{"id":6108,"date":"2019-01-08T17:42:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T17:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/att-mocked-over-5g-phone-icon-update\/"},"modified":"2019-01-08T17:42:30","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T17:42:30","slug":"att-mocked-over-5g-phone-icon-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/att-mocked-over-5g-phone-icon-update\/","title":{"rendered":"AT&T mocked over 5G phone icon ‘update’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
<\/p>\n

\"T-MobileImage copyright<\/span>
\n T-Mobile<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>

Image caption<\/span>
\n
\n AT&T was mocked in a video showing a phone being “upgraded”
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mobile carrier AT&T has been criticised for making some Android phones appear to use 5G services, even though they are not widely available.<\/p>\n

A software update issued by AT&T means icons used to display a connection’s status will, in some situations, suggest a handset is on a 5G network.<\/p>\n

Instead of being true 5G, the phones are using add-ons to existing 4G technology that seek to boost speeds.<\/p>\n

AT&T said the move was “laying the foundation” for the move to 5G.<\/p>\n

Rival T-Mobile responded via Twitter with a video<\/a> showing someone putting a 9G sticker on their phone screen.<\/p>\n

The T-Mobile tweet mocked AT&T saying it “didn’t realise it was this easy, brb updating”.<\/p>\n

Verizon said it would not be following AT&T’s lead, reported The Verge.<\/a><\/p>\n

Messy upgrade<\/h2>\n

AT&T said it planned to introduce “standards-based” 5G widely in 2019, when more fully 5G-capable phones become available. Currently 5G services from AT&T are only available in six big US cities. <\/p>\n

On phones, true 5G will denoted by an icon displaying “5G+”.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the controversial update being rolled out now will use a “5GE” icon to denote that a device is actually using so-called “evolutionary” technologies for existing 4G networks.<\/p>\n

The 5GE technologies will be available in 400 towns and cities, said AT&T, and should provide a boost to browsing speeds at some times.<\/p>\n

A total of 17 Android models are affected by the update,<\/a> said Kevin Petersen, senior vice-president of device and network experiences, in a blog. One Samsung and two LG phones will be the first to see the update with other Android handsets following in the spring. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Image copyright<\/span>
\n Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>

Image caption<\/span>
\n
\n Phone owners would be “misled” by the change warned one journalist
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He said the icon change was part of its “path to 5G” and would help prepare people for the shift to the newer technology.<\/p>\n

Writing on the Ars Technica news site, Ron Amadeo called the change “ridiculous”<\/a> and said it could “mislead consumers”.<\/p>\n

Many other US networks using the same evolutionary add-ons for 4G have not changed the way they are represented on a phone display, said Mr Amadeo. Some carriers introduced the boost to 4G long before AT&T, he added. <\/p>\n

He cautioned Americans against being an early adopter of 5G saying the roll-out was becoming a “huge mess”. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n