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The Best of MWC 2022 – Product Design in a Mobile World

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The Mobile World Congress this year is unsurprisingly filled with phones and Metaverse references, but producers and consumers are thankfully becoming more aware of the deeper impact these products have in our lives and on the planet.

Next to CES, MWC is an auspicious time for companies to show off their wares, especially those related to smartphones, tablets, and even the new “Metaverse.” Despite the onslaught of COVID-19 since 2020, the smartphone market shows no signs of declining, at least to a significant degree. After two years, MWC 2022 sees a return to face-to-face exhibits and interactions that almost feels surreal given previous events. It’s not as jam-packed and as frantic as before, but that’s not the only thing that’s different this year. There’s also an increased consciousness of the role that thoughtful product design plays in improving people’s lives, both directly and indirectly through sustainable products.

Like every year, a few of these designs and products manage to grab our attention more strongly than others. Some through their design, others through their commitment to the environment, while others are just plain fun or useful. Without further ado, here is Yanko Design’s Top 8 picks for MWC 2022, ranked!

1. OPPO Find X5 Pro

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and some smartphones are regarded to be beautiful, mostly from the standpoint of people who love gadgets and tech products. They are well-designed, of course, but few would probably be standout to a designer as a thing of beauty. The OPPO Find X5 Pro breaks out of the mold in more ways than one.

The phone’s design takes minimalism to heart without going overboard and ditching features. The cameras are still there, but they aren’t as in your face as most camera bumps are these days. The structure rises so smoothly and so softly from the surface of the phone, like a dune in a desert after a sandstorm. You have a single continuous form that looks and feels unbroken, even with the camera holes and branding.

OPPO’s choice of ceramic material also brings joy to the hands. The white colorway exudes an atmosphere of peace, while the black finish pulls you into its dark depths and into a meditative state. Both are sleek and clean, even if the black does become a fingerprint magnet. Wiping off those smudges can itself even become a mindfulness practice.

What makes the OPPO Find X5 Pro’s understated beauty even more compelling is its relevance. We live very busy lives in an ever-changing world that’s still recovering from two chaotic years. Smartphones have become our faithful companions and weapons in navigating this world, but they have also become sources of stress and, in some cases, addiction. OPPO’s “futuristic” design actually goes back in time and back to the basics, offering an oasis of calmness and comfort for the eyes, the hands, and the mind.

Designer: OPPO

2. Realme GT2

Realme gets the silver medal for the GT2 and GT2 Pro phones not in the uniqueness of their designs but for the boldness of their statement. True, the Paper White and Paper Green models of these phones do have unique patterns and textures that try to recreate the look and feel of paper, but that pales in comparison to the message that the design is trying to send.

Taking inspiration from paper and other sustainable materials, Realme adopted a bio-based polymer to create the shell of these two colorways. Although the phone is far from being recyclable, the novel material significantly reduces the carbon emission overhead of producing these phones. The Realme GT2 is only the second of two phones boasting a TCO 9.0 certification for its positive impact on the environment.

This bio-based polymer might be a one-off thing, but Realme is at least making a lot of noise about its other efforts to create a greener tomorrow. Like many smartphone makers these days, it is reducing the amount of plastic in its packaging and increasing its use of sustainable materials. With the Realme GT2 series, it’s also committing to planting a tree for every phone sold. As one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands in the market, it has a big responsibility in creating awareness and doing its part to help protect the environment. It deserves major props for getting the ball rolling in this arena.

Designer: Naoto Fukasawa for Realme

3. TCL Ultra Flex

Foldable phones are going to be around for a while, even if they won’t become the future. The new experiences it enables are both exciting and challenging, especially for designers. We’re still a few hundred steps away from the perfect foldable screen, which makes it the perfect time for designers and manufacturers to play around with new ideas and test out prototypes.

Samsung and LG aren’t the only ones having fun with deformable screens, of course. TCL is right up there with some even crazier ideas that actually become working prototypes. It hasn’t sold any of that technology yet, though, or at least the flexible screens it has been developing. That gives it at least more time and leeway to bring more ideas to light, including this one it showed off at MWC 2022.

Foldable phones seem to have adopted Samsung’s “innie” design, where the flexible screen folds inward like a book, protected by the phone’s external frame. It’s not the only way to fold, of course, but it is currently the winner, despite requiring an extra screen on the outside to make the phone usable even when folded. Some think that allowing a screen to fold in and out would be the ideal option, leaving the owner to decide which method is best, and that’s exactly what the TCL Ultra Flex tries to do.

As a prototype, it’s not exactly the prettiest nor the most usable, but it does try to prove that it can be done. Of course, there remain many questions about its durability, not to mention its economy, but there’s plenty of time for the company to figure that out. Once it does, TCL will have the opportunity to shape the foldable device market and, consequently, shape the new experiences that these devices will offer.

Designer: TCL

4. Huawei MatePad Paper

Tablets are making a comeback, especially from the Android side. These increasingly larger slates are getting more powerful to the point that they are being positioned as laptop replacements. Tablets, however, do have new competition in the form of more powerful and more talented e-book readers, often called eReaders. Huawei, however, is putting a different spin on that idea and is targeting a very specific and probably niche market.

The Huawei MatePad Paper does come with the trappings of a typical e-book reader, one that uses the popular E-Ink display to give your eyes and the device’s battery a well-deserved reprieve. What makes this new contender different is that reading is actually just its secondary purpose. Its primary goal is to replace your paper notebook instead.

That is definitely a tall order, especially with so many expectations coming from die-hard pen and paper users. You can really only do so much to try and replicate the feel of pen or pencil writing on a material like paper using a plastic stylus nib and glass. Huawei has made a good approximation, but the MatePad Paper’s features try to make up for whatever flaw there is in that experience.

The Huawei MatePad Paper is designed primarily to be a notebook, and the software it has reflects that purpose. In addition to typical note-taking, it even has features for creating your own digital journal and copying content directly from a Huawei laptop. It can also record audio while you’re jotting down notes and play it back later when you need more than just a visual reminder. Its lightweight and portable design makes it an almost perfect companion to keep your design ideas and references, and its simpler functions, at least compared to a tablet, leave very little room for distractions as well.

Designer: Huawei

5. HTC Viverse

The Metaverse is everywhere, at least when it comes to marketing and buzzwords. Just like the early days of the cloud, the term is still a bit hard to qualify and quantify in its current form. This, of course, leaves the doors wide open for any interpretation, implementation, and vision. Despite its name, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, doesn’t have a monopoly on the Metaverse (at least not yet), and its rival in the VR space is putting down some stakes on the ground to claim a bit of that space.

HTC’s Viverse is still a work in progress, but its ambition is no less grand than others. Its Vive VR platform already laid the groundwork for some Metaverse-compatible experiences, like holding events and meetings in virtual worlds. It is also envisioning more interactive experiences, like buying or paying for goods using cryptocurrencies and, of course, buying NFT art.

What makes the Viverse more encompassing is that HTC isn’t stopping with its Vive VR platform. Ideally, the Metaverse experience will extend to almost any device with a screen, like a smartphone, a tablet, or even a computer with a web browser. Without this seamless cross-platform experience, the Metaverse will be limited to a few people that have no problems wearing headsets or eyewear all the time, which doesn’t really sound Metaverse-like.

Designer: HTC Vive

6. Lenovo ThinkPad X13s

Let’s face it, most laptop designs don’t exactly excite, especially when they look like any other laptop in the market. Although there are a few that do stand out, they are far and few in between. When Lenovo announced a host of new laptops at MWC 2022 this week, we almost gave it a pass, but one new entry piqued our curiosity in more ways than one.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s has the distinction of being the first ThinkPad to be powered by an ARM Snapdragon processor, a glowing recommendation considering the strength of Lenovo’s brand. With the attention that Apple’s M1 chip has been getting since it launched, there has been a great deal of interest in seeing more Windows laptops running on this platform.

What this means for designers is that the ThinkPad X13s will last longer than most other laptops on a single charge. This translates to longer working times away from a power outlet and more freedom to work the way they want. There are still some problems with app compatibility with Windows on ARM, but staples like Adobe’s suite and ZBrush are completely supported already.

The ThinkPad X13s also has a rather intriguing design that could be best described as a “reverse notch.” Instead of going the way of the latest MacBook Pro, Lenovo opted instead to have a bit of a lip at the top of the screen to accommodate the camera and security hardware. That said, the bezels around the screen are still on the thick side, so there doesn’t seem to be anything gained from that unusual design.

Designer: Lenovo

7. Prinker

We’ve already seen the Samsung-backed Prinker make its debut back in CES 2022 last January, and it has returned to once again show how well-thought design can also be fun and whimsical. Basically a handheld inkjet printer in the shape of a gigantic ink cartridge, Prinker offers almost endless fun in putting temporary tattoos on almost any part of your body.

What makes this product special is that it combines existing ideas and technologies in a way that creates a totally new experience, the marks of a great product design. Plus, it’s also fun and safe, a win-win situation for young people craving to add a bit of personalization and identity, even at the wildest of parties.

Designer: Prinker (Samsung)

8. Fauna

Sometimes, the best solutions are also the simplest and the most inconspicuous. That’s the kind of solution that Fauna’s audio sunglasses try to offer, solving multiple problems with a single and stylish product. Part eyewear and part open ear headphones, Fauna lets you enjoy your music while keeping safe and looking great, all at the same time.

This kind of integrated solution will be critical in the next few years, especially as technology becomes even more deeply embedded in our lives. Ordinary objects like eyeglasses, rings, and even clothing will soon be connected to a network thanks to technologies like 5G (or 6G even), flexible screens, and wearable circuitry. These, in turn, will pave the way for the so-called Metaverse to become as normal and as ordinary as the real universe.

Designer: Fauna

Wrap-up

Mobile technology and consumer devices have grown by leaps and bounds ever since the iPhone first came out more than a decade ago. Smartphones, tablets, and the accessories built around them have become almost unavoidable parts of modern life. There are no signs of things slowing down, which doesn’t bode well for humanity and the planet in the grand scheme of things. Fortunately, there are signs of things shifting for the better as well.

Just like at CES 2022, we saw positive indicators that both manufacturers and consumers are becoming more aware of how these devices have indirect effects on lives and the environment. From focusing on mental health in addition to physical fitness to embracing and promoting sustainable practices, the design of products, both physical and digital, are seemingly taking a turn for the better. While foldable phones, the Metaverse, and dozens of identical devices will continue to flood the market, there is at least some hope that the people pushing these products and technologies have grown more conscientious of the role they play in building a better future.

The post The Best of MWC 2022 – Product Design in a Mobile World first appeared on Yanko Design.

TCL foldable phone prototype can bend both ways and increase your worries

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Foldable phones are becoming mainstream, but we’re still a ways off from perfecting that technology. We’re still at a point where display makers and phone manufacturers are playing around with different materials and designs in the hopes of stumbling on the perfect solution. Given the devices from Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, and, most recently, OPPO, there seems to be consensus on how phones should fold, but that’s not stopping TCL from envisioning a foldable device that goes both ways to satisfy both camps, whether it’s actually feasible or not.

Designer: TCL

TCL might be a brand better known for TVs, monitors, and, in some markets, smartphones, but one of its biggest businesses is making displays for those kinds of devices. In the past years, it has even played around with the kind of screens that seemed to be the stuff of science fiction and props. It hasn’t launched such a device yet, but it has already dabbled in foldable and rollable phones that actually work, at least in prototype form.

That definitely seems to be the case this year at MWC 2022, when it showed off a TCL Ultra Flex prototype. At first glance, it looks like a typical foldable phone with a hinge in the middle, except for the absence of a second display on its back. You might presume, then, that this phone folds outward, like the very first Huawei Mate X. You’d only be half right because it actually folds inward and outward, depending on your mood.

A flexible screen that can fold in both directions is one of the dreams of display panel makers, and seeing it in action on an actual device feels almost surreal. This design would solve one of the biggest debates in the smartphone world over foldable phones where no clear winner exists yet. At the same time, however, it still keeps the door wide open over durability concerns and longevity.

A foldable device like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 or the newer OPPO Find N folds inward like a book, sometimes nicknamed an “innie” fold, which helps protect the relatively more fragile screen. This form, however, requires a secondary “Cover Screen” on the outside, or else the phone is completely unusable until you open it up. The opposite “outie” design, on the other hand, removes the need for that second display but risks exposing the foldable screen to the elements and potentially harmful objects.

Some might think that the solution would be to have it both ways, with a screen that can fold inward to protect the screen when necessary but also folds outside to keep the display always available when needed. This is pretty much the design of the Ultra Flex prototype phone that TCL is showing off at MWC 2022 in Barcelona this week. Unlike the more refined hinges of today’s foldable phones, the Ultra Flex uses what can be described as an “accordion” hinge that can fold 360 degrees. This almost sounds and looks like Lenovo’s old “watchband hinge” for its Yoga line of laptops, just less pretty.

The reason that even Samsung hasn’t tried this kind of 360-degree foldable display yet, at least not publicly, is due to the fragility of flexible screens. Bending them in one direction already puts some stress on the point of the fold. Allowing them to fold both ways increases the risk further. TCL may have figured out a way to reduce the stress, but it probably isn’t ready for prime time yet either. It definitely asks for a lot of trust for an unproven design that could break more easily than existing foldable phones. And considering how expensive those are right now, it’s probably not the right time to put out such a phone.

The post TCL foldable phone prototype can bend both ways and increase your worries first appeared on Yanko Design.

OPPO 5G CPE T2 Hub offers fast network speed and a sustainable design

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The power and potential of 5G haven’t really been achieved, but we can expect that in the coming years, more companies and tech giants will work together to make it happen. There are now dozens of 5G smartphones available in the market. 5G tablets are slowly joining the bandwagon. We’re hoping more 5G notebooks will also be ready in the near future.

Alongside these 5G devices, the 5G technology must also be checked, if not improved. This is happening; That is why we are also seeing other 5G gadgets, including this 5G Hub by OPPO. At this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (MWC 2022), OPPO has launched a number of new products. The OPPO 5G CPE T2 is built for the Internet experience. This 5G CPE device is not the first from the Chinese OEM. It’s a follow-up to the Omni and the OPPO 5G CPE T1.

Designer: OPPO

OPPO 5G CPE T2 Features

What makes this more interesting apart from the improved speed and other system enhancements is the fact that the company used recycled materials for the body. It also boasts an all-new design because, from a rectangular box, the new OPPO 5G hub is now a cylinder. The T2 also takes advantage of OPPO’s recent innovations, including the O-Reserve 2.0 smart antenna technology.

OPPO 5G CPE T2 MWC 2022

OPPO 5G CPE T2 Pricing

OPPO teamed up with Qualcomm to work on optimizations. The new 5G hub is poised to offer more stable and fast 5G connectivity. It’s mainly for home and office use, so you can now enjoy a 5G network as it is definitely more convenient and speedy compared to other Wi-Fi networks. It works well by converting the 5G signals into Wi-Fi or LAN connections. This way, multiple devices can connect.

OPPO 5G CPE T2 Featured Image

The 5G hub shares the 5G connection to more phones, tablets, and laptops at home or in other establishments. There may be areas that don’t have broadband but with 5G internet available. You can opt for the 5G network and just share connectivity with everyone.

This thing runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF system. OPPO did some optimizations to it, so data transfer speeds are faster. Compared to the platform’s baseline speed, the T2 is 20% faster. With additional research and collaboration with Qualcomm, OPPO can offer ultimate connectivity. The Snapdragon modem used enables the hub to work with numerous devices operating in different networks and markets.

The new antenna used by OPPO here is the O-Reserve 2.0 smart antenna technology. It’s able to keep high antenna gain in all directions, thanks to the eight antennas receiving signals. Only four antennas are actually used at once, depending on the signal strength and quality. The result is a super-fast downlink speed.

To compare, OPPO tested the speed when the O-reserve 2.0 is turned on/off. When enabled, download speed is faster by ten percent. OPPO also has the Wi-Fi Channel Selection Technology working and monitoring network channels in real-time. The goal is to always select the channels offering the fastest connection; that is why the hub is always at work.

OPPO’s latest 5G hub offers an innovative design and a sustainable build. It is easy-to-use and is very reliable if you’re really demanding a fast Internet connection. Its form makes it an artistic conversation starter, whether indoor or outdoor. It seems smart hubs and devices like the OPPO T2 are going for the minimalist look, and this one is a perfect example.

The cylindrical body in pure white color is a testament to the brand’s minimal design philosophy. The device comes with a textured surface which makes it stain-resistant and dust-proof. The hub’s simple form makes it an elegant gadget that can fit any interior. It definitely won’t be an eyesore with its simple but beautiful design.

OPPO 5G CPE T2 Where to Buy

The OPPO T2’s shape isn’t just for aesthetics. It serves a purpose as there is a central ring suction ventilator inside that helps dissipate the heat. When it comes to such a device, heat dissipation is important because long hours of non-stop usage can make it really warm. Gadgets heat up, but there are now effective cooling systems that can be implemented. If device components are working properly and are not heating up, the antenna and system performance will work as intended.

OPPO 5G CPE T2 Release

OPPO is starting to become friendlier with the environment. The materials used on the T2 are Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic, at least, on the body. This means OPPO is doing its part by supporting sustainability initiatives and helping to reduce carbon emissions. It’s about time these big OEMs help Mother Nature by working more on sustainability. Sustainable design is possible now without the quality being compromised, so we’re all in for this campaign.

OPPO 5G CPE T2 Availability

The post OPPO 5G CPE T2 Hub offers fast network speed and a sustainable design first appeared on Yanko Design.

HTC Viverse wants to make the Metaverse work seamlessly on any device

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The Metaverse is probably best enjoyed using a dedicated headset, but HTC’s idea is to make it available everywhere, including inside a car.

The term “Metaverse” has been thrown around before, but it was really Facebook, now rebranded as Meta, that really started hyping it up. Considering it also owns VR company Oculus, it’s really no surprise that it is focusing on that aspect of the experience. A true Metaverse, however, might actually require more than just one class of device to be truly immersive. That’s the spiel that HTC is making for its equally amorphous “Viverse,” but it shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that it also revolves around the company’s VR headsets.

Designer: HTC Vive

Vive and Oculus have long been rivals in the VR space and are the two biggest names when it comes to VR hardware. Some, however, might argue that, just like with its smartphone business, HTC has already silently left the race. Its presence at MWC 2022 tries to send a strong message that it is far from being down for the count, but, as expected, its message about the Metaverse still borders on being ambiguous.

At its simplest, the Metaverse is an amalgamation of physical reality and the digital realm, and it is best experienced with VR glasses. HTC’s spin on this concept, which it dubs “Viverse,” sounds and looks pretty familiar to what we’ve seen so far. It basically involves being dumped into a virtual world and interacting with avatars of other people, most of whom are represented in stylized or unrealistic characters.

What makes HTC’s vision slightly different from most Metaverse implementations is that it doesn’t want to be confined to just VR headsets. At the moment, it does work primarily on the Vive Flow, the company’s current flagship hardware, because that is the primary gateway into a virtual realm. Compared to typical VR headsets, the HTC Vive Flow is designed to be lightweight and even resemble sunglasses, just gigantic ones in comparison. The goal, however, is to make Viverse work on tablets, smartphones, and PCs, or basically anywhere that has a web browser that can run XR or eXtended Reality experiences, allowing anyone to jump into the virtual world at any time from any place.

Vive already has some of the scaffolding in place, thanks to its years in the VR market. It takes no effort, for example, for Viverse users to hold virtual meetings and parties thanks to Vive Sync and Engage. The Metaverse, however, also opens the door for more experiences, some of them naturally involving cryptocurrencies and NFTs. You can meet with a friend or loved one at a museum, presumably represented by how they really look in the real world, and buy an expensive piece of NFT art.

HTC also collaborated with a new partner to bring this Metaverse experience to transportation. More than just enjoying games and movies in cars, holoride can associate the vehicle’s movement and direction with what happens in the virtual world. There could be a new experience at every turn, literally. This experience could be available as early as the second half of 2022.

Vive’s MWC 2022 booth showcases the seeds of the Viveverse, which HTC admits is still in the conceptualization stage. Some features, like Sync and Engage, have already been in use for years, while others still need some time to become a reality. Whether HTC will last long enough to see the vision’s fulfillment is a different question entirely.

For all the hype and criticism it gets, the Metaverse does have the potential to change the way we live, how products are designed, and how we experience the world. Many implementations, including HTC Viverse, try to focus on the social aspects of the platform, allowing people to get closer despite being apart. Ironically, as the MWC 2022 showroom floor also demonstrates, the VR headsets we don to experience this Metaverse can actually be isolating, at least from the people already within your vicinity. Opening up the Metaverse to more devices will help free people from those restraints and make this mashed-up reality a bit more realistic.

The post HTC Viverse wants to make the Metaverse work seamlessly on any device first appeared on Yanko Design.

HTC’s Project Proton AR headsets make you look like Ant-Man (and there’s some logic to it)

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HTC’s ambitious Project Proton does something very remarkable not for augmented reality technology, but rather for how we perceive AR tech. Project Proton was supposed to form a part of HTC’s announcement at the now-canceled Mobile World Congress. It expands on HTC’s Vive Cosmos headset, which offers the ability to work with Mixed Reality by using cameras on the headset that capture the outside world for the eyes on the inside. Here’s the problem with headsets though (and I’ve said this before)… they look horrible.

It isn’t the fact that they just look horrible, AR and VR headsets are literally a visual disconnect from the world. You know how you hesitate to talk to someone who has headphones on? Imagine that hesitation with someone who has a black toaster strapped to their face as they interact with virtual objects, looking almost like demented zombies in the real world. Face to face conversations become very difficult when there isn’t a face to look at, but HTC’s Project Proton could solve that. The mixed reality headset concept actually borrows from eyewear, and is designed to look like a pair of skiing goggles (or a popular Marvel superhero’s mask) rather than a black box that blocks 70% of your face. The design is split into two, with tinted pieces of glass covering the headset’s two ‘eyes’. Just like when you’re talking to people with heavily tinted sunglasses, you don’t see their eyes, but it’s still easy to have a conversation with them because the sunglasses are structured in a way that allows your brain to put two and two together to perceive someone’s face. By using two tinted eyepieces styled in a way to look like voguish glares, HTC’s hoping to make Mixed Reality headsets that still keep you grounded in reality… even more so by shaping how people around you perceive you.

The company hasn’t officially released any information on the Proton headsets, but I assume a press-release with specs, a price-tag, and launch date should be underway.

Designer: HTC

TCL is working on an expandable phone with a ‘scroll-style’ sliding display

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These images that were leaked to CNET show that TCL could have possibly unveiled the most interesting phone of the year in a week. You’re looking at the world’s first phone with a sliding/scrolling flexible display courtesy TCL, which they would debut at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. Sadly the trade show was canceled on account of concerns regarding the Coronavirus outbreak in China, but that hasn’t stopped TCL from getting everyone’s eyes on this new breed of smartphone.

Think of TCL’s sliding phones as an interpretation of those scrolling advertisement boards you see at bus-stops or airports. The phone comes with a large display that’s partially hidden from view. Pull the phone’s two halves apart and the screen expands, like you’re unrolling a scroll. The concept, in theory, circumvents the folding smartphone’s biggest problem by eliminating the hinge and that unsightly crease. It does, however, raise a few concerns because the screen expands, but the glass above it doesn’t. The phone comes with the flexible display curved around the sides, in classic ‘waterfall display’ fashion, and a two-part telescopic body with a parting line clearly visible on the back, right beside the triple-lens camera. Just like you’d flip open a folding smartphone, you’d be required to pull the two halves of this phone apart and the screen ‘magically’ expands to go from a traditional smartphone display to a more tablet-esque format… all without worrying about over-engineered hinges, and unsightly creases. How viable this new format is, and whether this makes the phone more vulnerable to damage than folding phones, all that’s still to be determined… but it’s great to see that the smartphone industry isn’t afraid to think out of the box and make bold moves in the name of innovation!

Designer: TCL

Sony and Amazon Will Not Attend the MWC 2020

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The recent outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China and elsewhere in the world seems to have dampened the Mobile World Congress 2020, to be held in Barcelona, Spain. Sony and amazon are among the many companies that have declined to participate at the event as many of their delegates would have traveled to China. Previously, Ericsson, NVIDIA, ZTE, LG and other companies have similarly cancelled their participation at the MWC. 

Sony and Amazon both pull out of MWC 2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus to be a global health emergency. Sony announced its plans to cancel its participation at the MWC 2020 by explaining it is concerned about the health and wellbeing of its customers, partners, media and employees. It also noted that the decision was very difficult, and seemed to express its regret and helplessness. 

Amazon too expressed similar concerns and announced that it would be pulling off from the event. It has not had a huge presence in the MWC in the past anyway. However, it is a big company and its presence would have attracted visitors to the event. Amazon also did not have huge plans to unveil any sort of consumer devices. Its participation would have merely been symbolic. However, Sony had planned to unveil products at the MWC 2020, as it has done in the past. Now, the tech giant plans to announce its latest products on its Xperia YouTube channel. 

Participants who have visited China or are from China may not be allowed into the event

Participants from China face severe restrictions to attend the event. Organizers will not allow those who hail from China’s Hubei province to enter the event. This ban applies to anybody who has visited the province as well. Those who have visited other parts of China will need to prove that they have been outside China for at least 14 days before attending the event. With this in mind, many Chinese companies have already announced that they will not be attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. 

Is the event going to be a flop?

Considering all these cancelations, one might wonder just how successful the MWC 2020 is going to be. Most likely, the visitors’ numbers will also drop down drastically, as their favorite companies will not be participating. It is not clear how successful or unsuccessful the event is going to be this time. There is a great chance that the event will receive a very tepid response from participants, media, visitors and delagates. 

The post Sony and Amazon Will Not Attend the MWC 2020 appeared first on Walyou.

The five-camera Nokia 9 PureView hits the US March 3rd

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HMD Global isn't wasting much time with the Nokia 9 PureView. While it just announced the phone, which has five rear cameras, a few days ago at Mobile World Congress, it will start selling the handset in the US March 3rd. If you're interested, it mig...

Huawei’s folding phone marks an interesting turning point for Android

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As of now, we stand at a rather interesting junction. Samsung, Huawei, Apple. These three companies are the largest manufacturers of phones, and up until now, the leading two were playing catch-up to Apple in terms of innovative design. With Huawei’s Mate X, we can officially say that the two companies have finally moved onto bigger, more different things. Following Samsung’s Galaxy Fold launch, the Mate X is the world’s second-biggest smartphone maker’s attempt at folding phones.

The Mate X features a display that’s slightly different from Samsung’s Galaxy Fold. In the Galaxy Fold, you’ve got a flexible screen that folds inwards, hiding from view when closed. The Mate X does the opposite. The screen bends outwards, splitting into two when the phone is closed. Measuring 6.6″ on the back, 6.38″ on the front, and 8″ in total when unfolded, the phone is essentially a phablet when opened up, and a regular, albeit thick, smartphone when closed. It features a triple Leica camera layout that’s embedded in the phone’s thick side notch (not a bezel notch, but rather a thick spine), a fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button, 8Gb RAM, 512Gb internal storage, a 4,500mAh battery, and also comes with 5G connectivity, something Huawei has positioned itself to be a pioneer in.

I doubt these phones will make a dent in iPhone sales, given that they cost double of what the iPhone costs, but it does raise a significant question. What’s Apple’s next move? And more importantly, are flexible displays even going to catch on?? The burning question in my head remains “how do I put a screen protector or a case on these phones?”

Designer: Huawei