Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced its first 5G modem, the Snapdragon X50, during a 4G/5G Summit in Hongkong.

It’s designed for wireless mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets and boasts up to 5 Gigabit per second download speeds! However, its range is very limited and can’t even penetrate walls. Hence, additional techniques such as adaptive beam forming and tracking as well as seamless integration with Gigabit class 4G LTE are needed.

Qualcomm will begin deploying the Snapdragon X50 5G modem in consumer devices by the end of 2017. Its shortcomings will also be addressed with additional new techniques.

When properly implemented, 5G is set to replace fiber-to-the-home installations and power the next generation of mobile devices.

Are you excited with this new technology? Imagine what you can do with 5 Gigabit of internet speed! Hopefully, our local internet service providers can implement this when 5G smartphones become the norm.

Qualcomm via AnandTech