CIOInsider India Magazine

Mobile World Congress 2024 was one of the most anticipated technology conferences in the world, which took place in Barcelona from 26th Feb – 29th Feb 2024. MWC 2024 has long become the staging ground for the latest innovations from mobile vendors, IT companies, networking and telecom providers, and others. Google Pixel 8 Series won the Best Smartphone award for Google's outstanding performance, innovation, and leadership. Barcelona Mobile World Congress became a stage to witness the developments through sustainable business transformation.

Highlights of MWC Barcelona 2024
Smartphones
The annual mobile conference of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) would have been incomplete without the appearance of several original equipment manufacturers and the introduction of numerous mobile devices. To get the maximum eyeballs, companies like Google and Samsung have turned to in-house launches in recent years. The allure of MWC Barcelona is too tempting not to unveil gadgets.

The rollable smartphone from Motorola is making headway this year, despite only being a concept phone. A pOLED display and multiple batteries allow the gadget to bend. While the device can be wrapped around a wrist and held on with a magnetic strip, it cannot be folded. The Nothing Phone 2a is Nothing company's next smartphone. The mid-range market is served by Carl Pei's third offering. The company dropped a teaser for the 2a earlier this month, but they're still mum on the tech specs. All we know is that it's powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro processor.

The next big thing from China was the Xiaomi 14 Ultra after Huawei brought the Mate60 RS Ultimate Design to MWC Barcelona 2024. Xiaomi 14 Ultra is primarily a camera-heavy phone with a revamped user interface (HyperOS) and AI features. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powers it. The 512 GB model of the device is priced the same as the iPhone 15 Pro.

Telecom Partnerships
The first thing to mention is Nokia's collaboration with Intel to boost energy efficiency in 5G. Chips (Xeon processors) and power management software are integrated into Nokia's 5G Core solutions. The next step is to enable artificial intelligence data analysis at or near the edge in real-time. The goal is to decrease the latency and increase the bandwidth for sensor tech implementations. The collaboration is based on the Red Hat OpenShift platform and tech developed by the IOWN Global Forum.

Samsung Electronics, Juniper Networks, and Wind River are working together to enable end-to-end network virtualization for clients. A virtual cell site router (vCSR) using Samsung's virtualized DU, Juniper's Cloud Router, and Wind River's Studio Cloud Platform is included in the partnership. It eliminates the need for physical router hardware and intends to reduce the total cost of ownership by eliminating the need for physical router hardware.

Wearables and other Gadgets
Surprised by some tech snobs, Samsung, which showed off the Galaxy Ring at Galaxy Unpacked last month, unveiled the latest wearable at the MWC Barcelona 2024. Samsung usually comes in sizes 5 to 13 and three colors: gold, platinum silver, and ceramic black. Galaxy Ring is a means to offer My Vitality Score, a wellness score calculated on data points, including heart rate, breathing, sleep patterns, movement, and activity, collected from the user's finger. My Vitality Score is calculated on data points, including heart rate, breathing, sleep patterns, and movement. Samsung Health allows the ring to sync with the Galaxy Watch.

The Humane AI Pin delivers a powerful AI-packed punch that serves as a personal assistant. Former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri are brought by Humane AI Pin, which is funded by Microsoft, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and others. However, it makes up for it with a laser ink display included to project images on the user's hands. It's capable of translating languages, converting currencies, acting as a nutritional aid, and carrying out other interactive tasks, such as detecting something on the user's hand and describing it. There is a separate SIM slot for the gadget.

Users can see what's on the other side of the screen with the ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop. The concept laptop sports a micro-LED transparent display, as well as what appears to be an equally stunning touchscreen keyboard that doubles as a drawing surface and feels like a tablet. While the device is not yet commercially viable, like the rollable laptop, it unveiled at MWC Barcelona 2023, other transparent displays, such as those from LG and Samsung, will be available soon.

Miscellaneous
Continuous connectivity monitoring for uninterrupted connectivity is provided by resilient SIM or rSIM. During service disruptions, seamless switching between network providers can be delivered.

“At this year’s MWC, it’s been fantastic to showcase rSIM’s ‘always on’ connectivity offering and to hear so much excitement from the industry at a time when IoT is truly exploding,” says Richard Cunliffe, director of Product and Innovation, rSIM at CSL Group.

Deutsche Telekom IoT and Tele2 IoT have been partners with the company for the rSIM. The main route to market is via mobile operators, so we are looking to incorporate more telecom vendors. More mobile network operators will be joining our network to help our partners and customers. Viewers are impressed by the other cutting-edge tech on display, from the talk of 6G to the advancements in urban air mobility, such as the development of air taxi infrastructure.

Cunliffe's talking about the upcoming vertical take-off and landing vehicle from Alef Aeronautics. Living in a time when the following sentence is a reality is interesting. The vehicle is expected to cost $300,000 and boast a driving and flying range of 200 miles, according to Euronews.

Finally, viewers have both mobile phones and satellite phones, but can we combine both functions into one device? The Thuraya Skyphone's unveiling has provided the answer to that question. The device allows users to connect through Thuraya satellites in case they drop their terrestrial network in the middle of the sea.