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MWC Revisited: Virtual reality is here to stay
With Mobile World Congress done and dusted, it's time to take stock of what we've seen over the past week. Sure, we were treated to the usual menagerie of mobile devices, but for the second year running, virtual reality played a big part of the proceedings. Here's our official scorecard for the new, not-actually-that-mobile part of Mobile World Congress.
MWC Revisited: The best phones in Barcelona this year
The booths have been dismantled, the bigwigs have boarded their planes and the doors have been closed. That's a wrap for Mobile World Congress 2016. Now that our team has had a chance to kick back and reflect on the mobile maelstrom we've just waded through, meet the four smartphones (in no particular order) that stole our hearts and stole the show.
The MWC wind-down: what Engadget (and friends) really thought
It's been a long, long week in Barcelona. Phones were launched. VR was everywhere. And there was a spherical, laser-touting robot, too. Because why not? With so much ground passing under our feet throughout this week, there was a lot to talk about. With all the news in the bag, though, just one thing remained on our task list: to make like a tree and get outta here. Time for a well-earned cola light, a tapa or two ... and a chance to talk it over. Join us below!
Freetel is fighting to find a US niche for its mid-range phones
If you take a look at who's making reasonably priced unlocked phones for the US, you'll see Chinese names like ZTE and Huawei pop up a lot. Freetel — a Japanese smartphone maker — wants in on that game, and it hopes a touch of Japanese design philosophy will help it stand out in a far-flung market that's notoriously tough to squeeze into. That's partially the idea behind announcing the Rei, a $249 Marshmallow-powered device that they expect to launch in the US within 6 to 7 weeks.
Microsoft's budget Lumia 650 finds a few ways to impress
Microsoft's Lumia 950 wasn't a bad phone, just one that didn't seem to live up to its potential (when we tested it, anyway). We've encountered some stunners since then, but Microsoft's latest effort — the Lumia 650 — manages to impress despite its modest aspirations.
Samsung proves why 5G is necessary with a robot arm
We've been hearing murmurs about 5G for years now, but it seems like this Mobile World Congress is the one where companies have started to get serious about it. Samsung and Deutsche Telekom, for example, put together a 5G demo that shows off how the technology is a serious upgrade from today's 4G LTE networks. The big takeaway? "Faster" means many different things.
Stripe wants to help you start a business in the US
Mobile payments platform Stripe has launched a new product that lets anyone in the world start their own business in the US. Stripe Atlas is designed to enable people or, more likely, startups from around the globe to get a foothold in America. Once you've paid a $500 one-off fee, Stripe will incorporate a domestic subsidiary of your business in Delaware. In addition, you'll be automatically enrolled with the IRS, as well as having an account opened for you at the Silicon Valley Bank.
Mad Catz has a gaming pad for Samsung's Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
Now that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are officially out of the bag, it's time for peripheral makers to introduce products for Samsung's latest flagship smartphones. Not surprisingly, Mad Catz is spearheading that movement. The company has brought a refreshed version of its S.U.R.F.R mobile gamepad and media keyboard to Mobile World Congress 2016, and it works perfectly with the new S7 and S7 Edge. While the add-on has been around since last year, this model is part of Mad Catz's recent commitment to the Designed for Samsung program, an effort by the Korean tech giant to offer quality control guidelines for accessories.
ZTE's Android projector/tablet combo is crazy like a fox
Even more intriguing than new mid-range phones is ZTE's Spro Plus, which might just be the craziest projector design I've seen yet. The company basically managed to fit an 8.4-inch Android tablet right on top of a projector. And while that may sound a tad useless, it's actually a convenient way to access video content without relying on another device. It's like the inverse of Lenovo's Yoga Tab 3 Pro, an Android tablet with a built-in pico projector.
Hands-on with ZTE's stylish Blade V7 mid-range phones
ZTE proved it could make a killer-looking device with last year's Axon, and now it's bringing some of that design work down to its mid-range Blade line. This week at Mobile World Congress, the Chinese company unveiled the Blade V7 and Blade V7 Lite, both of which feature metallic cases. And yes, they both look very familiar.
Up close and personal with Xiaomi's gorgeous Mi 5
After a few minutes playing with Xiaomi's Mi 5, a thought runs through my head: "I really shouldn't be surprised." The company has found enormous success in its native China, to the point that new allotments of phones sell out in minutes. Since Xiaomi phones have virtually no presence in the United States (or the Western Hemisphere, for that matter), my previous experience with them was limited to fits of fondling in Hong Kong phone shops. Xiaomi just held its first European press conference here at Mobile World Congress and brought new Mi 5s to share, and now — finally — I get the appeal.
Jolla's 'Aqua Fish' phone quietly surfaces at MWC
So this is a surprise. Jolla, the Finnish mobile company known for its gesture-based Sailfish OS, quietly showed up to MWC with a new handset called "Aqua Fish." The Sailfish-based phone is the result of its partnership with Indian firm Intex Technologies. Aqua Fish is the first handset to come out of Jolla's licensing ambitions, which the Finnish company launched after its fumbled crowdfunded tablet launch.
LG's cute Rolling Bot takes a casual stroll at MWC
LG has a new friend for its G5 flagship smartphone. LG named it Rolling Bot. Rolling Bot is cute, though right now it doesn't do very much. You can control it with a G5, but it moves very slow -- so slow. There's a laser in it, so your cat will probably love it.
Xiaomi's latest mid-range phone is a sequel to the popular Mi 4
Xiaomi global VP Hugo Barra just rolled into a Barcelona press event on a hoverboard, but the company already unveiled its new devices at a companion event in Beijing. Beyond the high-end Mi 5 and its Snapdragon 820 chipset, we've also got Xiaomi's Mi 4s, a more-than-modest update to the very popular Mi 4. Seriously: Something like 16 million Mi 4 phones have been sold since its launch two years ago, and Xiaomi is clearly hoping to capture some more of that lightning in a bottle.
Xiaomi's 'most beautiful' flagship rocks a Snapdragon 820
As promised, Xiaomi has unwrapped its new flagship phone for us here at Mobile World Congress. The Mi 5 is the long-awaited successor to the Mi 4 from 2014, which took a backseat to the Mi Note and Mi Note Pro last year. The new handset runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, a beefy processor that only breached the market in January. Every Mi 5 sports a 5.15-inch 1080p display, but you can choose between the regular model with 3GB of RAM -- coupled with either 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage -- and the Pro version, which comes with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of space. Display aside, the latter is an absolute beast of a phone, at least on paper.
Here's our first look at the HTC Vive consumer edition
After announcing that the consumer version of the Vive VR headset will be going on sale for $799, HTC finally let us get a close look at its hardware today at Mobile World Congress. For the most part, it looks a lot like the Vive Pre we saw back at CES, but HTC says it reworked the headband and added other tweaks to make it a lot more ergonomic. We weren't able to touch the headset (by threat of tackling), so we can't say if it actually feels any different. Pre-orders for the Vive will begin on February 29th, and it'll start shipping out in early April. Chris Velazco contributed to this report.
A one-man protest at Mobile World Congress
Conferences like Mobile World Congress are typically exciting times. Details of glitzy product launches and demos fill websites and newspapers with promises of a better tomorrow. While the world watches Barcelona, though, groups are taking the opportunity to highlight other causes. Public transport workers, for example, are striking this week in the city, causing widespread disruption. It's an effective bargaining chip for those upset with their contracts, as attendees at the world's largest mobile conference have seen simple 10-minute subway journeys turn into two-hour traffic jams.
Exploring Barcelona's greatest museum with Project Tango
Lenovo and Google are hard at work on the first consumer-friendly Project Tango smartphone, but actually building the thing isn't the only hurdle that needs clearing. The bigger problem is an existential one: How do these huge companies convince people that spatial-sensing smartphones are worth buying over another shiny flagship? The key is building fun, useful experiences that are possible only with the fine-grained location data Tango devices can capture, and I got to play with a couple on a field trip to Barcelona's gorgeous Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.
ICYMI: Tricksy smartphones, fake kidney implants and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170{width:100%;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170").style.display="none";}catch(e){} #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-25170").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Brand new Mobile World Congress smartphones can both take heat map selfies and charge your phone with a power pack using salt and water (aka break-up tears). Vanderbilt University researchers developed an artificial kidney that uses the patient's own kidney cells to filter blood and avoid rejection. And it turns out cancer cells get healthy cells to to join their tumor party by engaging in some old-fashioned arm-twisting. Researchers recorded cancer cells extending fibers to reel other cells in and it is not a pretty sight.
Facebook's latest VR video innovation is a big deal
Streaming video in virtual reality, as with just about everything, isn't easy to pull off well. The experience of watching 360-degree videos in VR usually comes in one of two flavors: grainy and blurry or high-quality but slow-loading. But Facebook's recently announced dynamic streaming technology for the Gear VR could change all that. Basically, it uses several copies of a video in multiple resolutions to make sure you're looking at the highest-quality version possible, while video on your periphery is lower-quality. The kicker? It makes those adjustments on the fly, as you move your head around the scene. After seeing the dynamic streaming technology in action, it definitely feels like something that every VR platform needs.
