MWC Daily Round-up

[Chris_K]

Welcome to the official Mobile World Congress progress thread. Here I will post a daily round-up of the goings on at MWC each day at around 5pm-ish but I'll also add new posts throughought the day for anything interesting so we can have a chat about it.

Remember the round-ups below are just a selection of what we think are the best bits, so if there's nothing not mentioned, pop in a new reply and let's get talking about it.

MWC Day 1.
I know it feels like Day 2 thanks to yesterdays HTC & Samsung announcements but it is in fact the first day of the Mobile World Congress 2015.

Here's a quick round-up of the new tech/gizmos/gadgets to come from today’s events and announcements:

• LG unveils their 'Urbane' smartwatch which is powered by WebOS. It is quite possibly one of the classiest smartwatches ever made. Ohh, and it's LTE enabled!
• LG unveiled their 'Spirit' and 'Magna' mid-range smartphones, both with curved screens which LG believe is the future. Do you?
• Sony announce their new powerhouse Z4 Tablet - Check it all out here
• Microsoft have unveiled their Lumia 640 and 640 XL budget-oriented smartphones, with the XL having a bigger screen, bigger camera and bigger battery. Both will support Windows 10 when it arrives.
• Lenovo announced two new mobiles - The 'Vibe Shot' which looks almost camera-like in appearance, which is good given the amount of camera tech in it - It could give the S6 a run for its money! The second Lenovo device is the 'A7000', the world’s first smartphone to come with Dolby Atmos, the holy grail of surround sound. Very cool!
• SanDisk, well known media storage creator, has announced a whopping 200GB microSD card with transfer speeds of up to 90MB/sec. Is it too big or still not big enough?
• Huawei have taken the plunge into wearables, with one of their new offerings powered by Android Wear, and the first of its kind with a sapphire crystal glass face.
• Here's a brilliant video round-up of some Day 1 activity from our Business Blog:

MWC Day 2
Let's see if Day 2 can be as interesting and tech-filled as Day 1!

• Big news for Blackberry fans, they just announced a new 'slider' device with dual round-curved edges like the new S6 Edge!
• Pulling a double whammy, Blackberry also announced the 'Leap', a flagship level smartphone but with an entry level price point they say. It should also last a full day on a charge with heavy usage.
• Googles Project Ara continues to gain traction and news coverage with 3rd party module maker Yezz showing off prototype modules such as gaming controller and smart flip cover with full LCD display built-in
• Pebble announces a Steel version of their new Pebble Time smartwatch, currently seeking funding via Kickstarter
• Here's an odd one... AVG (the internet security folk) have invented 'Privacy Glasses'. Hate getting tagged into 100 facebook photos on a night out? Wear these - the infra-red lights and reflectors baffle the camera and your face doesn't get detected for tagging... They do look a bit odd though, don't you think?
• 
• Here's a brilliant video round-up of some Day 2 activity from our Business Blog:

MWC Day 3
The news and tech coming out of MWC appears to be slowing down but there's still some great little tid-bits to keep us smiling!

• Nokia (not Microsoft) have announced a new tablet dubbed the N1, and it's not powered by Windows either, nope... Android, it's back! Looking like the twin brother of an iPad mini, it has some great specs. It's only available in China, though Nokia say they may take it to other markets
• Tired of unlocking your mobile with a pin? ZTE's 'Grand S3' smartphone in China scans the blood vessels in your eye to verify you and unlock the handset. Could we see the tech more widely available in other mobiles?

And there you go. We're excited and hyped about the innovation on display and can't wait to see some of this tech in the flesh. We don't have any specifics on the new devices but if any of them catch your interest, make sure you register your interest here to be the first to know > https://www.o2.co.uk/getupdates

Any of the above news got you excited? Good, lets have a chat about it below 🙂

[jonsie]

Discussed here @Chris_K 

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Off-topic/Wireless-charging-furniture/m-p/855374/highlight/true#M49288

[Cleoriff]

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@jonsie wrote:

Discussed here @Chris_K 

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Off-topic/Wireless-charging-furniture/m-p/855374/highlight/true#M49288

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Just about to post the same @jonsie  As usual far too slow

@Bambino  was quick off the mark and posted this two days ago Chris...

[Chris_K]

I'm aging guys, I'm like... nearly 30, the ole' brain isn't as well oiled as it used to be when I was 28. Okay okay, beaten to the punch - I'll retreat gracefully. Hopefully with this being more of a general MWC thread, some may see it that didn't see the other thread 🙂

[Cleoriff]

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@Chris_K wrote:

I'm aging guys, I'm like... nearly 30, the ole' brain isn't as well oiled as it used to be when I was 28. Okay okay, beaten to the punch - I'll retreat gracefully. Hopefully with this being more of a general MWC thread, some may see it that didn't see the other thread 🙂

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Nearly 30?? Good grief.....You best go and have a lie down nearing that grand 'old age'

[Chris_K]

*looks around - Awesome, nobody has posted it yet!*

Blackberry pulled a shocker today - they just completely unexpectedly announced a new (and as yet, unnamed) smartphone. And yep, it's a slider - talk about a blast from the past! It also has curved sides much like the new Galaxy S6 Edge. Where all you Blackberry fans at?!

They have also announced their new Blackberry Leap smartphone, a device they say with the features of a flagship/hero device, but the price point of an entry level smartphone. They also note it should last all day on a charge even with heavy usage. A double-whammy for the Blackberry fans out there.

[Cleoriff]

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@Chris_K wrote:

*looks around - Awesome, nobody has posted it yet!*

Blackberry pulled a shocker today - they just completely unexpectedly announced a new (and as yet, unnamed) smartphone. And yep, it's a slider - talk about a blast from the past! It also has curved sides much like the new Galaxy S6 Edge. Where all you Blackberry fans at?!

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As it's Blackberry @Chris_K  the question is....Will O2 be stocking it? (Ducks and runs for cover):smileywink:

[jonsie]

I'm sure @aldaweb and @Anonymous will have some views on this...

[Chris_K]

There's also been some new revived attention towards Googles Project Ara smartphone concept, with module maker 'Yezz' showing off some of their prototype modules including a game controller and even one of the coolest 'smart covers' that you could ever get on a mobile.

What's amazing about Ara is the possibilities are literally endless - that front-facing 3MP camera not cutting the mustard? No bother, swap it out for a new 10MP module with front-facing flash. Don't need a rear-camera at all? Why not replace it with a miniature rear LCD panel to display battery, clock and notifications? I absolutely love the sound of Ara, it's the ultimate in phone customisation and personalisation where no two Ara's are likely to ever be the same.

Think there's a future for a modular smartphone?

[Anonymous]

The IKEA stuff seems quite interesting.  Charging points built right in the furniture is not exactly new, I've seen offices and workplaces with sockets on desks and under flaps on the floor, but making it socially acceptable in the home would be a good public service by Ikea.  Nice to see somebody doing something innovative for a change.

When I was designing my house abroad, I put a ton of plug sockets directly above a small shelf specially for charging phones and other stuff.  The next day, when I arrived all the builders already had their phones connected there, without even being told what it was meant for .

[Chris_K]

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Telephone_user wrote:

When I was designing my house abroad, I put a ton of plug sockets directly above a small shelf specially for charging phones and other stuff.  The next day, when I arrived all the builders already had their phones connected there, without even being told what it was meant for .

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Good foresight to make those additional/special touches. For most, their homes aren't the most tech friendly and it's difficult to covert them unless you have some DIY and electrical skills. Ikea have definitely found a gap that they can plug with their new wireless charging furniture (excuse the pun, though it was intended!).

I've got a brilliant desk at home - it's big (enough for 4 x ~24" monitors side-by-side) and solid but I've often considered getting a few holes cut to mount some USB charging hub's and a couple of standard 3-pin sockets, but then I remember than: 1) I'm completely hopeless with DIY & electrical work and 2) I would literally cry at cutting holes in my £400 desk. Yep, Ikea it is for me!