total devices that will be connected by 2021, close to 16 billion will be IoT devices.

Rima Qureshi, Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, Ericsson, says: “IoT is now accelerating as device costs fall and innovative applications emerge. From 2020, commercial deployment of 5G networks will provide additional capabilities that are critical for IoT, such as network slicing and the capacity to connect exponentially more devices than is possible today.”

Source: Ericsson. New mobile subscriptions in India
equalled the number of new mobile subscriptions in
Asia Pacific excluding China and India. China rated
a negative number after China Unicom removed
inactive subscriptions.

Smartphone subscriptions continue to increase and are forecast to surpass those for basic phones in Q3 this year. By 2021, smartphone subscriptions will almost double from 3.4 billion to 6.3 billion. Also revealed in the report, there are now 5 billion mobile subscribers – unique users – in the world today.

Detailed in the report is a dramatic shift in teen viewing habits: use of cellular data for smartphone video grew 127% in just 15 months (2014 to 2015). Over a period of four years (2011 to 2015) there has been a 50% drop in the time teens spend watching TV/video on a TV screen, and in contrast an 85% increase in those viewing TV/video on a smartphone. This, and the fact that the upcoming generation of mobile users are the heaviest consumers of data for smartphone video streaming (Wi-Fi and cellular combined), makes them the most important group for cellular operators to monitor.

In 2016, a long anticipated milestone was reached: commercial LTE networks were measured supporting downlink peak data speeds of 1 Gbps. Devices that support 1 Gbps are expected in the second half of 2016, initially in markets such as Japan, US, South Korea and China, but rapidly spreading to other regions.

Mobile users will enjoy extremely fast time to content thanks to this enhanced technology, which will enable up to two thirds faster download speeds compared with the fastest technology available today.

Further highlights from the Ericsson Mobility Report include:

• Mobile broadband subscriptions will grow fourfold in the Middle East and Africa between 2015 and 2021; and mobile data traffic in India will grow fifteen times by 2021.
• Global mobile data traffic grew 60% between Q115 and Q116 due to rising numbers of smartphone subscriptions and increasing data consumption per subscriber. By the end of 2021, around 90% of mobile data traffic will be from smartphones.
• LTE subscriptions grew quickly during Q116: there were 150 million new subscriptions during the quarter, driven by demand for improved user experience and faster networks for a total of 1.2 billion worldwide.
• LTE peak data speeds of 1 Gbps are anticipated to be commercially available in 2016.
• 5G is expected to start more quickly than anticipated, but additional spectrum harmonisation is needed between countries planning early 5G deployment: This is in addition to the current process for WRC-19, which focuses on spectrum for commercial 5G deployments beyond 2020.

• Singapore leads Southeast Asia in both smartphone and mobile broadband subscriptions penetration, at more than 100% and more than 140% respectively.
• The Asia Pacific region is set to fuel growth with 1.7 billion new smartphone subscriptions recorded, exceeding the total combined subscriptions from the rest of the world.
• IoT to overtake mobile phones as the largest category of connected devices by 2018

The Ericsson Mobility Report also highlights Singapore and Asia Pacific’s leadership position in the adoption of smartphones, mobile broadband and IoT growth.

Singapore continues to lead in Southeast Asia in both smartphone and mobile broadband subscriptions population penetration, with more than 100% and more than 140% respectively, ahead of the Southeast Asia penetration levels of around 40% and around 60% respectively for 2015.

Source: Ericsson. India added the most number of
mobile subscriptions in the quarter, followed by
Indonesia and Myanmar.

Globally, mobile subscriptions are growing around 3% year-on-year and reached 7.4 billion in Q116. Indonesia and Myanmar are identified as among the key surge markets in Southeast Asia, with an additional 5 million subscribers in each country for Q116.

Across Asia Pacific smartphone subscriptions will reach 1.7 million by 2021. By the end of 2015, only Singapore had a smartphone subscription penetration above 100% percent in Southeast Asia. Singapore also has the top result overall in Southeast Asia for highest cell-edge downlink speed and lowest latency. By 2021, Singapore is expected to reach almost 130% smartphone subscription penetration.

This growth has, in turn, fuelled a huge demand for rich content from subscribers, with YouTube now the second most popular app in Singapore, behind WhatsApp, and the No. 1 app in Indonesia.

Before the smartphone revolution, most of the attention in mobile network operations was focused on managing voice coverage. Voice now constitutes less than 5% of mobile traffic. Users still expect good voice coverage, but they also expect a good user experience when they access the Internet through apps running on their smart devices.

The report also highlights the huge growth expected in IoT connected devices in Asia Pacific, which globally are expected to surpass mobile phone subscriptions by 2018. This will be driven by emerging applications and business models, and supported by falling device costs. Globally, IoT connected devices are expected to increase to close to 16 billion by 2021. Of this, Asia Pacific will be the region with the highest level of adoption, accounting for around five billion IoT connections.

IoT, which is a fundamental part of Singapore’s pioneering Smart Nation vision, will focus on two major segments - massive and critical connections. Massive IoT connections are characterised by high connection volumes, low cost, low energy requirements and small data traffic volumes - examples include smart buildings, transport logistics, smart meters and agriculture. Critical IoT connections are characterised by requirements for ultra-reliability and availability, with very low latency. These include traffic safety, autonomous cars, industrial applications, remote manufacturing and healthcare, including remote surgery.

Martin Wiktorin, Country Head for Singapore & Brunei, Ericsson, said: “This report highlights the exceptional growth of mobile broadband and smartphone technology in Singapore and across the region. It also demonstrates how IoT promises to change society in the next few years. A recent IDC study predicts that by 2019, we will see US$1.3 trillion worth of investment being poured into IoT technology globally which will empower the digital transformation of all our lives, accelerating our progress towards becoming a truly networked society."

Interested?

The Traffic Exploration Tool which accompanies the report can be used to create customised graphs and tables. The information can be filtered by region, subscription, technology, traffic and device type.

Download the Ericsson Mobility Report, Traffic Exploration Tool and regional reports for South East Asia & Oceania, North East Asia, North America and India

*The Ericsson Mobility Report is one of the leading analyses of mobile data traffic available, providing in-depth measurements from live networks spread around the globe. The report uses these measurements and analysis, together with internal forecasts and other relevant studies, to provide insights into current traffic and market trends in the networked society. The report defines a connected device as a physical object that has an IP stack enabling two-way communication over a network interface.

posted from Bloggeroid

Singapore, Australia offer the best speeds for mobile data

Source: Ericsson South East Asia and Oceania regional Ericsson Mobility Report.

Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country with mobile network connections fast enough to assure a smooth delivery of high-bandwidth applications – such as video streaming – to consumers on their mobile devices, says Ericsson.

Singapore is also the first and only country in the region to have smartphone subscription penetration of more than 100%, according to the latest edition of the Ericsson South East Asia and Oceania regional Ericsson Mobility Report*, published November 2015.

Singapore and Australia have reached the point where high definition video streaming can be delivered anywhere there is mobile network coverage** due to their leadership in deploying LTE and LTE-Advanced infrastructure. LTE adoption also helps increase app coverage for operators. Singapore has already reached 100% population coverage with LTE while Australia has reached 90%. By the end of 2015 LTE will represent around 40% of total mobile subscriptions in Australia and 50% in Singapore. In both countries, this number will have increased to around 80% by 2018.

”As societies become more connected, communications are increasingly app-centric and consequently, high expectations are placed on network performance,” says Nicholas Seow, President of Ericsson Singapore and Brunei. "This is significant as one of the most demanding apps in terms of performance – video streaming – will account for almost 70% of all global mobile data traffic by 2021. Different countries will face different app coverage challenges depending on the apps users are consuming.

"Singapore’s regional leadership in network performance has been clear for a few years now as evidenced in our latest reports. With nation-wide LTE-Advanced coverage and a growing ecosystem of compatible devices becoming available to Singaporeans, we can only expect this trend to continue.”

Source: Ericsson South East Asia and Oceania regional Ericsson
Mobility Report.

The report adds that:

• The amount of data used monthly by each active smartphone will increase substantially from an average of 1.2 GB in 2015 to approximately 9 GB by 2021.
• Population coverage for LTE will be more than 75% by 2021. 
• LTE/5G subscriptions are forecast to gain momentum and surpass 500 million by 2021, driven by 3G migration and new services like VoLTE (Voice over LTE).

Interested?

Download the report (PDF)

*This South East Asia and Oceania Report is a supplement to the global Ericsson Mobility Report, and shares the differences across the South East Asia and Oceania region, including smartphone uptake, mobile broadband plans, and network performance.

**Analysis performed by Ericsson based on Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence Data from Speedtest.net

Ericsson unveils consumer video consumption insights for Singapore

Need to know where to park your marketing dollars? The latest edition of the annual Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media Report* may have some clues. 

The study, now in its fifth year, covered 1,000 respondents in Singapore for the first time. The report shows that 80% of Singaporeans stream their TV/video content more than once a week, while 72% watch broadcast programmes on TV. In comparison, 75% of consumers around the world watch streamed content several times a week, compared to 77% who watch scheduled broadcast TV programmes several times a week.

“People do not watch TV any more, they watch content. They are relating to content categories and titles rather than to TV or access technologies. Today, almost any content category can be consumed on its own merits and most content categories are diverging from the traditional TV context,” says Afrizal Abdul Rahim, Head of ConsumerLab, Ericsson South East Asia & Oceania.

“Consumers expect to access content across all devices, turning the TV into just another screen. For example, in Singapore, 55% of consumers access the Internet on one or more of their TVs.”

More consumers are into binge watching, Abdul Rahim added. More than half (51%) want all of the episodes released at once so they can watch the story unfold at their preferred pace, versus 48% globally.

The findings have implications for service providers, Abdul Rahim said. “The landscape is changing rapidly, and business and delivery models will have to keep pace if they are to continue to deliver perceived value to consumers.”

Traditional TV broadcast content is also viewed differently, as consumers prefer to record it on the digital video recorder to watch later, at their convenience. In Singapore, the survey found that 19% percent of consumers record content from broadcast TV for viewing later, and 40% switch between screens while they watch content. An example of multiscreening, or place switching, they start watching on one device, pause the stream and resume watching it on another device. 

Screens may also be used simultaneously, such as when consumers watch TV and discuss the content with others, or find out more about the TV content online. More than half (51%) say they read email while watching TV/video content, while 41% use apps or browse the Internet while the TV is on.

As mentioned by 66% of respondents, YouTube is the most popular platform (for streaming and downloading) for on-demand TV and videos in Singapore, particularly if it is user-generated content as opposed to content from commercial entities. Content-wise, news is the most important for consumers (76%). 

Smartphones and tablets have become more popular for consuming content. Smartphone penetration rates are 80% for Singapore, ahead of Australia with 70% penetration, Abdul Rahim commented. The drivers for mobile viewing include better Internet connectivity, increased smartphone use, services enabling on-the-go viewing such as Netflix, the availability of relevant content, pause-and-resume capability and more mobile devices at home, he said. 

Each week, Singaporeans spend an average of 10 hours watching video content on their TV screens, compared to six hours per week on their desktop computer and seven hours per week on their laptop. They do the same with smartphones for five hours a week, and three hours per week on their tablets. 

The mobile devices see more use at home, with smartphone viewing taking up three hours at home, and two hours outside the home, such as at the office or while commuting. Tablets are used for viewing for two hours at home, and one hour away from home, Abdul Rahim shared. In fact, 25% of consumers watch video while commuting on a weekly basis.

Singaporeans revealed that they will view video content on a mobile device if the content is good, they have network connectivity that supports it, and they are using a smartphone. However, the content should have pause/resume capability for place switching, and services must support mobile viewing.

The place shifting phenomenon is driven by smartphones, says the study. Four in ten respondents from Singapore said they do this on a weekly basis against global figures of 36%. 

Barriers to adoption are very consistent with global findings, Abdul Rahim added. Cost of data as well as cost of content are two of the main barriers, while the mobile data connection might be too slow. 

A third of Singapore respondents say their mobile data connections are too slow stream video, despite the fact that Australia followed by Singapore have the highest network connections in Asia Pacific, noted Abdul Rahim. 

*All charts from the The Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media 2014 report.

*The Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media 2014 report is based on 23,000 online interviews conducted in May 2014 with broadband users in Brazil, Canada, Chile, mainland China, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, the UK and the US. Almost all respondents use the Internet on a daily basis. The results of this study represent the views of more than 620 million people.

This data was complemented with 22 in-depth interviews with consumers in San Francisco, London and Stockholm, as well as 11 interviews with media industry professionals.