OnePlus has teamed up with Qualcomm and British telecoms company EE to launch “5G Apps of Tomorrow,” a program intended to help software developers create new apps aimed at leveraging the next-generation power of 5G.
In a three-way panel at Mobile World Congress 2019, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau joined Qualcomm President Cristiano R. Amon and EE CEO Marc Allera to discuss the implications and applications of 5G, and how we can expect to see the technology develop over the next few years. In Lau’s estimations, 5G will go through three distinct stages of development.
The first stage — 5G 1.0 — will bring faster mobile internet that will lead to cloud data increasingly being treated in the same way as locally held data. The second stage — 5G 2.0 — will follow roughly 5 years later, when we’ll see an increase in A.I.-connected and A.I.-managed devices. Finally, 5G 3.0 will wrap it all up in around 10 years time, when interconnected devices will be common and your data will be available whenever you need it.
“With the well-established infrastructure and diverse smart devices in the market after 10 years, we’ll be embracing the era of 5G 3.0, where everything is smartly interconnected and a truly burdenless experience can be achieved”, Lau said. “The service will be there only when you need it, and be on standby out of your way when not needed.”
But OnePlus is worried manufacturers are focusing too much on hardware, and are neglecting the app experiences we’ll all need in a 5G future. That’s why OnePlus is launching the “5G Apps of Tomorrow,” which will challenges app developers to pitch ideas that will utilize the new 5G environment. The five winners will receive a trip to OnePlus’s Shenzhen, China, headquarters to discuss their idea with Pete Lau, a 5G OnePlus device, access to OnePlus’ 5G experts and EE’s test environment, and financial support for a year to help get the app off the ground.
It’s undoubtedly a huge opportunity for app developers, and if you want to pitch your idea, you can do so on OnePlus’s 5G page. Entries are open now and close on March 26. Winners will be evaluated by a panel from OnePlus, EE, and Qualcomm, and will also be subject to a community vote.
