Though 4G is a ubiquitous topic of discussion at CES – referenced in keynotes by Intel and Microsoft as well as the “what’s cool?” conversations, there’s precious little in terms of product to either showcase or help define the product here at the show.  Sprint, which is the first and thus far only cell carrier to offer 4G in the US – though for data, not talk – appears to be the only company to launch a new 4G device here, and it’s pretty nifty.

The Sprint Overdrive allows you to create your own personal Wi-Fi hotspot on-the-go.  The tiny box draws down the 4G signal and disperses it through five USB ports – essentially a mobile router.  And Sprint claims the 4G speeds are up to 10x faster than 3G.

It has 15MB of onboard storage.  It also has GPS capabilities tied to a Google Maps.  “It’s great if companies want to get a camera on one of their trucks.  They can put a camera on it and track the location,” a Sprint rep suggested.  The device has 16 MB of onboard storage, three hours of battery life and 36 hours of standby.

Though 4G is currently limited to fewer than 15 US markets, Sprint expects to be in just under 100 markets by the end of the year, when phones should begin to hit the market.  And the 4G gear falls back to 3G when the higher bandwidth isn’t available.

Keeping up with consumer’s insatiable demand for content is the key challenge facing the mobile entertainment industry, said panelists on ETC’s final Thursday afternoon presentation.

“There isn’t a technology that can handle the growth we’re seeing today,” said Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices and resale at AT&T.  “We spent $17.5 billion on our network this year, and just keeping up with it we’re going to run out of bandwidth.  We need help from the FCC, and we’re pressing on that.  This is a worldwide issue.”

AT&T’s network experienced 6700% growth in data usage in the last 13 quarters, Lurie said.  “There’s no way we’re going to keep up with the demand.  The only way is to look for other alternative solutions instead of all wireless.”

Mobile digital TV is one solution to the bandwidth shortage.

“The network that can bring something like the SuperBowl to every mobile device is the the broadcast network,” said Anne Schelle, president of the Open Mobile Video Coalition.  “What’s missing today is access to live content on mobile devices, and that’s what local broadcasters do.”

She said live local programming is also what people, including millenials, want.  According to OMVC research, people value both live and on-demand content equally, but separately, with news leading as the preferred live content.

Ken Plotkin, CEO of Hauppauge Digital, agreed that mobile digital TV delivers valuable content without jamming the wireless networks.  “The key thing is to preserve bandwidth with broadcast TV,” he said.  “The trend in the future is location-aware TV services broadcast, and broadcast TV preserves bandwidth for people want to have on-demand video on their wireless.”

Of course, business models to pay for mobile entertainment are still developing.

Lurie said subscription models for voice have been evolving for years, from individual to family plans, but the models have not been fully figured out for data plans.  “Three years ago, data was a business tool, but now it’s an everybody tool.  We’re going to continue to innovate around data price offerings.”

He added part of the challenge in the U.S. is the availability of unlimited plans.  “Very few foreign countries have unlimited plans,” he said.  “They all have tiered plans, where you pay this much and you can use this much. The second you have unlimited plans, you have a whole new set of problems.”

“We all want more content and we want it now,” said Dan Dodge, CEO of QNX Software Systems.  “There are two challenges with this: the business model and the back-end infrastructure.  We have to figure out the back-end billing solution and make it easy for the consumer.”

Interactive digital signage that connects users to an expert via video-conferencing or acts as a purchase portal may be in the future, too.

“There’s a really broad interest level in this kind of digital signage right now, but no one has the answer,” said Roger Sanford, VP of media services at Mediatile.  “This could change everything.”

Mitch Singer, president of Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem and CTO at Sony Pictures Entertainment, said digital distribution will be most successful if it rolls out in a standardized process like the DVD.

“Imagine if you can standardize file format, multiple resolutions, and aggregate it in a single place regardless of how I bought it, and there’s an authentication service that knows who I am and what I’m entitled to, and then it magically appears in my Netflix queue,” he said.  “The moment we standardize that process, we’ve dramatically reduced costs on back-end infrastructure.”

Moderator Steve West of Alcatel Lucent asked the panel about connected cars, since in the US alone people spend an average of 500 million hours a week in cars.

“A car is the ultimate captive environment, but a challenge is that automakers have a cycle of innovation at odds with the current consumer,” said Dodge.  “People spend $50,000 on a car they’re going to own for 10 years and it has out-of-date technology… We’re looking for long-term solutions.  With your car, your media has to live in the cloud and you have to be able to buy it once and access it anywhere.”

Despite concerns about the dangers of distracted driving, Dodge sees some potential positive safety developments with connected cars.

“If your car slips a little on a wet road, that information should go into the car and out to the cloud and back down to the cars behind you, letting them know the road is a little slippery ahead,” he said.  “We talk about the connected car being a source of distraction, but maybe it’s a source of driver safety.  The network ties it all together.”

Looking forward, the panel predicted that tablets would take off, as the natural extension of the small smartphone screen.  However, “if you think the amount of info consumed now is a lot, wait until tablets go big,” said Plotkin.