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MWC Daily Round-up

Chris_K
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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?
  • phpnmgrys.jpg
  • 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 🙂


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MI5
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So some manufacturers (like Samsung) are removing SD card support completely and SanDisk are making bigger SD cards..... something not right there ?!!
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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Anonymous
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@MI5 wrote:
So some manufacturers (like Samsung) are removing SD card support completely and SanDisk are making bigger SD cards..... something not right there ?!!

Is the removal SD cards a move by manufacturers and/or ISPs to "encourage" more people to take up more cloud storage, with consequent increase in income streams?  Is more internal storage is being provided to make up for the loss of SD card?  

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Bambino
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@MI5 wrote:
So some manufacturers (like Samsung) are removing SD card support completely and SanDisk are making bigger SD cards..... something not right there ?!!

I think Samsung removing SD card support is a mis-step. HTC tried it with the M7 and then reintroduced it in the M8. I think the next iteration of the S6 and S6 Edge will bring the SD card back if sales suffer because of the lack of SD card.

I DO NOT WORK FOR O2



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Chris_K
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There's an undeniable shift from physical to cloud storage and it's likely this will be an upward trend, but for some, physical storage is still crucial and though some devices don't support SD cards, some do. Its omission from the S6 may be due to it being a completely new design process for Samsung - it could see a return, the future will tell.

I don't think you should worry about a quantifiable shift from manufacturers removing SD card support - i'm sure you'll see many more Samsungs over the next year or two with SD support so physical storage cards will still be very much in demand, and for bigger and bigger capacities.

500GB microSD next year?


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viridis
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Will the M4 aqua be coming to O2 @Chris_K
For its place in the market it's a bit on the good side.
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Chris_K
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@viridis wrote:
Will the M4 aqua be coming to O2 @Chris_K
For its place in the market it's a bit on the good side.

Nothing on that one yet I'm afraid - it looks like Sony's keeping availability and pricing under wraps for the time being but if it comes our way I'll make sure to make a splash with the news 😉


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Anonymous
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I just love the way the industry goes round in circles.

 

Cloud storage, local storage, cloud storage again.

 

Sd slot, no sd slot, sd slot again.

 

For those younger members, the "cloud" is nothing new.  It's just that 20 years ago it was called thin client computing.  Right now a new generation is learning the wonders of it all under the new name "cloud computing", and assuming that it's the shape of things to come.  In five or ten years it'll be old hat again.

 

As for manufacturers including removable storage on their phones, they would all love to ditch it and just put a decent amount of flash directly in the handset.  Why?  Because all the time there is an SD slot there, they have to put up with people buying cheapo rubbish SD cards and moaning when they don't work propperly for recording HD video and the rest of it, generating support calls and bad press when it's nothing to do with the handset.

 

On the other hand, the customer loves having a slot to shove extra memory in, because it's useful and a cheap way to upgrade.

 

Me, I have the best of both worlds, because I have my own little mini-cloud, (cloudette Smiley Very Happy), at home that I can send stuff to and from with ease from my note 3 Bouncy.

 

Mind you, I also put a 16GB SDHC card in it too.

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Cairdeas
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I missed today's shenanigans tongue was there anything from Nokia? the N1? Drool X

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Chris_K
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Hi all,

Originally my intention for MWC coverage was to have a new thread for each day, but I think it would be better for all MWC news to be consolidated into this one thread to make life easier for all.

Something I forgot to mention yesterday was some fantastic news from IKEA, of all people! You may not think of furniture as being all that techy but Ikea are changing the game here. They have announced a new range of furniture called the 'Home Smart'. Like the DNA that flows through all IKEAproducts, the new range will continue to be functional, minimal, yet aesthetically pleasing - it will include wireless charging pads as well as integrated USB sockets for additional device charging should you need it.

I for one have to admit, Ikea's got this one in the bag! Surely everyone is going to want Home Smart IKEA desk or other furniture in the range to make life a bit simpler and easier?

The wireless pads are compatible with the Qi wireless charging standards, but IKEA plans to bring a selection of wireless charging covers for iPhone 4, iPhone, 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S4, and Samsung Galaxy S5 so that owners of these devices can still make use of their techy furniture.

IKEA plan to have their Home Smart range available for sale from mid-April. Anyone started lining up outside the stores yet?!


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