5G: More Than Just Speed

by Filed Under: Apps, Augmented Reality, Blog, computers, Douglas MacFaddin, Drones, Gadgets & Devices, Infrastructure Age, Internet, Tech Conferences, Tech Market, Wearable Technology

It all started with 2G, which allowed for mobile devices to connect to the Internet. Then came 3G, which allowed for faster data transfer and opened up the floodgates for many things we take for granted today, such as video streaming and video calling. And, expectedly, 4G increased data speeds, allowing for HD video streaming and game downloading, with some people even using it over their current Wi-Fi connection. And now, the mobile connection market is ready for a new and exciting generation. That’s where 5G comes in. But, it is more than just speed. Obviously, as has happened with all generational updates in mobile network connectivity, 5G will bring dramatically faster speeds, however, it will open up many more possibilities.

According to an article from Cnet, 5G was the talk of the town at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which ran from February 27th to March 2nd. People couldn’t get enough of it, and there’s quite a bit of hype around it. And for good reason. It has the potential to do far more than just make your YouTube video load faster. The technology can be utilized in everything from drone technology to self-driving cars, which is amazing timing considering these are also tech topics that are incredibly hot right now.

In one of the most astounding demonstrations of 5G’s possibilities, Ericcson, NeuroDigital Technologies and medical doctors from King’s College London teamed up to perform a remote surgery on a test dummy using 5G data connections. The doctors used a robotic arm, haptic feedback gloves and a VR headset in order to simulate an actual surgery. The surgery was possible through 5G’s lack of latency. Without any kind of delay, future medical professionals could provide life saving surgeries from across the globe in real time!

Self-driving cars can also benefit from 5G’s speed and lack of latency. The article mentions how, without a signal delay getting in the way, self-driving cars can speak to other cars on the roads in order to provide the safest possible driving experience. 5G can also allow for more precise control of drones while providing higher definition video feedback, and virtual reality can allow for VR users to speak in real time to each other. 5G’s speed transfer is so impressive that it could even totally replace home Wi-Fi connectivity.

As our world becomes increasingly more connected, we will need a data network that can handle and provide faster, more responsive connectivity. And it appears as if 5G will be that network. That is, of course, until 6G comes along.

Turkey Twitter Ban Angers Tech Savvy

by Filed Under: Blog, Internet

Demonstrators, members of Turkish Youth Union, shout anti-government slogans during a protest against Twitter ban, in AnkaraThe Prime Minister of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan has banned Twitter from his citizens to stop them from accusing him of being corrupt via the social networking site. However, the Turkish people are thriftier and tech savvy than Erdogan originally anticipated. In fact many Turks are so angry that Erdogan is limiting what they can access on the internet that those who knew nothing about things such as VPN or DNS are trying to learn more to get back at the government.

The reason that Erdogan is so threatened by the microblogging site that citizens have been exposing his corrupt dealings through audio tapes of his family and businessmen. These have been released on Twitter right before important elections for the country on Sunday. The Prime Minister has accused opponents of manipulating the audio to frame him and smear his campaign… and then he attempted to ban Twitter. As the government tries to shut down avenues of communication to those who oppose, tech savvy citizens continue to find new ways to communicate to large groups of people. The result of this cat and mouse game is a kind of censorship arms race, each trying to outsmart the other for their own means.

Frist citizens tried to change domain names to route their internet use to different servers and thus avoid the ban. When the government caught on citizens then tried VPN software hotspots and TOR software. It is important for Turkish citizens to continue to adapt and fight the ban by continuing to tweet and use YouTube. It is almost impossible to censor an entire nation and as long as they keep moving and adapting, Erdogan will never be able to stop his critics.

NSA Limits the Bright Future of the Internet

by Filed Under: Blog, Internet

Edward-SnowdenEdward Snowden made a digital appearance at the SXSW (South by Southwest) conference this week. He spoke on his familiar topic of the NSA mass surveillance system and how it is bringing the country to its knees. In this case he focused on how the NSA’s actions are affecting the future of the Internet and how they are “setting fire to the internet.” That may seem drastic, but Snowden believes that if people don’t feel secure with communicating through the Internet than they will limit how and what they say via the Internet. This is especially concerning when put in the context of financial and business dealings. If you don’t think that your communication is secure, you won’t do it and therefore will not conduct deals and that will eventually hurt the economy. When the Internet is compromised it hurts the future of how the technology may bloom.

This problem is beyond just the NSA. Since the ability is there, the Internet is not only fully available to the United States government, but also other countries around the world. The tools, methods, and activities are out there for other governments to copy. Additionally, the United States has set a precedent that this is okay to do to your citizens in the name of national security.

So how can the NSA undo its actions and renew trust in the safety of our Internet communication? Is there a future for the Internet or is this the beginning of a slow demise? The only answer the extremely pervasive surveillance that the NSA has thrown at us seems to be pervasive encryption. Corporations are making it harder for the NSA to view their content by boosting their security with encryption. The harder and more expensive it is for the NSA to mass surveil, the less likely they are to do it. Whatever you feel about Snowden’s decision to leak the NSA’s information, it has certainly changed the way we interact and how we feel about Internet communication. The public has been informed about their privacy and the true actions of their government. If the future of the Internet is going to bright again, it will come in a highly encrypted package.

When Do the Storms Arrive in the Saturated Cloud Hosting Space?

by Filed Under: Blog, Internet

The cloud hosting space is saturated with Fortune 100 companies looking to up their investment in what is already an overly-invested industry.  With the likes of Amazon (Web Services), Microsoft (Azure), HP and IBM (Softlayer) already providing cloud services, it means two things now that Google (Compute Engine) has jumped into the deep end of the pool: lower prices and a willingness to move downstream for customers.

Given the capital-intensive aspect of this business, what is the ROI of this business?  I would have stipulated that it is close to breakeven.  ProfitBricks, a German based provider of cloud hosting, produced the graph below highlighting the profit margin in cloud hosting. They report that the price erosion since 2006 has happened more slowly than technology efficiencies (as measured by Moore’s Law), resulting in profit margins staying the same or increasing depending on where you are in the hosting lifecycle.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the market leader in cloud hosting.  They approached the cloud hosting space with significant resources, a service that matched off with the consumer’s requirements, and extremely competitive pricing.  Netflix is their biggest customer (experiencing double-digit growth) and they rely on AWS because they can scale as Netflix grows; Amazon is constantly innovating; and the price is very competitive. And if it isn’t competitive today, it will be in two weeks time.  Ultimately, it was the pricing pressure vis-a-vis their competitors which allowed AWS to capture a significant portion of the cloud hosting market in a very short period of time.

After reviewing some of the technicals above, why would you fund a startup focused on cloud hosting?  Digital Ocean has the answer to that question.  They believe the small business and developer customers are underserved because a majority of the cloud hosting resources are focused on the enterprise customers.  They might be right, to a certain extent — today.  In the future,  the crowded cloud hosting enterprise market will ultimately force the big market makers to smaller markets so that they can generate revenues and maintain top-line earnings for their  shareholders.  It will be interesting to watch if the Digital Ocean bet has legs to stand on or will be washed away in the cloud hosting storm.