Philip Clayson, from the IET's Multimedia and Communications Network, shares his highlights from MWC2014 below:
"Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 was alive with exciting new developments and product launches across every sector, led by an outstanding Keynote from Marc Zuckerberg talking about the WhatsApp acquisition and much more.
Across MWC connected devices were widespread, from in-car systems to a massive increase in wearable technology since the Consumer Electronics Show back in January alone. The latest Samsung phone was launched during MWC, further cementing Samsung’s growing market share in the convergence of voice and video in the consumer and professional space. MWC14 had something interesting for every part of Mobile industry.
The rise in apps was also clearly evident, including, for me, the best new innovative and mind changing thinking in many years - a complete replacement for the QWERTY keyboard.
Talking to the team at 5-tiles was an education. They told us that the QWERTY keyboard we all know and use was actually designed to slow our typing down to allow the keys and bars of the old typewriter world to not get tangled. No one has really challenged this thinking for decades, even mobile devices still need hard or soft keyboards.
So, think about your wearable (alright so you don’t have one yet) but think about trying to type your email on something the size of a digital watch. You can’t!. 5-tiles have created a new way of having a “keyboard” without the QWERTY keys, and at the same time, having a library of all the international character sets immediately available (no switching, no selecting). That single development has the potential to unlock wearable’s for the masses in usability terms, and change a shift in our typing behaviours. "
Did you also attend MWC in Barcelona? What were your highlights? Tell us below....