The annual Mobile World Congress called into Barcelona, Spain last week. It was a chance for everyone who’s anyone in the phone industry to meet, ink deals and announce exciting products.
More than 70,000 people attended the event which is even bigger than CES in terms of gadgets that fit your pocket. It also a conference featuring mobile phone manufacturers, mobile operators, technology providers and content owners. We saw the launch of new flagship phones from HTC, LG and Samsung, and a bigger-than-usual presence from Microsoft.
The Mobile World Congress is the time when the phones and wearables we will be buying and using over 2019 are put on display. It’s organized by the GSM Association, a body formed of some of the most influential mobile operators and manufacturers who joined hands in 1982 to promote the GSM standard. Today, the GSM standard is used by more than 90 percent of networks, across 210 countries.
The show first launched in 1987 as the GSM World Congress, and since then to 3GSM World Congress when the world switched to faster 3G networks. Realizing its going to need periodic name changes as new technology emerged, it adopted Mobile World Congress. Otherwise, we’d now be attending the 4GSM World Congress in Cannes, not in Fira de Barcelona. Up until 2006, the show took place in Cannes, near the beach.
Nokia, LG and Samsung are leading the event to reveal their smartphones and other products. South Korean electronics giant Samsung unveiled its latest flagship model in the smartphone segment – Galaxy S9 and S9+. Nokia launched its new flagship smartphone – Sirocco. It’s undoubtedly one of the highlights of this year’s event, and one of the best Android phones you’ll be able to buy in 2018. The phone has a 5.5-inch pOLED display with reduced bezel size and curved edges. The smartphone has a stainless steel frame sandwiched between two Gorilla Glass 5 glass panels.
The Finnish company launched the all-new 8110 4G, an updated version of Nokia’s classic 20-year-old phone. It has also unveiled Nokia 7 plus, new Nokia 6 and Nokia 1.
This story is from the March 2018 edition of Industry Leaders.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2018 edition of Industry Leaders.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Architects Pick Their Favorite Building Material
Henry Ford, the father of assembly-line manufacturing, had a saying: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”
POWERFUL WOMEN IN FINANCE
The coronavirus is not only a public health crisis of magnitude – it’s also a looming reshuffle of the global economic order. Leading through the pandemic and economic crisis is not a minor accomplishment, but the events of this past year haven’t stopped the 10 trailblazers who make up Industry Leaders’ Most Powerful Women in Finance list.
GERMANY ADOPTS NEW LAW TO HASTEN THE END OF COAL PLANTS
A new climate law adopted by Germany requires that all coal-fired power plants be shut down before the promulgated 2038 deadline. In January 2020, the German government had negotiated a deal worth €40 billion to phase out coal power by 2038, but now it seems the country is in a hurry to end its dependence on coal power due to urgent climate concerns.
IRS AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING CRYPTO EXCHANGE BINANCE
Singapore-based Binance was co-founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, and is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is probing money laundering and tax-related offenses on the platform by any US citizen. They are investigating whether any illegal trading of derivatives linked to digital tokens was done. The United States residents can only purchase these kinds of products from firms registered with the CFTC.
GEN Z ANGELS
INVESTORS SEEM TO BE GETTING YOUNGER AND YOUNGER.
Biggest AI Talent Grab of the Year
In a post-COVID-19 world, the role of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) will be redefined. Companies striving to defend their existing markets and accelerate recovery are looking at a wide range of strategies such as alliances and partnerships. In addition, deal-makings now have to reflect the new environmental and societal priorities of the post-crisis world, which include making organic changes like going virtual, remote collaborations, and potentially less inperson networking.
POSTWAR BOOM
PANDEMIC BRINGS GOOD SALES GROWTH FOR LUXURY CAR BRANDS
GOOGLE PLANS TO BUILD A COMMERCIAL QUANTUM COMPUTER BY 2029
Google is confident it can build a commercial-grade quantum computer by 2029. The search engine giant’s chief executive Sundar Pichai announced the plan to build a quantum computer during the Google I/O stream. To follow through on this ambitious journey is an important milestone in the form of a new Quantum AI campus in Santa Barbara, California, where Google engineers and scientists will be hard to work to build the world’s first commercial quantum computer.
BEYOND THE STARS
The dream of space tourism is alive and well.
2021 SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP SHORTAGE
The semiconductor chip shortage is far from over but this hasn’t stopped governments around the globe from getting creative to move production ahead. The impact of the chip crisis on the automotive market has been debilitating, resulting in competition between automakers and electronics manufacturers.