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Mobile Goes Global
By Anca Gagiuc on Mar 8, 2013 in Technology
Europe hosts the world’s premiere mobile event, a supersized tech fair that recently brought together over 72,000 participants from more than 220 countries and over 1,700 companies. Held this year in Barcel
ona, the Mobile World Congress is where the latest innovations in the mobile ecosystem are revealed, with emphasis on the technology behind the scenes such as networks, support systems, connected spaces, and more. This is the ultimate event for any technology fan, featuring exciting phones, tablets, back-end solutions, applications, and accessories.
At this year’s event, over 50 percent of the attendees were C-level executives. Keynote speakers included Dr. Paul Jacobs, Chairman & CEO – Qualcomm, Stephen Elop, President & CEO – Nokia, Gary Kovacs, CEO – Mozilla, Mitchell Baker, Chairman – Mozilla, Dennis Crowley, Founder & CEO – Foursquare, Drew Houston, Founder & CEO – Dropbox, René Obermann, CEO – Deutsche Telekom, Axel Dauchez, CEO – Deezer, Randall Stephenson, President & CEO – AT&T, Franco Bernabè, Chairman, GSMA, Chairman & CEO – Telecom Italia Group, and Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive – Vodafone.
There were many big announcements and unveilings. Highlights included:
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 SoC (system-on-chip) phone lacks a competitive peer. The company makes the world’s most sophisticated 4G modems, advanced radio frequency connectors, and can roll a mind-blowing applications processor to boot. It’s truly impressive how Qualcomm managed to fit 4 “Krait” cores, Adreno 320 graphics, and an on-die LTE modem into a phone; it wouldn’t come as a surprise if they will be taking on more of Samsung’s business.
Nvidia and Intel have made good progress on the mobile SoC branch, but not good enough to consider themselves competitors. Neither has the capability to deliver an integrated LTE modem with apps processor sooner than the end of 2013. This year Qualcomm runs unopposed.
Nokia announced to everyone’s delight that they’re making a wireless charging case for its Nokia Lumia 720. For $40 (approximately $38.5o) possessors of Lumia 720 will be able to charge their phones simply by slipping the case on and placing it on a wireless charging station. And because design is more important these days than it was several years ago, they encouraged those present to design a case for their Lumia 820 phone and then see it coming out of a 3D printer. Yes, impressive. Moreover, they showed off high-quality apps form Foursquare, Tumblr, Burton, JobLens and GoPro, all with features exclusive to the platform. From a mapping perspective the company presented major updates to their HERE Maps, Drive, Transit and City Lens.
Sony introduced the Xperia Tablet Z. Impressive are several features: it currently holds the record for the thinnest tablet on the market at 6.9 mm with built-in Near Field Communication (NFC) connectivity, with SD Card expansion slot and mini-USB port and waterproof case – up to 30 minutes in 1 meter-deep water, just perfect for the poolside. No wonder they won the Best Tablet award and the one for the Best Connectivity device.
LG presented their Optimus G Pro and swept the award for the best phone/smartphone. The giant 400-ppi 5.5-inch display, 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, 13-megapixel camera, 2.1-megapixel front cam and a massive 3140mAh battery made it worthy of the prize. And of course, the fact that its two cameras can record at the same time is no small thing.
HTC launched its One smartphone and made everyone present look at it with admiration. The phone is beautiful – aluminum shell and polycarbonate components, nicely balanced display size at 4.7-inch with 468-ppi Gorilla Glass 2, it’s more to a smartphone than the tech specs; this one feels like a premium device.
Foursquare announced its integration with MasterCard and Visa by offering special discounts for card holders when checked in to specific locations and as Noah Weiss, the product manager at Foursquare, said: “This is going to be a pretty core part of our revenue model going forward”.
The Connected Home/Connected City was one of the most exciting demonstrations at the event; AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, GSMA, KY, Telenor, and Vodafone have put together the GSMA Connected City – a real city street that reveals how intelligent wireless connections can drive innovation, essential in economic growth, successful products, customer value, and unexplored business opportunities.
Aside from the wonders of the mobile world, visitors got to see the beautiful city of Barcelona. Check out some reasons why you should be there next year, or at least before 2018, because the MWC will continue to be held at the Fira Gran Via until then.
Barcelona Some reasons from nueveojos on Vimeo
