Last week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, showcased the world's best and brightest in portable devices. We trawl the the hundreds of announcements, discounting hype and hoopla, to home in, on the truly meaningful technology that will soon impact users in India.
1. Wear it smart!
Broadcom, the US company that rolls out telecom chip solutions, launched a new smart watch platform that will soon have device makers, combine 3G, GPS, camera, tap-and-pay and wireless charging on the next generation of smart wearable devices. These devices will mostly work on the Android Wear system, but at much lower power from a built in battery. They will also tap into WIFi and Bluetooth wherever available.
LG has decided to move away from Android to its own wearable operating system. At Barcelona it unveiled the LG Watch Urbane, the industry's first smartwatch working at 4G speeds and combining the functions of a sports watch and a phone. And looks-wise, it is a classic throwback, a departure from the clunky wearables of its competitors.
2. Ungli chaap is back!
The best password is the one we’re born with, feels Qualcomm. Which is why the company has launched the mobile industry's first industry’s first 3D fingerprint authentication technology based on ultrasonic technology.
Called Snapdragon Sense ID, creates a detailed map of the minute details within our fingerprints. With many of us increasingly using our phones for payments, it is time we beefed up the security on our handsets and this new technology uses sound waves to directly penetrate the outer layers of skin, detecting three-dimensional details and unique fingerprint characteristics, including fingerprint ridges and sweat pores that are not possible to detect with current technologies. The result is a highly detailed map of the fingerprint which is difficult to imitate or spoof. By next year this will be available on many new phones.
3. All together now!
From Taiwan, fabless chip maker MediaTek brought a solution that seems almost magical literally! Wave your hand and you can share both hardware and software on one device like your phone with other gadgets like music player, TV, digital camera, seamlessly transferring sound and pictures any way you like. It's called Crossmount and once the MediaTek chip is embedded in upcoming infotainment devices, you can make them can talk to each other with simple gestures, so all your technology can work together as one.
4. Need for speed
Intel's new Atom x3 System-on-a-chip, is poised to bring 4G LTE speeds to the simplest entry-level phones. It does this by whipping together key hardware for smartphones, phablets and tablets into a single 64-bit chip. Imagine finding a 5MP and a 13 MP camera on a cheap feature phone! The x3 SoC will make it happen
Daadi maa special
And finally in the rush to bring out the thinnest, flashiest phone, many makers have forgotten the significant market commanded by the over-50s. With help from Cambridge University, a German company has created the emporia CONNECT, an incredible simple and intuitive phone for senior citizens with swipes replacing many function keys and voice prompts assisting those who can't remember complex key sequences.
It also features an-industry first removable keyboard. Even the charger is special – with a handle to ensure that the microUSB cannot be incorrectly inserted, causing damage to the device. The phone is not yet available in India, but the makers they will soon target emerging markets.
