What to Expect From the Mobile World Congress

The Mobile World Congress, the behemoth Barcelona-based trade show, kicks off next week. Traditionally, hardware makers use the MWC to announce new mobile hardware, as opposed to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which is just so 2005. So, what can you expect in 2016?

Virtual Reality

Last year, wearables were expected to be all the rage, but virtual reality stole the show. HTC and Valve showed off the Vive for the first time, blowing everyone away. Meanwhile, Samsung showed off the Gear VR, currently a must-have accessory for Galaxy device owners. Now it’s 2016, and you should expect more of the same, from a slew of software demos for Oculus Rift games, to third-party accessory makers creating their own version of the Gear VR or Google Cardboard. Just slide your phone in and enjoy the ride.

Wearables

The smart watch isn’t quite dead, but it sure hasn’t caught on with the masses. Apple has already reduced the price by a Benjamin in anticipation of the Apple Watch 2, expected to be revealed at an Apple event in March — that’s SOP for AAPL. Look for the competition to swarm the halls of the MWC as they try to stake their claim to the category no one seems ready to win, at least not yet. The battle is not just for your wrist — smart shoes are on the way as well.

Flagship Phones

It’s been a long time since we really got excited over a new handset announcement. As mobile app developers in San Francisco, we still get that fluttery feeling when we see new form factors for the iPhone, but since iPhone 1, it’s been diminishing returns. Every phone feels so… similar. Everything is a touch screen rectangle. So we’ll withhold our glee until something new comes along and blows our mind — we don’t expect that from Samsung and LG, both expected to reveal their next flagships in the coming days. For Samsung, that’s the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. For LG, the G5. LG used the “where play begins” tagline to promote the event, so expect them to target mobile gamers. Meanwhile, Huawei, one of the hottest manufacturers following the success of the Nexus 6P,  could announce the P9 as well. As always, we’ll see.

Contact us to talk more about the Mobile World Congress.