One of the most important dates for the wireless sector in the first quarter of 2017 is definitely the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The who’s who of the industry met in the Catalonian capital at the end of February to present the highlights of the first half of the year to the public. We attended again this year, finding out about the latest innovations and highlights.
News from the wireless sector
The Mobile World Congress, which was held in Barcelona from 27 February to 2 March 2017, is the meeting place for anyone who is anyone in the wireless sector. More than 2,000 exhibitors and about 100,000 of visitors met in an exhibition area stretching over several tens of thousands of square meters. More than enough for us to get an overview of the latest highlights in the market.
Traditionally, most smartphone and tablet manufacturers present their latest products which are due to be launched during the spring at the MWC. Whilst the convention itself began on 27 February, the major players in the branch, including Nokia, Blackberry, Samsung, Sony and Huawei, used the 26 February to present their innovations.
Innovations and Highlights
One of the highlights was definitely the traditional brand Nokia, which the Finnish company HMD Global presented at the MWC. The brand had already caused a stir early in 2017 with its comeback, and at its precursor to the main event it introduced the new smart phones Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6, as well as the cult phone 3310, which now boasts a modernised coloured display and a long-life battery. We are pleased that we are going to work directly as distributionpartner with HMD in future to sell the smart phones.
Caption: At its own event, HMD Global presented the Nokia 5.
Caption: Also HMD presents its other models the Nokia 6, Nokia 3 and the Nokia 3310, which is celebrating a comeback.
Blackberry Mobile, a brand belonging to the Chinese manufacturer TCL, was also represented in Barcelona with its exciting new product. The Android smart phone KEYone with a physical keyboard was presented by TCL, which are with immediate effect licensees of Blackberry and will manufacture the devices under the Blackberry brand.
Caption: Blackberry Mobile presented the public with the KEYone at its precursor to the convention – this time returning to a physical keyboard.
Contrary to widespread expectations, Samsung did not present its new Galaxy S8, showing instead the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 as well as the Galaxy Books 10 and 12, which are intended above all for business customers. The Galaxy S8 will be launched in New York on 29 March.
The Chinese smart phone manufacturer Huawei exclusively presented the Huawei P 10 and P 10 Plus as the successors to the successful P9, as well as the Huawei watch 2, Huawei’s second generation of the smart watch series. With the Xperia XZ Premium, the XZs, the XA1 and the XA1 Ultra, Sony showcased a total of four new Xperia smart phones, which are to conquer the market in the coming months.
Further highlights from the industry
As well as numerous innovations from the wireless sector, products and solutions from the areas Internet of Things, virtual reality and augmented reality were everywhere you looked. The large European network operators concentrated mainly on showcasing the first applications in 5G standard. Manufacturers of end devices focused above all on battery life, energy efficiency and powerful processors.
Further highlights available here on video:
