Cell World Congress—or simply MWC—isn’t certainly one of our favourite commerce reveals simply because it’s located within the stunning metropolis of Barcelona throughout a seasonally acceptable time of 12 months. (Low-cost cava and tapas don’t have something to do with it both.) No, this present is a favourite as a result of it’s one of many best to navigate, and there’s all the time loads of fascinating, enjoyable, or simply plain loopy tech to scavenge by way of.
This 12 months, such bounty consists of transparent laptops, bendable telephones, a Barbie flip cellphone, and extra. Listed below are the highlights.
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HMD Rebrands (Form of) and Teases a Barbie Cellphone
HMD was presupposed to be the rebirth of Nokia telephones again when it made a splash at MWC 2017, however it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the corporate misplaced steam and it was clear that the Nokia model title wouldn’t actually compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple anymore. HMD as an alternative put its give attention to finances Android telephones over the previous few years and its characteristic cellphone enterprise. At MWC, it introduced that 2023 was the corporate’s first worthwhile 12 months, and now it’s making an attempt to alter issues up with a rebrand. First is the title—it’s leaning extra on “Human Cell Units” (the total model of its acronym) as an alternative of HMD. This 12 months’s lineup of units will embody an HMD cellphone, an iconic Nokia cellphone, plus a Barbie flip cellphone.
Yep, you heard that proper. HMD is collaborating with Mattel to launch a Barbie characteristic flip cellphone. It’ll be coming this summer season, will clearly be pink, and is being touted as a digital detox machine. That’s all we all know. The one photos of all of the teased telephones had been pixelated.
What we do learn about HMD’s different cellphone is that it’s going to revolve round a system referred to as HMD Fusion. Just like Motorola’s Moto Mods or Google’s long-lost Project Ara, it appears like a system of modular elements that builders can construct for the smartphone, from an prolonged battery and a barcode scanner to a cost terminal to medical gear. It launched a toolkit that developers can use to get began.
HMD additionally had a giant give attention to repairability—it expects half of its units launched globally this 12 months to be repairable. However this summer season, it says it should have a system that dramatically reduces the variety of steps it takes to repair a cracked display.
Motorola Bends a Cellphone, and Debuts Sensible Join
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Late final 12 months at Lenovo’s Tech World occasion, Motorola unveiled a bendable idea cellphone referred to as the Adaptive Show. I bought an opportunity to mess around with it at MWC. It appears to be like and appears like its Razr folding telephones, besides as an alternative of getting a hinge that snaps the cellphone closed exactly in half, you may bend the entire thing backward.
