MWC 2015 was the biggest so far, with a claimed 93,000 visitors from 200 countries, even though entry costs from €750 just to walk the floor and several thousand Euros for premium attendee packages. More than 2,000 exhibiting companies showcased new products and services. The show covers service providers, software and infrastructure, but our focus, of course, was on the mobile devices. At the operator level, there was talk of Google becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) although this is still rumour and speculation.
5G was a topic with “massive MIMO” a topic, but no clarity on when that might arrive as commentators in that area say we are “years away from standardisation”. The NGMN Alliance issued a “vision” paper on 5G that looks at 2020 as a starting point for 5G services. Much of the future of all wireless is about switching between different radio systems seamlessly and aggregating different transmission pipes.
At the show, in anticipation of the Apple Watch, there was a lot of talk about wearables, as you will see from our report (Smartwatches – The Future of Wearables?).
Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were the big device announcements (Samsung Unpacks Two New Phones) although Sony, LG and others also managed new phones. We thought that the phones look good, but the lack or really compelling new features – Samsung Pay may be the most important feature – shows that smartphones have clearly got to a period of maturity. LG showed another curved phone to join the Flex models (Wearables and Smartphones Are The Focus for LG), although it is less curved than the Flex 2.
Kaz Hirai reiterated that mobile devices are “firmly rooted in our daily lives” and would remain important to Sony going forward.
I have commented before on beacons. At MWC, beacons were pervasive and I may revise my point of view! One, in particular, was near the entrance to the press office and every time I went past, it repeated its message. In other halls, it seemed that I was getting untargeted “broadcast” messages every few minutes. Clearly, those that adopt the technology are going to have to adopt a more nuanced implementation than at this show. (BR)
