Mobile World Congress, the Lollapalooza of mobile devices, starts today in Barcelona and we REALLY can’t wait to see what the world’s largest technology brands have in store for us in 2017. This is what we’re looking out for:
No Samsung Unveiling
We’re bummed that Samsung pushed the Galaxy S8 unveiling to March 29th, which usually happens at MWC. Rumor has it that they might release a teaser video, building some much-needed anticipating for their stand-alone event later this month. After the year they’ve had, we don’t blame them for wanting to hype up their latest smartphones.
Update:
- Samsung teases new S8 and unveils tablets for gamers and professionals. Not much is known about the S8 except that it will most probably feature a “dual-curved bezel-less display and it will not have a physical button on the front“.
- Gear VR headset will also come with a new controller that includes touchpad and trigger.
LG and Huawei are Both Unveiling New Phones!
LG is hoping to make up for the disappointment of the G5 with this year’s G6. Rumored to have a 2K display, a metal finish, and featuring Snapdragon 821 (not the 835) it’s also slated to be water resistant. Huawei on the other hand, also has a smart watch up its sleeve.
Update:
- The G6 is LG’s sexiest phone yet! It packs a punch with it’s sleek frame and huge screen. It’s dust and water resistant (1 meter for 30 minutes) and sports pretty awesome camera features.
- Huawei showed us their two smart watches: the Huawei Watch 2 and Watch 2 Classic. Meh. It still similar to it’s previous design and geared towards a male demographic. Nonetheless, here’s everything you need to know about it.
The Return of Old Favorites: Blackberry and Nokia
Blackberry and Nokia are back and that makes me super nostalgic! Inner-teen aside, Blackberry fans will be excited to finally see the new hardware and its keyboard. Yep – a keyboard. We sure hope the Blackberry Mercury can make the brand relevant again!
My personal old-school favorite, Nokia, is back with a series of new handsets, smartphones comparable to the iPhone. They’re also reviving an old classic – the Nokia 3310. Who remembers that bad boy?! * Raises hand *
Update:
- The Blackberry Mercury is now the KeyOne and it doesn’t differ much from what we saw at CES.
- Nokia 3310 is the big talk of the town — with SNAKE! But that’s pretty much it. It’s not big on camera function or internet.
- Withings will relaunch as Nokia by the summer.
- North America, central and South America likely won’t be able to use the 3310 as it runs on GSM 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. We use 850 and 1900 MHz frequencies. Bummer.
More than phones: AI and 5G
I still haven’t jumped on the AI bandwagon, I can never quite get Siri to understand what I’m saying, but if you’re into digital smartphone assistants you may want to keep your ear to the ground come this week. AI is rumored to be a huge topic of discussion at MWC – Bixby, particularly, is Samsung’s latest AI assistant.
Your smartphones will eventually get faster with 5G connectivity. It’s supposed to be super fast, and while there’s a whole bunch of talk, your smartphone and connected gadgets won’t be walking that walk anytime soon.
Update:
- 4G still has some steam. Gigabit speed and what it means for 5G
More interesting tidbits from MWC:
- Sony let’s you turn any surface into a touchscreen. You have to see this.
- LG has a build in frontback feature and it’s called Match Shot. We’re not sure why it’s cool
- Moto G5 and G5 Plus (includes Google Assistant) offer great value without any compromises. However the G5 isn’t available in the US.
- HTC discusses VR for educational purposes, gives example of study with test subjects.
- MCW is also the place to unveil… cars?
- Robots will outnumber and outsmart you.
- Doobit reminds you to wash your hands and sprays you with hand sanitizer!
Photo via: TechRadar
