SEOUL • South Korea’s high-tech giant Samsung Electronics yesterday unveiled the world’s first fourth-generation (4G) mobile technology with a demonstration on a bus.

Samsung said the new technology, an upgraded version of existing wireless communications platforms, would enable users to download 100 MP3 music files in less than 3 seconds — even when the consumer is in motion.

Samsung held a demonstration on a bus travelling at speeds of up to 60kmph during a forum on the southern island of Jeju.

A live broadcast of the forum, VOD (video on demand) and internet access was shown simultaneously on the bus, allowing people to experience the stability and speed of 4G connectivity of 100Mbps (megabytes per second) data speed, the company said.

Compared with a wireless broadband called WiBro, 4G technologies will guarantee a faster and more seamless transmission of data and other multimedia content, it said.

WiBro, a third-generation (3G) communications tool, offers internet speeds of 2-3Mbps to a user who is moving at up to 120kmph. South Korea started commercial WiBro service in June.

With the 4G technology, people can view multi-channel high-definition TV broadcasting and control home appliances through mobile devices. “We hope to drive the development and standardisation of 4G mobile technology with this successful demonstration and to realise our dream of beginning the 4G era,” Samsung telecoms business president Lee Ki-Tae said.

Samsung plans to put the technology into commercial use by 2010 if the spectrums for 4G technology are decided next year.