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MWC 2018 - Day 3

Chris_K
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Okay guys, it's the third and final day for me here at MWC. Today I visited the 4YFN (4 Years From Now) event which is a collection of hundreds of start-ups from around the world, and I then returned back to the main MWC venue to make sure I didn't miss anything from the previous 2 days. So... What did I see?


Quick-E - Portable & "Disposable" Power Banks

I spotted a UK start-up who were advertising and looking for investment in their power bank product. The general concept is they have a battery with their own custom PCB/electronics, all housed within an eco-friendly self address envelope.


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You buy one of these fromjust £1.99 (from shops, train stations, vending machines, universities etc), use it, and when it's out of juice you simply pop it in a postbox. That's it, job done. I love the concept and just how brutally simple these guys have made it. This is an ideal solution for those who want access to "power on the go", without having to actually carry a power bank around with them. Their standard Micro & Lightning one is available now, with their USB-C, QI & Laptop ones still in development.


LG Smart Fridge

So here's the deal when it comes to smart fridges... Do you need one? Absolutely not. Do you want one? Absolutely! I've no idea who first thought of the smart fridge, and why they seem to be so over-engineered, but I absolutely love them - especially the latest one from LG.

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It has Amazon Alexa built-in, it has a multitude of cameras allowing you to see the contents of your fridge without even opening the door, and you even have access to recipes right from the screen. Like I said, I don't need one, but I really really want one! 


"Full-screen" phones and the rise of 'cheaper' brands

This one is a bit of a double-whammy, but I visited the Xiaomi stand to check out their new Mix 2 and I was blown away by the quality and specs from a brand outside of what many would consider the 'top dogs' - Sony, Samsung, Apple, Huawei etc. And it's not just Xiaomi - there were many of these 'cheaper' brands at MWC and they all exhibited the same 'look what we can do at a fraction of the cost' sort of achievement.

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And this leads me onto my next point. What do you notice above? It's a near full-screen display. There's no 'notch', but there is a thin bezel at the bottom - and this is a massive trend with most new phones unveiled at MWC. Everyone is vying to get as little bezel and as much screen real-estate as possible, and some are more successful than others.

Vivo Apex (still on full-screen devices)
Unfortunately it appeared to be by invitation-only, but there is the "Vivo Apex" concept smartphone unveiled at MWC that has a completely full-screen, with half of it having a fingerprint scanner built-in to the display, and it still has a front-facing camera. Check out TechRadar's video review below (since they were one of the few lucky enough to get access to it!)



Meater - The smartest meat thermometer around
This was another really cool innovative product I found from a start-up at 4YFN. Their product was funded through a Kickstarter campaign which they've already started to deliver on, but actually seeing and feeling it in person, you can see how good quality their product is.

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Once you've inserted the thermometer into the meat and told the app what kind of meat it is, and how you like it cooked, the thermometer hooks up to your phone app wirelessly and feeds back info such as the current temperature and an estimate of how long is left. And if it's a steak for instance, it even considers 'carry over' cooking for a perfect result.

Future Tech - smart vision EQ fortwo car
There were cars everywhere at MWC - with "connected car" being the buzzword of the day, but what seemed to be catching most of the attention was the new 'smart vision EQ fortwo' from Mercedes/Daimler. It has no steering wheel, and takes its input from your voice or your mobile phone. It doesn't have headlights or tail-lights as such, just large LED displays which can even display messages. The interior lighting also adapts to the users preferences. It's a gorgeous little concept car... But would you get in a car that didn't have a steering wheel?

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Bonus #1 - Samsung S9 AR Emoji
I'm popping this one in as todays bonus because I spent a bit more time with them today and absolutely love it! The AR Emoji is so easy to setup - you just take a selfie and from there on, it animates to whatever facial expressions you pull. It even picked up on my wink! wink

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Bonus #2 -  Samsung S9 Super slow motion
The super slow motion feature is super cool too. It did take a few shots to get the coin in my example in focus, but when it did, the result was fantastic. I can see people having loads of fun with this feature - also available on the Sony Xperia XZ2.

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Cleoriff
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They showed a clip of this on the news this morning. They were looking at the gimmick with the S9 emoji feature. They didn't show anything else sadly...

Veritas Numquam Perit

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Anonymous
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stick yesterday’s mirror gadget on the front of the fridge with all the weather on etc and I’m sold. While I’m still able to open a fridge door I will! 

 

Disposable batteries? Now that can’t be eco friendly Surely???

 

full screen phones irritate me.. if you’re holding onto the phone then you’re not going to be seeing the whole screen anyway.

And no protective edge + drop = ££££

 

A talking thermometer - are we incapable of memorising the basics.. like how to cook.. (wo)man has been doing it for years!!!

 

NO!! Cars should have steering wheels.. and 3 pedals!!

 

emojis ... slow mo... meh

 

always good to see what’s on offer and / or maybe in the future but it’s turning us into oafs.. soon we won’t be doing anything for ourselves.. where’s the fun in that?

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liggerz87
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Rocking the Greece look John Travolta lol yep I know xiami however you spell them as I'm in a group related to tech it's called droids united yep it's about apple android any other tech really the wireless charge and dump battery pack seems cool

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MI5
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The disposable recyclable battery chargers are an awesome idea.
They will take off for sure.
I have no affiliation whatsoever with O2 or any subsidiary companies. Comments posted are entirely of my own opinion. This is not Customer Service so we are unable to help with account specific issues.

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viridis
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@Chris_Kwrote:

 

 - also available on the Sony Xperia XZ2.


ezgif-3-f860862450.gif


And XZS, XZ Premium, XZ1, XZ1 Compact..

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Chris_K
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Sorry @viridis, you're absolutely correct. I was only referring to the XZ2 in the same breath as MWC this year as it was all part of the same event. My apologies if it came across like I was saying it was only the S9 & XZ2 that had this functionality.


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viridis
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No worries,
Tell you what tho.. I do like Samsung's auto capture selection box. A lot of times it takes absolute exact reactions to get the best shot on Sony's, nice to see automation with the feature.
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