54 February 2016 www.bahrainthismonth.com and widespread e-services including e-government, e-education, e-health, advanced e-business and e-banking. Menatelecom, a broadband service provider, will no doubt be keen to explore this facility if its track record of providing the latest communication services to customers is anything to go by. The company recently launched packages offering more GBs than ever before. Customers will receive free wireless devices with any new Mena Home or MyFi 4G LTE package and free downloads from 12am-12pm at full speed. Customers can now enjoy more downloads whether surfing the net, downloading large files or watching YouTube videos. In addition, they can now get multiple free devices and share their Internet usage with friends and families when subscribing to special packages. In a dynamic industry like telecom, the pace of change is fast, which means providers are constantly on their toes in order to meet customers’ emerging requirements. So, what does 2016 hold? To start with, wearables are set to continue growing in popularity in Bahrain and across the GCC. Apple helped make people comfortable with the idea of wearing tiny data-collecting computer screens on their bodies with Apple Watch and, this year, expect more players to hop on this trend, and expect newer devices to be more capable. Running out of battery life when you need it most is a situation most people dread and has led to the production of portable chargers, car chargers and, in some instances, even solar powered covers. New technologies – some of were showcased at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) – are enabling phones to charge through wavelengths. At CES, Ossia Inc. and Japanese telecom company KDDI Corp showcased a product, called Cota, which will automatically recharge mobile phones at a distance, similar to how Wi-Fi transmitters deliver data from routers to devices. It serves as a central hub, sort of like a wireless router, that pushes out targeted energy through wavelengths to charge devices without having to plug them in or place them on a pad. You may have heard rumblings of 5G and, this year, you’re going to hear a lot more about it. It’s the next generation of Wi-Fi technology and it promises to make a 4G LTE connection feel like you’re moving at a snail’s pace. It will allegedly allow users to download movies in a matter of seconds, however, unfortunately, full deployment of 5G isn’t expected until 2020. Emerging tech, such as virtual reality (VR), could stand to benefit from the technology as well. VR was among the top trends identified at CES, an event showcases more than 3,600 exhibiting companies, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more. At the show, it was estimated that by 2025, the market for VR content would be USD5.4 billion with the hardware component set to be worth USD62 billion, according to the Piper Jaffray investment bank. This untapped potential is likely to unleash a wave of applications that would have been unimaginable before the arrival of this relatively nascent technology. The software aspect of VR has created an ecosystem of companies that are developing virtual environments, creating and adapting content that previously only existed in two dimensions. Garnering significant interest and attention from the movie and gaming industry, VR devices are beginning to enable mass adoption of new forms of storytelling and content; elevating liveevent experiences such as concerts, letting people indulge in adventure sports without the risks and enjoying international retail and commercial purchases from the comfort of their own homes. This is, in turn, set to have an exponential effect on how products are marketed and advertised. Home networking, which has come along leaps and bounds in recent years, is another trend that is expected to continue in 2016. The dream of having the ultimate connected home is within reach thanks to a number of new gadgets fresh on the tech market. Sonos has long dominated the world of multiroom music streaming, enabling you to wirelessly control your music with an app and send it to anywhere in your house. It can be expensive but is easy to set-up and boasts a range of high-quality speakers suitable for different-sized rooms. So you can pump out big sounds in the living room with a Sonos Play 5, and background music in the kitchen with a Sonos Play 1. With so many different companies making connected-home devices you can end up using a multitude of different apps to control them all. Luckily, there is a way to make the process simpler; it’s called Samsung SmartThings. Users can link different smart devices to the SmartThings hub, enabling them to control of all of them at once. One thing is certain, 2016 is going to be an exciting year for technology, telecoms and their customers alike. telecomreview
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