SPEED DEMONS
Samsung banks on big screens, faster speeds with new Galaxy phones.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. unveiled two new bigscreen smartphones Thursday in New York City that will be available in Canada on Aug. 21 — just in time for the shopping rush before school.
The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, with a curved screen, is made for multimedia, whereas the Galaxy Note 5, with a pen for writing, is made for multitasking. Both models have 5.7-inch screens, support wireless charging and contain 4GB of random-access memory, the most Samsung says it has ever included in a phone.
“Bigger screens have gone from nice to have to must have, and the display, once called a gimmick, has now become the norm,” Justin Denison, head of mobile products at Samsung Electronics America, said at the launch event. “I might be biased, but I love this thing. Why? A larger screen lets me do more on my phone.”
The South Korean giant is counting on consumers to feel the same way. It needs to reverse a sales rut in its mobile unit, as a growing crop of low-cost Chinese manufacturers has crowded the entrylevel market, and Apple Inc.’s larger-screened iPhones have taken a bite out of the category Samsung pioneered.
In Canada, Apple is still the top dog. According to data compiled by Strategy Analytics, Samsung trailed the Cupertino, Calif.-based company in first-quarter smartphone shipments by 15 percentage points. Rogers Communications Inc., the largest wireless carrier in the country, said it recorded a 24-per-cent increase in the number of higher-value iPhone activations in its second quarter compared to the same period in 2014.
People are turning to their cellphones for more than making calls and texting. Device-makers and carriers have shifted their attention to satisfy insatiable demand for Internet data, especially to consume online videos. As ballooning mobile data revenues show, thirst for speed and capacity is rapidly growing. The question is: are people so hooked and impatient that they’re willing to keep paying more to get more.
In a February report, Ericsson estimated mobile device users in North America will consume six gigabytes per month in 2020, soaring from just 1.6 gigabytes in 2014. By 2020, 55 per cent of all mobile traffic will be from mobile video, as bigger screens, higher display resolutions and faster download times makes watching content more enjoyable. Video usage soars on phones connected to a 4G network as opposed to 3G or 2G.
To keep up, wireless carriers are introducing new network technologies, such as longterm evolution (LTE) and its successor, LTE Advanced. One implementation of this umbrella term is when multiple bands of cellular airwaves are stitched together as if they were just one, which is said to send data to users at higher speeds, as long as the network coverage is just as solid and the device is just as zippy.
With the two new Samsung smartphones and by adding more lanes for data to travel using LTE Advanced, Bell Mobility will be able to clock download speeds of up to 290 megabits per second, some 70 megabits per second more than the most it can do on LTE Advanced today. It is taking a piecemeal approach to the new speed class, rolling it out first in four regions: Halifax, Hamilton, Ont., Oakville, Ont., and Toronto.
“You’ll just notice that your speed is that much faster and your device is that much more responsive,” said Stephen Howe, chief technology officer at BCE Inc. He offers a trio of examples: YouTube videos will load faster. Search results come up quicker. Texting between friends will be instant. “You’ll have very, very fast speeds,” even though “the average person isn’t going to be a geek like me and check out speed tests.”
Bell will aggregate three bands of spectrum — PCS, AWS and 700 MHz — to achieve the top speed of 290 megabits per second, which has an expected average speed between 12 and 87 megabits per second. It says it is the first carrier in North America to introduce what’s known in the industry as tri-band LTE Advanced.
Bigger screens have gone from nice to have to must have