Innovation and technology have played a pivotal role in the evolution of people and societies since the beginning of time. This trend will be a constant into the future as well. The telecom industry dominated the last decade, where mobile communications revolutionised the way people connect with each other. Wireless access technologies have evolved from 2G to 3G and are now moving towards fourth generation (4G).
Today, the world is moving from an information society to a networked society, where the primary concern is not just having access to information, but the benefits one can derive out of it. It took 100 years to connect places and last 25 years to connect five billion people. The next step is connecting inanimate objects in a way that they enrich our lives.
We envision 50 billion connected devices as a starting point for new ways of innovating, collaborating and socialising. The result will be automated and simplified processes, higher productivity, real-time information allowing quicker, more informed decision making or problem solving.
New technologies introduced today, have the potential to transform the way we live, work, communicate and interact.
At the Mobile World Congress, an annual event held every year in Barcelona, Ericsson as a leading player, gave a sneak peek into the future of communication technologies, presented new concepts and promoted its vision of a Networked Society.
Ericsson showcased a host of innovative technologies, which have the potential to simplify the sustenance of human life. It demonstrated the concept of Capacitive Coupling, where a human body is used to connect two devices. It is based on the fact, that the human body is a conduit of electricity. The demo had a mobile phone equipped with a special sensor integrated with a similar sensor of any other device. When a user touches both sensors, various kinds of functions get activated and then the user can transfer photos to his computer, activate his sound system; even unlock the door at his house. Of course, the technology is still inside the lab but hints at the huge potential.
Ericsson also presented an extended partnership between smartphones and automation, by which the user can safely control the charging of an electric car, get real time updates for traffic, etc. The new architecture allows driver to control charging of cars while they are plugged into any ordinary power outlet. Additionally, the system directs energy costs to the car owners’ bill. The driver sets the time and amount to charge on a console in the car or remotely via a smartphone or tablet. The specially equipped Volvo Electric C30 was also on display at Ericsson’s Hall during MWC.
On new partnership and announcement front, Ericsson and Western Union joined forces to fast track mobile financial services; Ericsson partnered with MTN for M-wallet services, collaborated with Akamai for accelerating Telkomsel’s mobile content delivery and also signed managed services deal with Idea for Indian market. Ericsson and Polycom also announced Standards-Based, HD Visual Communications Solution. Ericsson also entered into an agreement to buy BelAir Networks to boost our Wi-Fi offerings.
Ericsson invests $5 billion every year in research and development to drive our technology leadership and our business strategy directly addresses the needs of networked society. Being a global change agent, Ericsson continues to participate in discussions with key stakeholders, government and social influencers around areas such as education, health, sustainability and innovative business models to encourage the empowerment of people, business and society.
