Telecom giant Samsung Electronics on Friday released the Galaxy S10 5G, the world´s first available smartphone with built-in fifth-generation communications, as South Korea seeks to build a lead in the transformative technology.
On Wednesday the South became the first country to launch nationwide 5G services, with three superfast networks going live offering data speeds that allow users to download entire movies in less than a second.
Hours later US giant Verizon began commercial services in Chicago and Minneapolis, after rival AT&T made a 5G-based system available to selected users in parts of 12 cities in December.
South Korea´s three mobile carriers — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — held launch events across Seoul for the Galaxy S10 5G, whose base version costs 1.39 million won ($1,200).
Interactive virtual-reality displays and robot demonstrations were on show to tout the capabilities of the latest iteration of mobile internet speed, and new users were excited about the possibilities, especially live streaming of sports games and university lectures.
“I watch a lot of videos often, movies and lectures,” said buyer Shim Ji-hye, 38. “I hope faster speeds will help me manage my time better.”
Another user said he was most excited about virtual reality content — which includes games and even “celebrity VR dating” apps according to the country´s mobile carriers.
With 5G, said researcher Lee Sang-yoon, VR content “can be enjoyed in real time with no delay… I´ll be able to enjoy it in better resolution and speed”.
By Friday afternoon, 15,000 buyers had subscribed to the LG UPlus 5G service, and more than 10,000 to KT´s offer, the carriers said.
Figures were not immediately available from SK Telecom, the market leader.
In24By7 
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