Some of the biggest news in the mobile tech world came earlier this week with the announcement of the iPhone 6, apple's newest contribution to the smartphone industry. The iPhone 6, alongside it's bigger brother the 6 Plus, is touting several new features to make using the phone and its apps easier and more effective. One of the most notable features is that the iPhone 6 will feature support for voice calls made over both Wi-Fi and LTE networks, which is part of a rising trend within the smartphone industry that has been growing since 2006. Here are some of this week's top stories in the world of mobile technology, focusing on both the iPhone 6 as well as the rising trend of mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling.
The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus represent the next iteration in the long line of innovation for Apple. Even though “smartphones” existed as long ago as 1992 with IBM's Simon, 2007's iPhone popularized the concept and helped launch the smartphone industry as it exists today. Even though other devices have been able to make calls over Wi-Fi for years, the iPhone 6 could very likely do the same to VoIP calling as it did to the Smartphone market in general.
Of course, the release of the iPhone 6 means that many current users of earlier iPhone models will be looking to get rid of their old phones in exchange for the new ones. A recent survey from HYLA Mobile sought to find how consumers generally prefer making a trade-in, and found that most of them prefer going through their current carrier whenever possible. Those looking to get an iPhone 6 are thus likely to conduct their trade-ins through their current carriers instead of through Apple directly, giving mobile providers an opportunity to claim inexpensive older devices for resale.
The iPhone 6 is far from the only provider for calling through the Internet with Wi-Fi and LTE networks however, and the topic was quite popular at the CITA 2014 conference earlier this week. In addition to Apple, companies like Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T all brought up intentions to offer both HD digital voice quality and Voice over LTE (VoLTE) capabilities to their service plans.
Finally, the Broadcom Corporation announced the release of the new 5G Wi-Fi 2x2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) combo chip. Mobile device manufacturers can install this chip into their products to enable calls through Wi-Fi and even Bluetooth, making them stable competitors against today's broad selection of mobile VoIP-capable devices.
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