Mobile World Congress 2016: Trends on the Floor

February 26, 2016

Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 brought the major names in technology to Barcelona this week and IEEE was there to take in all the action. Followers of the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) were able to get a taste of what was in store for MWC, and to pull it all together, we came up with a list of some trends to watch as the year unfolds.

All-In-One Devices

To solve the problem of being attached to multiple devices all the time, companies have come out with devices that can act as your desktop, laptop and phone — all in one. As businesses continue to evaluate methods for leaning out duplicative devices, the all-in-one approach may be the perfect solution.

Delivery Robots

From the operating room to the classroom, robots are everywhere. For consumers, prototypes are being tested to help evolve the world of commercial delivery. Using cameras and sensors, delivery robots can “drive” products straight to your door, a method that some say seems more plausible than delivery drones.

Curved Device Screens

The world isn’t flat, so why should our devices be? That’s the idea behind curved and flexible screens. They can be manipulated to wear around your wrist or in the future, possibly, folded to be put away.

Virtual reality (VR) continues to steal the stage as one of the most popular trade show topics this year. From headsets and cameras to designing and refining 360-degree interactive experiences, the VR landscape continues to grow more sophisticated and diverse, shaping the way we consume video and images.

Selfie Payment

Flashing a smile might give more than just thanks. Thanks to biometrics like facial recognition, you may be able to use your face — something you can’t misplace like a credit card! — to authorize a transaction. Fingerprint scanning has long been a gateway biometric in the mobile world, but facial recognition ups the ante.

IoT

Connected devices made a big splash at CES, but at MWC, the bigger IoT conversation was around the network strength to help power and support our beloved smart solutions. Murmurs of 5G connectivity floated across the showroom floor around some of the major carriers.