OUTER space and the Bronze Age do not sit well in the same sentence – they may both have existed at the same time, but anyone based on Earth back then would not have known much, or anything, about what lies beyond.
Mobile World Congress 2022 opens in Barcelona
01/03/2022
PROBABLY the most famous and futuristic techno fair on earth, the Mobile World Congress is now open again in Barcelona – just nine months after the last one.
Showcasing household names in digital and telecommunications industries – as well as up-and-coming brands – the Mobile World Congress (MWC) always offers a glimpse into what life could be like for later generations: Flying cars and virtual reality goggles are only the start, and inventions road-tested at this massive trade fair have even included beehives connected to the internet.
Barcelona is under contract to host the MWC until at least the 2024 edition, although the organisers might decide to renew the deal for another few years after that, unless they believe the fair would benefit from rotating venues.
Spain's second-largest city, home to the MWC since 2006, will probably work hard to try to keep it, given that until the start of the pandemic, it had brought in around €4.8 billion for the local economy.
Normally, hotels in the metropolitan area are fully booked up for the MWC dates, visitors top 100,000 and temporary jobs created for the duration of the fair reach five-figure numbers.
It has always been held around late February or early March, but 2019 was the last year this was the case – the MWC was all set to open in February 2020 and 'Covid protocol' was not yet an issue, as only a very small number of isolated cases had been detected in Europe among returning travellers who had been diagnosed and quarantined in time.
But as the Coronavirus crisis had forced total lockdowns in China, with cases starting to appear in neighbouring countries, and given that many of the telecomms giants who would usually be at the MWC are based in east Asia, a significant number of them opted not to travel to Europe as a precaution.
With so many exhibitors pulling out, the MWC was not considered viable for 2020 on financial, rather than health, grounds; little did the organisers realise that within less than a month, Spain, too, would be in full lockdown after Covid entered Europe.
The 2021 MWC was not looking likely to take place either, but the management opted to move it to late June and early July, when the warmer weather would mean less viral activity and the vaccine roll-out would be well under way.
From the 2019 figure of 2,400 companies exhibiting, last year's shrank to 700, although partly due to travel restrictions imposed either by Spain or their own countries, and for the first time, 'virtual' attendance was introduced, meaning thousands of corporate visitors and individuals were able to join in remotely.
Officially opened on Monday and running until Thursday night (March 3), the 2022 MWC will be as close to normality as can be expected – better than 2021, but still not quite up to numbers of 2019 – with double last year's number of exhibitors, at around 1,500, and at least 40,000 visitors.
Whilst previous MWCs have seen exhibitors, professionals and individuals from up to 198 different countries converging on the venue, about 100 nationalities were reported in 2021 – again, the figure is expected to be midway between the two extremes in 2022, with people attending from about 150 countries.
Many of those who pulled out of the 2020 MWC or only participated via video-conference in 2021 are now back, in person, in Barcelona.
Those demonstrating their latest technology and functions on the opening day included China-based mobile manufacturers TCL, Realme, Honor and Xiaomi, along with OPPO which showcased its new fast phone charger – able to replenish 50% of the battery in five minutes and 100% in under 10.
These came in the shape of the 150W SuperVooc TM with Battery Health Engine (BHE) and the 240W SuperVooc TM.
TCL presented its newest model, the TCL 30; Xiaomi displayed its brand-new POCO X4 Pro 5G and POCO M4 Pro, whilst Realme's focus was on its latest GT 2 and its first top-brand model, the GT 2 Pro.
Nokia, also present, displayed its new C-series mobiles – very economically-priced devices that incorporate Android 11 Go Edition operating systems – being the C2 second edition, the C21 and the C21 Plus.
Lenovo, Samsung and Huawei presented their latest laptops, and Honor announced the world release of its Honor Magic 4 and Magic 4 Pro mobiles, its GS 3 SmartWatch and bluetooth headphones, the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro.
Samsung also announced its commitment to continuing working with market leaders, including chip providers, Cloud platforms and servers, in order to expand its 5G and vRAN systems.
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PROBABLY the most famous and futuristic techno fair on earth, the Mobile World Congress is now open again in Barcelona – just nine months after the last one.
Showcasing household names in digital and telecommunications industries – as well as up-and-coming brands – the Mobile World Congress (MWC) always offers a glimpse into what life could be like for later generations: Flying cars and virtual reality goggles are only the start, and inventions road-tested at this massive trade fair have even included beehives connected to the internet.
Barcelona is under contract to host the MWC until at least the 2024 edition, although the organisers might decide to renew the deal for another few years after that, unless they believe the fair would benefit from rotating venues.
Spain's second-largest city, home to the MWC since 2006, will probably work hard to try to keep it, given that until the start of the pandemic, it had brought in around €4.8 billion for the local economy.
Normally, hotels in the metropolitan area are fully booked up for the MWC dates, visitors top 100,000 and temporary jobs created for the duration of the fair reach five-figure numbers.
It has always been held around late February or early March, but 2019 was the last year this was the case – the MWC was all set to open in February 2020 and 'Covid protocol' was not yet an issue, as only a very small number of isolated cases had been detected in Europe among returning travellers who had been diagnosed and quarantined in time.
But as the Coronavirus crisis had forced total lockdowns in China, with cases starting to appear in neighbouring countries, and given that many of the telecomms giants who would usually be at the MWC are based in east Asia, a significant number of them opted not to travel to Europe as a precaution.
With so many exhibitors pulling out, the MWC was not considered viable for 2020 on financial, rather than health, grounds; little did the organisers realise that within less than a month, Spain, too, would be in full lockdown after Covid entered Europe.
The 2021 MWC was not looking likely to take place either, but the management opted to move it to late June and early July, when the warmer weather would mean less viral activity and the vaccine roll-out would be well under way.
From the 2019 figure of 2,400 companies exhibiting, last year's shrank to 700, although partly due to travel restrictions imposed either by Spain or their own countries, and for the first time, 'virtual' attendance was introduced, meaning thousands of corporate visitors and individuals were able to join in remotely.
Officially opened on Monday and running until Thursday night (March 3), the 2022 MWC will be as close to normality as can be expected – better than 2021, but still not quite up to numbers of 2019 – with double last year's number of exhibitors, at around 1,500, and at least 40,000 visitors.
Whilst previous MWCs have seen exhibitors, professionals and individuals from up to 198 different countries converging on the venue, about 100 nationalities were reported in 2021 – again, the figure is expected to be midway between the two extremes in 2022, with people attending from about 150 countries.
Many of those who pulled out of the 2020 MWC or only participated via video-conference in 2021 are now back, in person, in Barcelona.
Those demonstrating their latest technology and functions on the opening day included China-based mobile manufacturers TCL, Realme, Honor and Xiaomi, along with OPPO which showcased its new fast phone charger – able to replenish 50% of the battery in five minutes and 100% in under 10.
These came in the shape of the 150W SuperVooc TM with Battery Health Engine (BHE) and the 240W SuperVooc TM.
TCL presented its newest model, the TCL 30; Xiaomi displayed its brand-new POCO X4 Pro 5G and POCO M4 Pro, whilst Realme's focus was on its latest GT 2 and its first top-brand model, the GT 2 Pro.
Nokia, also present, displayed its new C-series mobiles – very economically-priced devices that incorporate Android 11 Go Edition operating systems – being the C2 second edition, the C21 and the C21 Plus.
Lenovo, Samsung and Huawei presented their latest laptops, and Honor announced the world release of its Honor Magic 4 and Magic 4 Pro mobiles, its GS 3 SmartWatch and bluetooth headphones, the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro.
Samsung also announced its commitment to continuing working with market leaders, including chip providers, Cloud platforms and servers, in order to expand its 5G and vRAN systems.
Related Topics
You may also be interested in ...
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