Samsung Galaxy S8 Gigabit LTE Could Support Live 360-Degree Video Streaming, Instant Apps

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone is equipped with Qualcomm’s latest processor, the Snapdragon 835. Being the newest chip from the San Diego-headquartered company, the 835 is known to be the fastest processor today. It is also the reason why the Galaxy S7 successor will soon enough be capable of having Gigabit LTE-class speeds. But what does this upcoming mobile communications standard have to offer consumers?

Gigabit LTE is basically 4G LTE on steroids — not just the ordinary kind, but something that would make it nearly 18 times faster than its usual self. While it’s name suggests that it would allow data speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second, the reality would be different from this theoretical peak speed. However, it would still be significantly quicker, with speeds going as high as 300 megabits per second, according to CNET.

Having Gigabit LTE would open the doors to express data downloads. For reference, one could download a two-hour film in 15 seconds. This would also pave the way to users live streaming 360-degree videos for virtual reality. Not only that, the Galaxy S8 could also be one of if not the first phone to have support for Google’s instant apps, or the instant-loading mobile applications that the Mountain View giant is envisioning for the near future. These apps are expected to work like websites, so users won’t have to deal with installation and whatnot.

READ: The better one between Galaxy S8 vs LG G6

Another advantage of Gigabit LTE is having immediate access to the cloud. With its blazing speed, users can easily grab photos and videos from cloud services and instantly open them on the Galaxy S8. Qualcomm even said that with this data speed, the cloud would simply act as an extension of the smartphone. And this is absolutely not an exaggeration, for the connection speed would even be faster than a device reading a flash memory card.

The Galaxy S8’s Gigabit LTE is still not available at present, but it will soon be when mobile carriers also offer this kind of data speeds. After all, without carrier support, the smartphone’s full potential wouldn’t be realized. Thus far, T-Mobile is the most determined carrier to bring 1 Gbps connection to Samsung’s new flagship. It has even demonstrated how the new wireless communication standard would be like on the Galaxy S8. Check out the video below.

Digital Trends reports that the Galaxy S8 will not be the only phone to have 1 Gigabit LTE this year. Qualcomm is apparently bringing the Snapdragon 835 chipset to more Android devices soon. Furthermore, other carriers are likely to adopt the Gigabit LTE connection speed soon. Sprint has already started creating infrastructures for Gigabit LTE in 100 markets. Thus, it is expected to launch in the country’s major cities in the near future.

Verizon has also expressed that it is indeed going to offer Gigabit LTE in the future. As for the specifics of its vision, they are not available yet. Meanwhile, AT&T is already close to launching its own support for the super fast mobile data speed. In fact, it is already deploying 5G Evolution — it’s name for Gigabit LTE — in Austin and Indianapolis in the coming months.