Mobile World Congress 2019 Recap

Capping the end of February, was the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona which ran from February 25-28. This year, there were some exciting announcements — not just around the future of mobility, but technology in general.

Among the announcements at MWC2019, these are the ones that I feel will be the most impactful in the coming year.

The Triumphant Return of the Kinect

Azure Kinect

Microsoft’s revolutionary (and discontinued) motion controller for the Xbox has made a comeback. Rebranded as “Azure Kinect,” it is now much less bulkier than the previous model. Instead of using it for gaming, the Azure Connect was designed for businesses to connect with the Azure AI cloud service, making their operations smarter and more automated.

Microsoft has partnered with Ocuvera—a software company that works with hospitals and assisted living facilities to predict patient falls—to be among the first to deploy the Kinect Azure in hospitals by having the Kinect cameras send movement data to the cloud and intelligently determine if a fall is about to occur, alerting staff to intervene.

At $399, the Azure Kinect is priced just a little high for the casual hobbyist, but perfect for startups and small businesses to start building AI powered solutions.

5G

5G is the next generation cellular network. It’s 20 times faster than 4G, and will allow major breakthroughs in both connectivity and reliability. You will be able to stream 4K video without any noticeable buffering, and play online games without any lagging. It will also allow for real-time collaboration in Virtual Reality environments. 

5G will also allow for highly-connected network of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, providing reliable and fast transfer of data among many connected devices. 

Carriers are just beginning to roll out 5G coverage on a limited basis, but as the infrastructure is built, we will start seeing 5G become more mainstream. 

Foldable Smartphone Screens

Huawei Mate X

Just before MWC2019, Samsung announced their latest product. A smartphone with a screen that folds out to provide larger screen real estate. Not to be outdone, Huwaei and Xiaomi announced their own foldable phones. This can create a whole new market! Instead of buying a smartphone and tablet separately, you can now buy one device that does both! 

As with anything new, I see plenty of hiccups with foldable screens, such as durability and the bending of pixels. That said, once those kinks are worked out, this could be the start of revolutionary product category: The Foldable.

Can Apple be far behind with their own iPhone/iPad hybrid? Time will tell…

HoloLens 2

Hololens 2 Demonstration (seen from a camera mounted Hololens)

One of the most highly anticipated announcements (and the one I was most excited about) was the HoloLens 2 from Microsoft.

The HoloLens is a mixed reality headset which projects digital 3D holograms directly into your field of view. Think Pokemon Go, but replacing your smartphone screen with your actual eyes!

The HoloLens 2 offers a much richer experience than the original model, released in 2016, including eye tracking, 2X depth of field to fit larger holograms into your vision, and higher resolution per eye.

In the on-stage presentation, we saw Microsoft Senior Researcher, Julia Schwarz put on the headset while a camera filmed her through its own Hololens 2. What we saw was astonishing! Schwarz pressed floating holographic buttons as if they really existed right in front of her, flipped switches floating in mid-air, and even played a full sized, holographic piano. All thanks to the new hand gesture sensors.

Microsoft also announced “Azure Spacial Anchors”  which allows augmented reality developers to create holographic images in fixed locations, store them in the cloud, and publish them not only on the HoloLens, but also on iPhones and Android devices.

Available for pre-order at $3,500. The HoloLens 2 is definitely not for the average consumer. This technology is still being perfected, and is currently targeted toward businesses looking to use augmented reality for training factory employees in equipment repairs, and machine operations.

Final Thoughts

This year’s Mobile World Congress did not disappoint in delivering groundbreaking new products and innovations.  While some of these announcements still seem a little far off in terms of consumer adoption, seeing them demoed gives hope that we will be using these exciting technologies in the not-too-distant future.