LTE Direct - The Future of Short Range Communications
by Kyle Gilligan
On the horizon in the information age is a new technology
that will allow your phones and other devices to connect without towers or
internet from over 500 meters away. This new technology dubbed LTE Direct, will
allow users to communicate with other devices and with beacons that businesses
can use without ever going through a cell phone tower.
The developers of LTE Direct believe that one of the
greatest benefits to the technology will be an increased awareness of the
environment around you. For instance, an airport could communicate directly
with smartphones to display flight information. Another use could be the
ability to communicate completely off the grid with other people that are
within the 500-meter range. This could be appealing to people who are tired of
having every move they make tracked by advertising sites.
Check out this video that summarizes some of the key benefits of LTE Direct:
Despite some of the excitement, some people are already
criticizing this as just another way to advertise. There is also speculation
that this could make it easier for hackers to steal personal information.
Finally, there is the question of how private personal conversations would be.
In the app firechat, which uses the same concept through Bluetooth and WiFi(max
range of 70 meters), the conversations are viewable by everyone within range.
So I guess the question at this time is, are people willing
to sacrifice their privacy just for the sake of being off the grid?
To learn more about LTE Direct click here
To learn more about FireChat and how it is being used in the Hong Kong protests click here
I think this new tool is reall neat and helpful. Yes it's mostly advertising, but where do we go where we aren't being advertised to? Everywhere we go we have people shoving advertising down our throats. Driving down the highwa there are billboards, on facebook there are ads on the side, on tv commercials, everywhere. People and businesses are trying to sell their poducts to us. That's just life, I think this new tool will help us get advertising that is more relatable to us.
ReplyDelete