Once again, Barcelona hosts the Mobile World Congress. This year’s event will take place over four days—February 22, 23, 24, and 25, 2016. The city has been home to the congress since 2006, making this the 10th anniversary edition.
With around 100,000 square meters of exhibition space, it’s an unmissable event for professionals, leading brands, and companies in the mobile telecommunications sector, all gathering at the
Fira de Barcelona. The industry is booming, so as web design professionals and graphic design enthusiasts, we encourage you to attend if you can. If not, be sure to stay up to date with all the latest news and conferences unveiled at Mobile World Congress.
That said, ticket prices—ranging from €599 to €4,999—are out of reach for most people.
But the numbers speak for themselves: last year, 93,000 professionals—including 4,500 executives from companies around the globe—attended MWC, alongside 2,000 international exhibitors. The event was covered by 3,800 journalists and analysts from all over the world.
www.mobileworldcongress.com/conference
Many of the sessions focus on fascinating topics, such as the importance of shifting business strategies to leverage mobile opportunities. As a web design studio, this means we must prioritize mobile accessibility in every website we create. Personally, we’re especially interested in the “Brands Go Mobile First” conference, which explores how brands and companies are now able to personalize, target, and connect with consumers more efficiently and effectively through mobile devices. The event also generated over 12,000 jobs, and hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues worked tirelessly to meet the needs of all attendees.
There’s no doubt that the event is a major economic boost for Barcelona.
On the technical side, this year’s MWC brings exciting new product launches, including:
Samsung Galaxy S7, featuring a powerful camera and a shock- and water-resistant body
HTC showcased the future of virtual reality gaming with its new VR headset
LG introduced the G5, the market’s first modular smartphone, complete with a wide-angle camera and high-quality audio player
SONY is focusing on photography with its new Xperia X range
BQ is betting on tablets
EPSON unveiled its own take on HD augmented reality glasses
MARK ZUCKERBERG will be the star of the show, as the Facebook founder delivers a keynote highlighting the importance of global internet access—especially after India’s ban on his FreeBasics platform.
Beyond that—and perhaps because we’ve all experienced it firsthand—a major highlight in our view is the emergence of graphene. We’re all tired of screens that shatter at the slightest impact.
Graphene opens up the possibility of ultra-durable, flexible screens that bend like paper, as well as chips with far greater capacity, among other advantages. While these innovations are still on the horizon and will feature in future editions of Mobile World Congress, for now, we’ll have to keep dreaming—and make sure we have a good phone case.
