Top trends at 2014 Mobile World Congress

The last month was quite exciting for tech enthusiasts, the icing on the cake being the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This year saw Mark Zuckerberg justifying Facebook's $19-billion acquisition of WhatsApp, Nokia finally falling for the charms of Android and the explosion in form factors, among other things. Abhik Sen highlights the key takeaways from the hub of mobiles

Android is king
Those aspiring to own smartphones essentially belong to two categories - those who swear by Apple and those who swear at the Cupertino-based company. But not all those who swear by Apple can afford their devices, especially in developing countries. For such customers, an Android device makes a lot of sense. They get similar features at roughly one-third the price.

Most phones showcased at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) ran on Google's OS, a testimony to the popularity of Android. Nokia seems to have woken up to this truth finally. A Nokia running on Android had been the demand/dream for many people and a rumour till a few days ago. At MWC, Nokia took the wraps off the X range - budget Android handsets bundled with Microsoft services such as SkyDrive. While users won't have access to the Google Play store on the X, X+ and XL, they will be able to sideload apps on these dual SIM devices. The interface of this forked version of Android, though, is similar to that on the Lumia. And the XL+ has a massive five-inch display, following current trends.

Bigger is better
Smartphones have been getting bigger by the day. At this year's MWC, LG showcased the G Pro 2, which has a massive 5.9-inch screen. They weren't the only ones, HTC showed off the Desire 816, with a 5.5-inch screen. Those of us who've been following the goings on in the mobile world would call these form factors phablets, but this term is increasingly falling out of favour with the younger lot, who insist they are just smartphones. While Samsung already has a 6.3-inch monster in its line-up, this year's refresh of their flagship, the S5, sports a 5.1-inch screen, clearly showing that big is in. And just to drive home the point, Sony's new flagship, the Z2, sports a 5.2-inch screen.

Wearable wellness

  In case you're wondering if it'll be a pain to pull out the big phones mentioned above each time you take a call, help is at hand. Samsung showcased its second generation of wearable devices the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo (this one is sans camera and powered by Samsung's Tizen OS), which helps one take calls without pulling the phone out of one's pocket. They weren't the only ones. Huawei took the wraps off their TalkBand B1, which they claim can be paired with other Android and iOS devices as well. Huawei also bundles in a pedometer with the NFC-enabled TalkBand, which can also monitor sleep patterns. The TalkBand can also be used as a wireless headset.

While the Gear already had some fitness apps, Samsung also debuted the Gear Fit, with a built-in pedometer, accelerometer, gyroscope and heart rate sensors. It reads notifications from Galaxy smartphones. In fact, Samsung's flagship S5 also features a built-in heart rate monitor along with a biometric sensor.

Sony, a pioneer in wearable tech, had a few aces up its sleeve. It had on display a concept called the Lifelog wearable camera, which one can wear around one's neck. The camera clicks pictures automatically as soon as it detects a change in surroundings.

The other device Sony showcased was the SmartBand tracker. The device can be worn on the wrist and acts as part pedometer and part lifestyle tracker. The device (which essentially is a pebble-shaped tracker called the Core and a rubber band) syncs with the Lifelog app, which can collate data from phone-based software and sensors such as Facebook, camera apps, GPS radio and the like to paint a detailed digital picture of you. So, you know what you're doing, when, and with whom. Not the best scenario in these times.

A connected world
At his keynote address, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg explained Internet.org as "a global partnership dedicated to making internet access available to the two-thirds of the world not yet connected". Essentially, Internet.org will try to bring affordable basic web services - messaging, Facebook, weather updates and Wikipedia - to people in emerging countries. They plan to provide a sampler of the power of the web by teaming up with local telecom firms.

The event also showcased devices which can help in the proliferation of the internet, for example the $25 Firefox phone. Running on Firefox OS by browser firm Mozilla, the device is essentially an advanced feature phone. Speaking of which, Nokia unveiled the 220 and the Asha 230, their latest entry-level offerings.

 

Browser firm Opera, which will have browsers on the Nokia X line as well, also unveiled an app called Opera Max, which, the company claims, will cut down data charges by 50 per cent. For India, it announced Web Pass, an internet subscription package which can be bought directly on their browsers. Opera has tied up with Vodafone and Idea to provide this package.

The rest
Besides the usual launches and showcases, the event also saw tech firms going all out to capture the fluid form factors. Thus, we had an AMD-powered Windows tablet running a version of Android using BlueStacks, Lenovo showcasing its Yoga hybrids, HP with its range of ElitePad business tabs and 360° hinged laptops and Asus with its entire range of hybrids on display. Among chipset makers, Qualcomm showed off a 64-bit processor. Chinese manufacturer Gionee, present in India, had on show the world's slimmest Android phone, the ELIFE 5.5, which is just 5.5-mm thick. The company plans to launch the handset in India later this month.