Mobile World Congress Is The Mecca Of The Mobile Industry. Nearly 90,000 People Landed In Barcelona For The 2015 Edition. It Was The Fifth MWC For Me.
As You Know There Is Lot Of Usual Stuff – New Device Launches, New Buzzword, Old Wine In New Bottle Etc. But It Helps To Know The Overall Trends. It Is Also A Great Event For People To Get Together – The Entire Eco-System Is There. Crack A Couple Of Deals And You Have Got Your ROI. Plus The New Knowledge Is Always Helpful.
The Best Way To Enjoy MWC Is To Attend Parallel Conferences, WIP Sessions, Networking Events Etc.
So What Were The Highlights This Time?
1. Digital Transformation: The New World Is A Place With Multiple Devices And Wearable, Connected Homes-Cars-Cities And M2M Transactions. There Are New Opportunities In Connected World For All Players – OEMs, Telcos, System Integrators (App Developers). The Digital Transformation Story Is More Compelling Than Ever Before. The Players Who Clear Their Baggages, Learn The Emerging Themes And Present A Compelling Story Will Move Forward. The New Winners May Arise.
2. Incremental Innovation: The MWC Saw Continual Ascent Of The Wearable, IOT And Connected Themes. More Refined And Defined Use Cases, More Tangible Evidences, More Clear Positioning Emerged. But Nothing That Can Shake The World.
3. Google Vs FaceBook: Google Announced Its MVNO Plans. It Was An Important Step Towards Further Control On Customer Lives In A Mobile First World. FaceBook’s Mark Zuckerberg Preached About internet.Org And FaceBook’s Vision. FaceBook And Google Are Watching Each Other Closely. (Mark Gave Hiring Mantra For Business Leaders – “only hire someone to work directly for you if you would work for that person.”)
4. 5G: 5G Discussions Start At Mobile World Congress. KT Telecom Will Offer 5G At 2018 Olympics – Cool – 2GB Per Second. (But Let The World Experience Good Quality 3G – Forget 4G)
5. Fusion Of Smart And Real World. WPP Group’s IkonMobile Had Some Of The Best Showcases Of Fusion Of Existing Products And New Technology. Mirror, Oral-B Toothbrush, e-Bikes Etc.
Ford Showcased A Great Example Of Adoption Of New Era With e-Bikes. It Showcased Two Bikes – For City Travel And For Delivery Purposes. It Had A Companion App That Showcased Pending Orders For Delivery Person, Route Etc. It Even Monitored Heart Rate Of The Rider.
6. Good Showcases:
– Runcible: Most Interesting Device From Monohm. A Watch For Generations Like A Family Jewel. It Is To Out Last Smartphones. It Has All The Cool Features But It Is A Round Jewel That You Can Handover To Kids And Grand-Kids
– HTC VIVE Was An Impressive Example And Showcased The Maturity Of Virtual Reality
– BabyMe Demonstrated How A Pre-Mature Baby Can Feel That It Is In The Womb Of The Mother – Nice Idea Worth Taking Ahead. The Motherly Comfort Can Aid Faster Development For The Baby
– LG Showcased Magic Mirror – Mirror That Can Analyze Your Face And Suggest Different Make-Ups For Office Party, Casual Look, Formal Event Etc. It Can Even Suggest Products Based On Your Skin Type.
– Different Use Cases Of Beacons, IOT, Wearables And Overall Trends By S K Telecom.
– Supercharger From StoreDot Charges Phones In 2 Minutes. That What We Need !
– Smart Luggage Tags – Location Enabled
– Eye Tracker. Last Year I Played Fruit Ninja With Eye Trackers. This Year, The Smart Watch Is The Focus Of Eye Tribe. Control Smart Watch With Eye Movements
– Wearables For Kids, Pets, Senior Citizens. Smart Kid Shoes With Mediatek Chips For The Kids Were On Display. They Had Chips – So Track The Child, Geo-Fence Them…2 Days Batter Power. Nice Shoes For Naughty Kids !
– Krystal Liquid Screen Protector – Create A Nano Layer On Screen In 2 Minutes And Prevent Stratches On Phones
– S-Disk 300GB SD Card – X Times More Space Than My First Computer ! A Year Of Movies In One Card – Even If You Watch A Movie Daily !
– Credit Card Sized Phones
– Smart Clothing – AiQ
7. The Usual Big Launches: All Major OEMs Launched New Devices. The Big Launch Was Samsung S6 – Its Bet On High Design And Finish. But I Was Surprised That Samsung Kept Its New Baby S6 Under Wraps For Crowds At MWC – While LG, HTC Clearly Showed Their New Labour Of Love – HTC One M9 – Just More Features, Nothing Breakthrough To Earlier Versions. In The Perspective Of Slowing Superiority, Greater Competition, Xiaomi, And ‘No Apple Dying’ Scenarios, Samsung’s Move Was Indeed Very Surprising. Blackberry Showcased Its New Phone – Leap. Microsoft Showcased New Lumia And Portable Foldable Keyboard. Sony, Lenovo, Alcatel, ZTE, Huawei, Blackphone And Many Others Announced New Devices. But The Most Interesting Launch Was Runcible From San Francisco Based MonoHm – Heirloom Product !
Chinese Device Makers Climb The Ladder – The Device Space From China and South East Asia Gets Crowdier And Crowdier As Outsourced Manufacturers From Schengen Move Up The Value Chain And Build Their Brands. You Get Phones With All The Latest Specs At USD 29.99. The Commoditization Of Devices Looks Complete With So Many Samsung Killers. And Xiaomi Was Not Even Present!
8. Commoditization At Birth: Smartphones And Tablets Took A While To Get Commoditized. But The Growing Aspirations Of Chinese OEMs Has Ensured That Smart Watches, Wearable Bands, Fitness Bands, Weighing Scales And All Other Devices Are Commoditized At Birth. It Was Interesting To Note That We Had FitBit And Garmin At Corridors Near Entrance, But All Chinese OEMs Dominating The Main Halls At MWC. How Will Fitbit Survive? I Guess The Answer Lies In First Mover Advantage, Overall Experience, Superior Branding, Allied Services, Software Etc!
There Are Wearables And Embedded Devices For Every Purpose – And Every Body Part!
9. Mobile Payments: Samsung Pay Got Announced. Mobile Payment Companies Were In Herds!
10.Apple: Apple Was Not There But Was There – Apple Cannot Ignore Mobile Mavens Shaping The Industry. Apple Was Present – But Not Directly.
Trivia:
Walked About 60,000 Plus Steps In 3 Days. Wow !
Jai Shri Krishna Heard In Even Super Uber Hotel W’s Chic Parties
Another Mahatma Gandhi Restaurant Serving Non-Veg Food Spotted!
The Future Of Mobile Was At MWC But One Shop In Barcelona Promised The Future Of Sex With Gadgets! Even 50 Shades Of Grey Merchandise Was There!
