TechTheDay

So Mobile World Congress 2018 (or MWC for short) in Barcelona, Spain has ended and left lots of new cool gadgets for people looking to upgrade what they have. And it’s not just gadgets that were on display there, future plans of many mobile manufacturing companies were also discussed, as well as the impending move to 5G technology. To everyone’s surprise, even Ajit Pai, chairman of the United States’ Federal Communications Commission, attended the event and talked about great news for mobile users as well as the manufacturers.

Samsung Galaxy S9

So Galaxy S9 seems to be the most popular handset during the event. The idea of a more powerful camera seems to be a gimmick that a lot of people are welcoming more warmly in the hands of Samsung than it did in Apple. It probably has something to do with the price, which is, more or less, $300 less than the iPhone X: the S9 is confirmed to be priced at $719.99 while the S9 Plus is priced at $839.99. So a phone that’s as good as the iPhone X is a few hundred dollars cheaper. It seems to many, this is a bargain. The Nokia 8 Sirocco is now definitely too pricey if S9 is just $700.

Nokia 8110 4G

It isn’t the smartphones that attracted the people in the Nokia’s MWC exhibit and who can blame them? The Nokia 8 Sirocco looks like a Galaxy S8 Chinese knockoff with a price that isn’t worth any of its features. Instead, the iconic retro phone from The Matrix trilogy is the one that’s making waves: the Nokia 8110 4G. New colors, new look, same old distinct curved design, upgraded to 4G capabilities. All of this is powered by Nokia’s innovative battery that lasts for two days. If Steve Jobs never invented the iPhone, this might have been how modern 4G phones would look today.

Sony Xperia XZ2

Sony’s new flagship phone, the Xperia XZ2, is the one that takes center stage with this year’s event from Sony. It’s not that different from other smartphones these days that pursues, smaller bezel, wider screens, better Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset (this one has a Snapdragon 845), and a 3180mAh battery with wireless charging. The downside is that it cost even more than the Samsung Galaxy S9, around $950. There’s a compact version, shorter but with all the other benefits. It’ll be sold for around $750, which is already a good price for a smartphone with similar specs.

Google Flutter

You may have heard of Google Fushia, a project by Google that’s just ambitious as Microsoft’s “One Windows” strategy to merge compatibility to all types of devices. Google Fushia’s aim is to deliver an all-Google, brand new operating system that works on any device. It can work on a smartphone, on a tablet, or on a computer. So when Google introduced Flutter it kind of reminds people of Fushia. But this is different.

Flutter is an open source UI framework for mobile development of, not just Android apps, but also of iOS apps. This means that you can create one app for the two mobile OSes without having to make one version that compatible to one OS first before making another. When you make an app it will be compatible to both OSes, decreasing time and cost needed for development of apps. It is available for download in beta here.

Ajit Pai at The Mobile World Congress

Finally, Ajit Pai makes an appearance in Barcelona, Spain. He gave a speech about making more spectrum available for carriers to use and expand their network. He also said that he plans to hold an auction this year to sell spectrum in the 28 gigahertz band, in the 24 GHz band, and midrange band spectrums, which is important for 5G technology.

In the speech, he also defended the controversial move by the FCC of repealing Net Neutrality, stating that lighter regulations will encourage more investors and inspire more innovation. Of course, this remains to be seen. But he also added that rules will still exist and govern companies, that they will enforce these rules and that no company will enjoy any special benefits.

Conclusion

The event went successfully without any problems, unlike CES this year, which had a blackout after a heavy rain. The biggest news, of course, is Ajit Pai attending the event. It was said that he meant to attend CES as well but because he is receiving death threats from very friendly US left-wingers and Democrats he skipped attending CES. Given that every company attending MWC is going to benefit from the rollback, he’s in a safe place there, so he probably felt confident enough to attend.