HTC has announced a new 5G Hub, which will act as a mobile hotspot for up to 20 people, while enabling 4K video streaming and low-latency gaming experiences.
Designed for home or office use, the HTC Home Hub features a 5-inch touchscreen and offers its own long-lasting A 7,660 mAh battery for use on the go, while away from power and Wi-Fi connectivity.
As a home media centre, HTC says the plug-and-play device could actually replace a Wi-Fi router, by going directly to the 5G network for online games played at 60fps, and 4K resolution.
Related: MWC 2019
The company says the device will eventually connect to the Vive Focus virtual reality headset to access cloud experiences without the need for a PC and wires. HTC promises a “mobile, high-end VR experience in real time.”
For small businesses, HTC says its Hub will be able to connect up to 20 devices on an encrypted network or a corporate VPN. Running Android Pie, the Hub contains the 5G and Wi-Fi capabilities offered by the Snapdragon 855 system on a chip, which features the X50 5G modem. There’s also voice controls on board.
“HTC is proud to bring to market the world’s first 5G mobile smart hub,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC. “5G will be the game-changer for VR and AR, and the new HTC 5G Hub will seamlessly deliver the great bandwidth of 5G to our devices, driving our vision of Vive Reality—a boundless, immersive environment where human experiences will come to the forefront.”
Related: 5G phones
HTC has enlisted a number of global partners for the device, with Three in the UK planning to sell the device from second quarter of 2019. There’s no word yet on the price.
Three CEO Dave Dyson said: “HTC has a tradition of leading the way with new technologies. 5G is going to bring unimaginable possibilities to connect people to people, people to things and things to things. As a connectivity provider we are at the heart of all of it and bringing this 5G hub to the UK, will enable our customers to make the most of our leading 5G network alongside all the capabilities of this innovative device.”
HTC is previewing the 5G Hub at MWC 2019 this week. We’ll be sure to pop along to take a look.
Is this the future of the 5G powered home media centre? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
