我試過5G，它會改變你的生活

我試過5G，它會改變你的生活

Self-driving cars. Robotic surgeries. Toothbrushes that detect when you're sick.

自動駕駛汽車。機器人手術(shù)?？梢詸z測到你生病的牙刷。

This is the future 5G technology promises in less than a decade's time; internet connections so fast they'll support an entirely new way of life.

這是未來5G技術(shù)在不到十年的時間里的承諾;互聯(lián)網(wǎng)連接如此之快，它們將支持一種全新的生活方式。

But for now, I'm standing on an avenue in downtown Chicago waving my Samsung Galaxy 5G smartphone around to find coverage that's not blocked by the tree to my left.

但現(xiàn)在，我正站在芝加哥市中心的一條大街上，揮舞著我的三星Galaxy 5G智能手機，尋找沒有被我左邊那棵樹擋住的地方。

I finally take a few steps back from the lamppost, adorned by a hard-to-miss, clunky black antenna, and bam, my Netflix download begins: a complete download of a two-hour film in less than 10 seconds — in stark contrast to the seven-or-so minutes it'd typically take on 4G.

我終于從燈柱前退了幾步，燈柱上掛著一根很難找到的笨重的黑色天線。砰的一聲，我在Netflix上的下載開始了:不到10秒就下載完了一部兩小時的電影——與4G上通常需要7分鐘左右的時間形成鮮明對比。

This was my experience testing the newly launched Verizon 5G network in Chicago last month. When it worked, it really worked, often hitting over 1 gigabit per second in speed tests — an incredible feat for a piece of technology that fits in your pocket. 4G LTE in the United States averages about 35 megabits per second. 5G, the fifth generation of cellular network technology, is nearly 30 times faster — and about 10 times faster than the average American home broadband speed.

這是我上個月在芝加哥測試新推出的Verizon 5G網(wǎng)絡(luò)的經(jīng)驗。當它工作的時候，它真的工作了，在速度測試中經(jīng)常達到每秒1千兆比特——對于一個可以裝進你口袋的技術(shù)來說，這是一個不可思議的壯舉。美國的4G LTE平均每秒約35兆比特。5G是第五代移動網(wǎng)絡(luò)技術(shù)，速度快了近30倍，大約是美國家庭寬帶平均速度的10倍。

But 5G isn't just about speeds on smartphones. Other technologies will be made possible with its ability to handle much more bandwidth, allowing the data from sensors, thermostats, cars and robots to work together in real time.

但5G不僅僅是智能手機上的速度。憑借其處理更多帶寬的能力，其他技術(shù)也將成為可能，允許來自傳感器、恒溫器、汽車和機器人··的數(shù)據(jù)實時地一起工作。

Think of it like this: If 3G is a two-lane highway and 4G is six lanes, 5G will turn it into 12 lanes. It'll handle significantly more traffic and bandwidth with zero latency.

可以這樣想:如果3G是一條雙車道公路，而4G是6車道，那么5G將把它變成12車道。它將零延遲處理更多的流量和帶寬。

Mobile carriers are pouring billions of dollars into 5G. The new networks and associated technologies are expected to add $17 trillion to the global GDP by 2035, according to ABI Research. But there will be a significant lag between 5G's rollout and that financial impact. It's not dissimilar to the 3G iPhone — an impressive piece of standalone technology that didn't make a big economic impact until a year later with the arrival of the App Store.

移動運營商正在向5G投入數(shù)十億美元。ABI Research預(yù)計，到2035年，新網(wǎng)絡(luò)和相關(guān)技術(shù)將為全球GDP增加17萬億美元。但5G的推出和其財務(wù)影響之間將存在顯著滯后。它與3G版iPhone沒有什么不同——這是一項令人印象深刻的獨立技術(shù)，直到一年后應(yīng)用商店的出現(xiàn)才對經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)生了重大影響。

We've maxed out the 4G capabilities of what our phones can do, but 5G could offer a doorway into what's next. However, carriers have a long way to go before they deliver on that promise.

我們已經(jīng)最大限度地發(fā)揮了手機的4G功能，但5G可以為我們打開通往未來的大門。然而，運營商要兌現(xiàn)這一承諾還有很長的路要走。

My 5G network tests, often performed via the Speedtest app, were inconsistent. If I turned a street corner on Verizon, 5G went out of range — a major drawback to the high-frequency spectrum approach being adopted by some carriers. That technology delivers lightning-fast speeds but doesn't cover wide areas, penetrate indoors and can be blocked by rain or, in my case, leaves.

我的5G網(wǎng)絡(luò)測試通常是通過Speedtest應(yīng)用程序進行的，結(jié)果不一致。如果我在Verizon上轉(zhuǎn)過街角，5G就超出了范圍——這是一些運營商采用高頻頻譜方式的一個主要缺陷。這項技術(shù)的速度快如閃電，但覆蓋面不廣，無法穿透室內(nèi)，而且可能被雨水或樹葉阻擋。