All eyes were on Barcelona last week as Mobile World Congress kicked off, bringing the future of mobile technology.
So what can we look forward to in the coming months? Plenty.
Artificial intelligence
Forget about trying to escape it: artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere and Mobile World Congress was ground zero for AI chatter this week. Qualcomm announced a specialised wearables platform that can be used in watches, pins and other AI-enabled wearables (although we all know how that went for Humane).
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Google was in attendance too to show off the latest in AI across the Android ecosystem, from the Nano Banana image generator to immersive video with Veo. It also showed off its XR prototype glasses, which it previously showed off at I/O, that can guide you with Google Maps or translate languages live.
More on the concept side of things was Lenovo’s AI Workmate. Billed as an “always-on desk companion”, it is supposed to boost productivity and also give workers a sort of robot friend with a voice-controlled smart assistant built in. Is this the answer to remote working loneliness? Probably not.
Smartphones step up
Samsung had already announced its S26 line up last week, and Apple unveiled the iPhone 17e at the start of the week, but Mobile World Congress is still the launch pad for many phone makers in Europe.
Xiaomi, for example, used the event to showcase its partnership with Leica, with the 17 Ultra announcing its European launch. Already available in China, the 17 Ultra comes with a triple rear camera sporting Leica’s camera expertise. That includes a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 200-megapixel telephoto lens.
Then there was the Leica Leitzphone, which is another Xiaomi device with added camera capabilities and the functional Leica Camera Ring that turns to control the camera settings. It also has a powerful processor to power the whole set up.
For something out of the ordinary, TCL’s Nxtpaper 70 Pro comes with a small switch to activate a simulated e-ink mode, with three on offer – colour paper mode, ink paper mode and max ink mode.
And if you want a multitasking phone that would be handy in the wild, the Oukitel WP63 comes with a 20,00mAh battery, a rugged case and a pop-out electrical coil that can start a campfire for you.
Foldables
We were obsessed with tiny phones, before being overtaken by larger screens became as our phones became multitasking devices. Now we are settling somewhere in the middle: phones that have a large screen when it is needed, and can be folded up to carry around comfortably.
This year’s Mobile World Congress saw Honor show off its new Magic V6, the successor to the foldable Magic V5. At 8.75mm when folded, the phone is marginally thicker than Samsung’s new S26 Ultra; unfolded, it is 4mm thick.
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It also comes with a more robust water and dust rating, a better display that minimises the crease and an updated camera. The battery is also worth a second look, with the V6 coming with a 6,600mAh silicon carbon battery.
Lenovo also has some interesting developments in this area, showing off its gaming device the Legion Go Fold. This Windows-based hand-held takes the existing Legion Go hand-held gaming concept and adds a flexible display to enable vertical gaming. That, along with the detachable controllers, make it even more flexible.
The bad news? This product is a concept, and is unlikely to reach mass production.
Next gen technology
From wifi 8 to 6G networks, Mobile World Congress was all about hurtling towards the next generation of technology.
That might be somewhat of a surprise to Irish mobile users, who may still be wavering on 5G. Irish networks started rolling out the technology in 2019, but 5G is still at the gaining ground stage of the life cycle.
At the event though, the networks are looking ahead, focusing on 6G and what is coming down the line. Unsurprisingly, AI features heavily.
In advance of Mobile World Congress, Nvidia announced it would work with a group of collaborators to build next generation networks on AI-native, open, secure and trustworthy platforms. The alliance includes BT Group, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Nokia, SK Telecom and T-Mobile.
The initiative represents a shared commitment to ensure 6G infrastructure – the foundation for the world’s future connectivity – is open, intelligent, resilient and accelerates innovation and safeguards global trust. The company is looking ahead to a physical AI world – autonomous machines, vehicles, sensors and robots – which will necessitate new networks that can meet the complexity and challenges that this new world can bring. That could be anything from powering self-driving cars to enabling people to interact with the digital world in a physical sense, through haptic touch for example.
The new networks will embed AI across the radio access network, edge and core.
Sounds complicated? It is. But while networks and manufacturers were talking up the possibility of 6G networks at the event, it is still a few years away from reaching the average consumer.
Another future-focused technology showcased at the event was wifi 8. The idea that wifi has model numbers may be news to you, but newer laptops these days are likely to have wifi 7 built in. That is a relatively new development, one that brought more efficient, speedier wifi networks to our homes and offices. In the “capable of replacing Ethernet cables” kind of way.
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The leap to wifi 8, however, will be more about reliability. And who wouldn’t want a more stable network?
Don’t get too excited just yet though.
Like wifi 7 and 6 before it, gaining access to all these benefits will mean you need compatible devices, such as a wifi 8 enabled smartphone and laptop, along with a router that supports the technology. And it will also mean you need a fairly high-speed network to start with. If your internet connection is too slow, no amount of fancy wifi hardware will speed it up.
Weird tech
It wouldn’t be a tech conference without some of the whackier devices on display, and Mobile World Congress certainly lived up to expectations.
From AI companions to pet tech, there were plenty of unusual devices on display.
If you aren’t doing robots, are you even a tech company these days? Honor not only offered attendees the chance to grip a (weirdly disembodied) robot hand, it also showed off its humanoid robot that it says is still in development.
Another robotic entry from Honor was the robot phone, which we first heard about in October last year. The device has a 200 megapixel camera on an integrated motorised three-axis gimbal, and although it won’t be available until later in the year, at least it is likely to make its debut – unlike some of the concept products announced.
The concept products also threw up some interesting ideas. There was Tecno’s modular phone, which starts off as a screen, some pin connectors and a basic camera. But you can add on pieces to make it whatever you want – a telephoto lens, games controls, battery packs and even an antenna or two.
Tech giant Lenovo showed off a series of concept products among the ready-for-market ones, including the Thinkpad Modular AI PC that packs a second screen, and a dual screen Yoga Book Pro with glasses-free 3D.
You might know Xiaomi for its phones, but it also had a few tricks up its sleeve. At the event, the company showed off the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo, a concept car that it created for the Vision Gran Turismo Programme, a virtual design programme that creates cars for the video game.
More mundane was the PetPhone. Forget about GPS tracking your pet; PetPhone wants to upgrade it to two-way calling. The clip-on communicator not only has speakers that allows your pet to hear you, but will play soothing music to comfort them. It also has AI health features to track your pet’s movement, and if you can manage to train them to jump three times in six seconds, your pet can actually call you. Probably one for dog owners more than cats.
