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 🙂

[Chris_K]

Pebble, the guys that brought arguably the first successful smartwatch to the market, have announced they now have a 'Steel' version of their new 'Pebble Time' smartwatch that's currently on Kickstarter. They also announced smartstraps which will allow developers to add some smart to the strap... NFC, heart rate sensors, extra battery, and perhaps other possibilities.

[Anonymous]

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@Chris_K wrote:

Pebble, the guys that brought arguably the first successful smartwatch to the market, have announced they now have a 'Steel' version of their new 'Pebble Time' smartwatch that's currently on Kickstarter. They also announced smartstraps which will allow developers to add some smart to the strap... NFC, heart rate sensors, extra battery, and perhaps other possibilities.

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I did see mention of a geiger counter being one of the possibilities.  I assumed it was a joke at first, but then after the Fukashima Daiichi incident where some people started buying hand held meters to test food and things for radiation, I'm wondering if it might actually be true 

[Chris_K]

Here's a nice and quick recap over some of yesterdays action, including a pocket projector from Lenovo that weighs just 170g and projects images up to 110" in size. Pocket cinema, anyone?

http://businessblog.o2.co.uk/mwc-pocket-projectors-optional-laptops/

[Anonymous]

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@Chris_K wrote:

Here's a nice and quick recap over some of yesterdays action, including a pocket projector from Lenovo that weighs just 170g and projects images up to 110" in size. Pocket cinema, anyone?

http://businessblog.o2.co.uk/mwc-pocket-projectors-optional-laptops/

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The image will be really dark and murky if you take it right up to 110 inches from a small projector like that.

[Cleoriff]

Thanks for updating us @Chris_K ....you really have the most wonderful job....until close of MWC today

[Chris_K]

MWC is still on today, it's the last day, though I think I think it could be unlikely we'll see any new announcements or tech, and just some conferences. If I spot anything else coming out of the great halls though i'll be sure to add it here

Something I did spot though was a new smart wearable aimed at women. It's the Creior Harmony and is less of a smartwatch and more of a well-being tracker, tracking sleep patterns, light and activity. Only slight problem is it does seem pretty big... Think it could catch on?

[Chris_K]

What's been everyones thoughts on MWC this year? Were you expecting more, or are you disappointed that some tech/devices you were hoping for, didn't turn up? What's been your best bit about MWC?

[Cleoriff]

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@Chris_K wrote:

MWC is still on today, it's the last day, though I think I think it could be unlikely we'll see any new announcements or tech, and just some conferences. If I spot anything else coming out of the great halls though i'll be sure to add it here

Something I did spot though was a new smart wearable aimed at women. It's the Creior Harmony and is less of a smartwatch and more of a well-being tracker, tracking sleep patterns, light and activity. Only slight problem is it does seem pretty big... Think it could catch on?

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It may be just me @Chris_K  but I am never impressed with these 'well being' devices. Far too much could go wrong with them in my opinion and if people are changing lifestyle patterns to fit round this technology then its a poor reflection on the way we are going.

Problem is, does anyone wearing them know how to intepret the 'results'? If you sleep for 4, 6 or 8 hours what does that mean to you as an individual?

Same with the 'heart rate monitors'. Does anyone know why one would record 60 beats per minute....or 130 bpm?  What do you do with those sort of results??..... Sorry not for me...oh and rant over

[Chris_K]

So I'm sensing you're not a fan then, @Cleoriff ? Haha 😄

I'm with you on some of those points, particularly with the sleep monitoring - a sensitive gyroscope in a smart wearable is no match for clinical sleep monitoring tests, though a wearable is much easier to get and probably far cheaper too so it's more within reach, that's for sure.

I see valid points for activity monitors - if it has a heart rate monitor then it could be a great tool for athletes or those looking to kick their fitness up a notch. Heart rate monitoring would come in great for those doing interval training.

The sleep thing for me is more of a gimmick, though I do have a crazy sleep pattern so could just be they have no idea how to 'read me'

[viridis]

Health monitors are a fad.....
Until apple releases their watch then they will be a medical miracle unseen anywhere in existence before apple invented the patent on them.