Indulge me in a few hypotheticals. Ever felt like attending a business meeting in Second Life on your mobile phone? But you’re in the midst of downloading a huge video file of your niece’s Quincea√±era…and did I mention that that you’re relaxing at a vineyard in South Africa with a phone registered to a Taiwanese carrier?¬† Plus you need to do all this within the parameters of your regular monthly service bill ‚Äì no roaming fees, no data fees, none‚Ķ
This is the just-over-the-horizon world of 4G, or fourth-generation telephony,
4G is expected to offer extremely fast broadband capacity with peak speeds reaching 1000 times faster than DSL, continuous connectivity, extraordinary reliability and quality with significantly less “delay” to support real-time services,  These capabilities will enable the support of multiple”channels” of high-definition video simultaneously, in concert with a variety of other applications.  As importantly, 4G is anticipated to offer unprecedented capabilities for personalization of services, coupled with support for virtually any communications device.  In aggregate, these capabilities will deliver a communications experience very different from what is available today, and this contest is designed to tap the creativity and ingenuity of people around the world to visualize the kinds of services that may be available in the 4G future.
Tall order. And the best people in the world to make it happen are our clients at Alcatel-Lucent ‚Ķthe people behind, oh, the laser and the private branch exchange. In the spirit of user-generated-content, they’re actually seeking your help in designing the ultimate 4G gadget ‚Äì by imagining what 4G will do for you in the Xtreme Innovation contest.¬† Naturally, there are prizes. Check out Alcatel-Lucent Island which launches at 1 PM SLT today for contest details, and start dreaming‚Ķ.
