News is buzzing this week over Apple and Qualcomm’s ongoing legal disputes, which came to an abrupt settlement on April 16th in court. For more than two years, the two tech titans have battled it out over Qualcomm’s no license, no chip policy, leaving Apple pretty irked (to say the least).
The saga shaped into a longstanding, epic legal battle, with Apple feeling slighted over having to pay licensing fees for the rights to use some of the core chip technology patented by Qualcomm. The settlement comes as a shock to most, only a few moments after an Apple attorney kicked off the trial with a Kentucky Fried Chicken analogy to explain how the telecommunications company went out abusing its market power.
Yet to everyone’s surprise, both parties took the higher road, set their fast-food differences aside, and came to a reconciliation just after opening remarks. CNBC reports that the terms of the agreement included a lofty payment of $6 billion dollars from Apple to Qualcomm, a six-year licensing agreement that can be extended by two years and a multiyear chipset supply agreement.
With the legal saga seemingly over, the settlement solidifies Qualcomm's position as a dominant player in 5G, a new generation of advanced wireless networks. It has also geared up much speculation around the rollout of 5G technology, and if it can come to fruition by 2020. The technology promises a new standard for network connection and telecommunications, allowing users to seamlessly browse the internet, upload or download files, and use data-intensive applications with much faster wireless connection and speed.
Throughout all the technologies that will benefit from this wide-scale adoption, perhaps none will have the most impact than augmented and virtual reality. Augmented reality (AR) has spearheaded a revolution in terms of what it means to market and sell a product by making the end-to-end experience much more interactive, tangible and life-like for customers. Virtual applications are seemingly limitless and are gaining momentum in mobile devices, connected vehicles and even smart tables.
Yet among these new technological advancements also comes a logistical roadblock to rising data demands, which can slow down wireless connections and create a disoriented, unstable visual environment to participants using AR technology. 5G networks will be able to provide the necessary bandwidth and low latency for these virtual experiences to feel seamless. The more easily an AR experience can be personalized to an individual customer, the more likely it will be successful.
Though much is still up in the air about 5G’s roll-out, Apple’s recent settlement has lit a fire under the race to widespread adoption. As long as these players continue to innovate and make big strides, the integration of 5G wireless systems will prove to be a new driving force for the development of immersive virtual customer experiences.
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