The Mobile World Congress 2018 has just been completed and, in addition to the 108,000 visitors from all over the world who have traveled to Barcelona – Spain, this event has left several clear conclusions about the technological trends that come with more strength among startups.
Starting in this case with a line of business that is strengthened at times is artificial intelligence. Decision-making through data analysis has penetrated fields as diverse as medicine or the business world. Two companies, such as Serimag and IOMED Medical Solutions, have submitted their proposals in the context of the 4 Years From Now (4YFN). On the other hand; Combine (UK) is a mobile application that allows users to connect all their financial services in a single device, such as the current account, credit card, investments or even cryptocurrencies, in order to facilitate their management and control. The interface is fully customizable according to the user’s preferences and needs at any time. In addition, it allows a personalization related to non-financial aspects. For example, you can offer restaurant suggestions when users are traveling based on the places they usually frequent where they are.
Similar case occurs with two other trends dedicated to entrepreneurs. It is about augmented reality and the blockchain. For example; Biel Glasses and Mybrana have been very interested in presenting a technology that, whether in the field of advertising or focused on people with low vision, successfully demonstrates the possibilities of augmented reality. For its part, the blockchain, the great fashion technology is demonstrating so much versatility that the same can be applied to the verification of personal data – would be the case of the Validated ID company – as digital currencies (Drac Project).
In the aforementioned 4YFN, there has been a considerable increase in startups dedicated to mobility, a trend that will mark a turning point in a few years with very different initiatives Green Urban Data, Journify or Sharify. Quality of the environment, sharing transport, social network to better understand a city in real time and better know the possibilities for tourism, diversity triumphs when creating business models that seek to solve very specific problems looking for profitability without forgetting social responsibility.
The industry 4.0 and projects based on 4G connection, which are already prepared to adapt very quickly to the 5G, also begin to show their possibilities in an emerging market. Automobiles, robotic arms, ultra-fast connections with portable connection devices, improvements in downloads of all types of files. Start-ups are opened with their own technologies to take into account. This would be the case of Bequant, Wifi Take Away and Aeinnova.
Within the same Mobile World Congress, drones have once again had their own space and exhibit muscle with initiatives that help to prevent crop pests (The Blue Dots), drone racing Formula 1 (Freespace Drone Racing) or custom manufacturing of drones with 3D pieces (Airk Drones).
TRENDS OF THE MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2018
5G TECHNOLOGY
It is true that this is still a development phase, but it is also true that there is less time left for the deployment of the 5G network. Both Operators and manufacturers are preparing their implementation strategy globally.
The 5G technology is the last necessary stage for the hyperconnectivity of the planet. The majority group of Telecommunications Operators approved the standard of these new mobile networks that, in addition to ultra-fast speeds, will provide a low latency (return of data), which will start a hyperconnected world.
The new 5G technology is fundamental to boost the 4.0 industry and connected vehicles and, above all, to deepen the era of the “Internet of Things”.
The transfer to a new type of network requires investment, new infrastructures, support from different sectors and development of compatible systems to think that everything will be ready overnight. However, the results obtained by different brands involved at this time can be thought that the deadlines will be met and that the technology will be faster than we think.
INTERNET OF THINGS, IOT
Internet of things has been with us since 2005 and everyone talks about IOT without having had a real deployment, a deployment that needs 5G technology to increase its presence among us exponentially.
With the arrival of 5G, we will enter an era in which virtual assistants will become popular. From Alexa from Amazon to Cortana from Microsoft to Google Asistant, all the big telephone companies and now also the operators are developing and perfecting their virtual assistants.
The new internet of things will use the full potential of the new 5G network to put technology at the service of the company and the user, enabling a new phase in the digital transformation of the company, the industry and also the home. A new world that will not be long in being among us.
The possibilities are endless and the way we are going to interact with our environment will gradually change. You can see an example here of the new Echo Look system with the support of Alexa from Amazon:
Ericson presented his IoT Accelerator Marketplace project at MWC these days. It is a global market to accelerate the Internet of Things that aims to support both application developers and service providers. The marketplace – with a horizontal offer based on the cloud – will facilitate the task of finding IoT applications and will reduce the time of commercialization of the new offers.
DUAL CHAMBERS AND SCREENS WITHOUT BORDERS
They are the last cry and they will make our lives much easier. With the new dual cameras you just have to focus on an object so your smartphone tells you where to find it and its sale price. If you focus on the sky, it will give you the time information, and if you focus on a text in another language, it will translate it almost instantaneously.
The main novelties: The Sony Xperia XZ2 with its extraordinary photographic capabilities, the Axon M with its two screens, or the striking vintage Nokia model in the purest Matrix style that has ended up being one of the main trends of MWC 2018.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR ALL
The new processors, many of them capable of processing based on neural networks, bring new capabilities to the devices making them now smart.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) focuses all eyes on any technology congress nowadays and the MWC has not been an exception. Why? Because Artificial Intelligence is being applied successfully to change what is possible with a large number of interactions with different technologies.
It will no longer be necessary to press a button to execute any order when it can be done with a couple of words. Knowledge will be in the cloud and access will be faster and more efficient with the new networks.
By the end of the MWC 2018, the estimates that do not go unnoticed by many. According to the eMarketer firm collected by Statista they help us to see better the panorama that we already intuited.
In this infographic, you can see how 5G technology will begin to have more relevance, artificial intelligence is here to stay and the virtual and augmented realities will be integrated more into our day to day.
Some relevant data from this chart point to how the Chinese market continues to dominate the world of mobile phones along with India. Although at the Mobile World Congress 2018 we will see that Samsung is the protagonist, outside of the fair those who are winning the most land in the world are the Chinese companies that dominate in those two countries.
As far as technology is concerned, the use of artificial intelligence in smartphone has strengthened and improved several aspects of our phones, such as text prediction, both to write better on the keyboard and to have automatic responses in mails or apps. There is still plenty left for voice assistants to replace the more “primitive” technology of writing.
In the same way, the implementation of biometric security measures (to identify oneself with the finger or face) seems unstoppable. By 2020, all phones will have some way of recognizing us by our physical features.
