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Smartphone Exhibition of the Year. MWC (Mobile World Congress) - reviews of new products from the mobile industry exhibition. Total immersion for fans

Mobile Word Congress is the world's largest mobile industry exhibition. It is attended by mobile operators, mobile device manufacturers and producers of various content for mobile platforms. The exhibition is held annually and acts as a kind of testing ground for the presentation of certain developments of various manufacturers. Many people strive to show mock-ups of devices at the exhibition that are not even really ready yet, in order to stir up public interest in the upcoming release of the device itself.

2019 will be the year of the launch of fifth generation cellular networks. 5G will be one of the major technology themes of the coming year, and tech industry leaders are already preparing for an era of new mobile Internet speeds. According to a new report, two South Korean technology companies - Samsung and LG - will delight the public with 5G smartphones at MWC 2019, which begins at the end of February next year. A very noticeable difference is expected between the innovative products of the two famous mobile device vendors.


Recently, the fact that Valve is about to introduce its virtual reality headset, rumors about which have been in the air for several months. Well, that day has come, only the Valve headset was presented at MWC 2015 not by Gabe Newell’s company, but by the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer HTC. The headset was called Vive and was developed by Taiwanese engineers together with specialists from Valve. It seems that he has acquired a serious competitor.

As part of the Mobile World Congress conference, which was held recently in Barcelona, ​​the 5G Test Summit event was held, in which representatives of the IMT-2020 PG (International Mobile Telecommunication 2020 Promotion Group), a group that develops and tests 5G components, took part. These include the largest cellular operators (AT&T, China Mobile, NTT DOCOMO, Vodafone) and telecommunications equipment manufacturers: (Ericsson, Datang, Huawei, Intel, Keysight, MediaTek, Nokia, Qualcomm, Rohde & Schwarz, ZTE). The purpose of the summit was to approve a single standard for next-generation wireless communications (5G), demonstrate plans for work on its future versions and the results of field tests of various 5G components carried out by operators and equipment suppliers.

Before we move forward with 5G standardization, 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), an organization that approves international cellular communication standards, plans to bring new capabilities to LTE.The latest LTE specification released by 3GPP is Issue 13(Release-13) and includes special measures aimed at adapting existing networks to the needs of the Internet of Things (in particular, additional radio frequencies in LTE and GSM/EDGE optimizations). With Edition 14, which is currently in progress, IoT (Internet of Things) capabilities will be expanded to include better positioning, subscriber counts, mobility, energy efficiency and throughput. Special attention is paid to the communication of vehicles with each other and with other types of devices.

The next two publications will be devoted to 5G architecture. Edition 15 is scheduled for release in September 2018 and will cover a core set of issues related to the commercial deployment of fifth generation communications. Two ways of operating 5G radio networks are being considered - relying on LTE as an “anchor” and completely independent operation. The priority use cases at this stage are, on the one hand, broadband wireless access, and on the other, data transmission with low latency and high reliability, which is in demand in critical IoT applications (for example, traffic control). Frequency range, the lower zone of which will be occupied by IoT, will initially extend from 600 MHz to 40 GHz.

During the development of Edition 15, experimental non-commercial networks using the 5G radio link will be in operation. Towards the end of this period, non-standardized commercial networks may emerge, and after the publication of Edition 15, 5G networks will open for commercial operation.

Release 16, scheduled for March 2020, will complete the testing and standardization of fifth-generation wireless technologies. By then, the upper limit of the 5G frequency range will reach 100 GHz. Part of the spectrum currently occupied by 3G networks will be given over to 5G networks. In addition, the possibilities of unloading the licensed spectrum at the expense of unlicensed frequencies that are used by WiFi, and the use of relays at cell boundaries will be explored.

Edition 16 will also better describe how different services can access 5G features. For example, broadcasting and multicast transmission (broadcast/multicast), communications in the IoT (mmTC - Massive Machine-Type Communications). Proximity services will allow user terminals located close to each other to communicate directly.

Some of the operators and equipment manufacturers included in the IMT-2020 PG have already conducted field trials of key fifth generation communications technologies. For example, large-scale testing has been completed in China with the participation of Alcatel-Lucent, Datang, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Samsung and ZTE. A data transfer rate of 20 Gbit/s was achieved in the near-millimeter wave band (frequency 28 GHz), and a communication range of up to 350 m at a frequency of 15 GHz.

The American AT&T conducted its test at the same frequencies and obtained speeds of 933 and 940 Mbit/s (reception and transmission, respectively), which in this case were limited by the capacity of the wired channel (1 Gbit/s). The delay in data transmission in the radio channel was 2 ms.

The Japanese operator DOCOMO, together with Ericsson, has achieved a throughput of 10 Gbit/s per subscriber terminal and over 20 Gbit/s per cell with two terminals. The company expects that by 2020, commercial subscriber devices will master speeds of 5 Gbit/s, and then 10 Gbit/s. In the DOCOMO test, communication was maintained at a distance of up to 500 m in line-of-sight conditions at a frequency of 15 GHz, as well as in the case where the line of sight is blocked by a building, but there are reflections from other buildings (with a throughput of 3 Gbit/s). Using Samsung equipment, the operator achieved a result of 2.5 Gbit/s at a frequency of 28 GHz when communicating with a car moving at a speed of 150 km/h.

MWC 2017: Xperia XZ Premium named "Best New Smartphone"

The GSM Association (GSMA), which unites about 800 mobile operators around the world and is the organizer of the annual Mobile World Congress exhibition in Barcelona, ​​awarded the winners of the Global Mobile Awards during MWC 2017.

The winner in the Best new smartphone category was the Xperia XZ Premium, Sony in Barcelona. Note that the association recognized the Galaxy S7 edge smartphone as “Best Smartphone 2016”. This was to be expected, since the Galaxy S7 edge is one of the best-selling mobile phones in 2016. Its predecessor Galaxy S6 edge at MWC 2016.

In total, Sony presented four new smartphones at MWC 2017: Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZs, Xperia XA1 and Xperia XA1 Ultra.

The Xperia XZ Premium was the only one of all the smartphones presented at MWC 2017 to receive the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset with an eight-core processor, which will also be equipped with the Galaxy S8 smartphone. However, using this chip also has its drawbacks, such as the fact that the Xperia XZ Premium will be available in late spring. The reason is that Samsung has reserved the first large quantities of Snapdragon 835 chips for its flagship Galaxy S8.

MWC 2017: Smart IDReader technology will allow smartphones to extract all data from passports

The key innovations of the Mobile World Congress 2017, held in Barcelona from February 27 to March 2, 2017, were, of course, various gadgets. However, we cannot ignore the software technologies presented at the exhibition, especially since the Russian company Smart Engines was among its participants.

At the Smart Engines stand, the Smart IDReader solution was demonstrated for recognizing international documents in mobile applications - passports, driver's licenses, visas and others, issued in the USA, European and Asian countries. Unlike most similar products that can only work with special machine-readable zones (MRZ), Smart IDReader can extract any relevant human-readable information, as well as photos and signatures.

The product is based on real-time video stream recognition technology using the computing resources of a mobile device. It, in turn, is developed on the basis of “ultra-light” neural networks, due to which, according to Smart Engines, high quality and processing speed are achieved. The user only needs to hold the document up to the smartphone’s camera for a few seconds, during which Smart IDReader reads all the necessary data and enters it into the appropriate fields in the application.

In addition to Smart IDReader, Smart Engines also demonstrated technology for searching for holograms on documents, which is designed to take user identification using original IDs to a new level. As for the security of personal data with which the solutions described above work, it is achieved, first of all, by the fact that all data is processed exclusively in the device’s RAM without transferring it to remote servers or cloud services.

A prototype of HP's flagship Windows smartphone was spotted at MWC 2017

The flagship Windows smartphone HP Elite X3 is well known to readers of 3DNews thanks to last year’s Mobile World Congress exhibition, during which our publication’s journalists closely studied the tempting new product and prepared a separate photo report on it. This model was positioned by the developers as a universal tool for effectively running a business and performing work tasks - a symbiosis of an advanced mobile gadget running Windows 10 Mobile and a pocket desktop system with some simplifications.

When developing the HP Elite X3, the emphasis was placed on performance and, as a result, advanced components. As a result, we managed to create a balanced premium device with a huge 6-inch QHD AMOLED display and:

  • Snapdragon 820 chip and 4 GB of RAM;
  • 64 GB flash drive and slot for microSD memory cards with a capacity of up to 2 TB;
  • two slots for SIM cards;
  • 16 MP rear camera and 8 MP front camera;
  • battery capacity 4150 mAh;
  • Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers;
  • a metal body with dimensions of 161.8 × 83.5 × 7.8 mm and a weight of 195 g, which is not afraid of water and moisture.

During the MWC 2017 exhibition, next to the HP stand, a pedestal with a glass dome shone, which covered a device very similar in appearance to last year’s Elite X3 model. Journalists, of course, could not ignore the gadget hiding under the transparent “curtain” and turned to representatives of the developer company for comments. It turned out that the smartphone put on public display in such a pompous form is a concept prototype of the next generation HP Elite X3.

“This is a clear example of how we see the further development of the x3 series,”— an HP representative limited himself to a brief answer to a question from journalists from the online publication PCWorld about the origin of the gadget behind glass, devoid of all markings and accompanying information plates.

The visually presented version, which should replace the X3, has undergone only minor changes at this stage. Experts from PCWorld noted that the front camera had moved to the left side of the front panel, an updated manufacturer logo was visible on the back cover, and the space above the display seemed smaller than that of its predecessor.

According to rumors, a smartphone being prepared based on the HP Elite X3 or its modification may receive a Snapdragon 835 processor and be equipped with 6 GB/8 GB of RAM.

MWC 2017: “smart” car of the future as presented by Bosch

At the MWC 2017 exhibition in Barcelona (Spain), Bosch presented its own concept of a connected car, which, in fact, can become a second home for the owner.

Connecting to the global network will allow vehicles to communicate with each other, road infrastructure, as well as the computer devices of their owner. This will take communication between the car and its driver to a whole new level.

The Bosch concept includes a number of innovative technical solutions. One of them is a driver monitoring camera that recognizes faces and personalizes settings from the moment the motorist gets into the car. For example, the car independently sets the steering wheel, mirrors, interior temperature and radio station in accordance with the personal preferences of a particular user.

Bosch proposes to implement a gesture control system and tactile feedback based on ultrasonic sensors. So, thanks to the touch screen with haptic feedback, the buttons that appear on the display will feel convex.

Another innovative solution is the Mirror Cam System, which can replace traditional exterior mirrors. In this case, the image from the cameras will be displayed on screens in the area of ​​the front side pillars.

The owner will be able to interact with the car using a mobile device. The ability to start a car without keys is another way of personalization: the Perfectly Keyless system turns the driver’s smartphone into a remote digital key.

MWC 2017: Vertu-style smartphones and models with dual cameras at the Doogee booth

Doogee's stand at MWC 2017 was full of smartphones for every taste and budget. The first thing that caught the attention of 3DNews journalists was the device, which stood out among the other exhibits at the exhibition with its strict shape and leather-like inserts on the back side. The Doogee T3 smartphone externally copies the style of premium Vertu gadgets, but without the use of exclusive and expensive body materials.

Although the Doogee T3 looks very respectable, unlike Vertu products, it has a much more modest price tag. The device in a stylish wrapper is equipped with a 4.7-inch main screen with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels and an auxiliary mini-display on the top end for displaying notifications and the current time.

The Doogee T3 is powered by an eight-core MT6753 processor and 3 GB of RAM. The capacity of the built-in flash drive is 32 GB. On the back side of the Doogee T3, covered with material imitating natural leather, there is a 13-megapixel camera, and a 5-megapixel front sensor is provided for video communication.

It is worth noting that in addition to the design with an emphasis on premiumness, the Doogee T3 boasts dust and moisture protection according to the IP67 standard. At the same time, the device does not seem bulky in comparison with analogues protected from external influences, since it does not have massive rubberized body elements.

The remaining Doogee T3 specifications include:

  • battery with a capacity of 3200 mAh;
  • microSD card slot;
  • pre-installed Android 6.0 OS

Another dude in the Doogee mobile family can be considered the T5 smartphone. It, like the gadget discussed above, is replete with leather-like inserts, but it looks bulky in the hand due to the increased diagonal of the screen and a slightly different frame of the case to comply with IP67 certification.

The specifications for the Doogee T5 indicate the following characteristics:

  • matrix with a diagonal of 5 inches and HD resolution;
  • eight-core chip MT6753;
  • 3 GB RAM;
  • flash drive 32 GB;
  • microSD card slot;
  • rear camera with a resolution of 13 megapixels;
  • 5 megapixel front camera;
  • rechargeable battery with a capacity of 4500 mAh;
  • case with overall dimensions 153.8 × 78.8 × 13.5 mm and weight 232 g;
  • pre-installed Android 6.0 OS.

If the brutal design of the T3 and T5 is not to the potential buyer’s liking, then the developers from Doogee suggest taking a look at the visually restrained “camera phones” Shoot 1 and Shoot 2. Both gadgets are ready to pleasantly surprise their owners with the quality of photo and video shooting thanks to dual camera modules on the rear side.

Version Shoot 1 is the older version in tandem and offers the user a 5.5-inch display with Full HD resolution. The quad-core MT6737T and 2 GB of RAM will take care of basic tasks. As for the internal memory, the proposed 16 GB can always be increased using microSD cards. The pride of the device is the dual rear camera with 13 MP and 8 MP sensors, as well as a good 8 MP front module.

Autonomous operation of Shoot 1 will be provided by a 3300 mAh battery, and to protect personal data it is proposed to use a fingerprint scanner. The gadget comes out of the box with Android 7.0 OS.

The Shoot 2 model is already an entry-level device, despite the photo capabilities advertised by Doogee.

The smartphone is equipped with:

  • 5-inch HD matrix;
  • processor MT6580A;
  • 1 GB/2 GB RAM depending on version;
  • 8 GB/16 GB internal memory;
  • dual rear camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels for each;
  • 5 MP wide-angle front camera;
  • battery capacity 3300 mAh;
  • fingerprint protection;
  • pre-installed Android 7.0 OS.

MWC 2017: Goodix introduced an in-display fingerprint sensor

The Chinese company Goodix, specializing in the development and supply of biometric solutions for mobile devices, presented at the MWC 2017 exhibition a fingerprint sensor built into the display - In-Display Fingerprint Sensor. According to the company's press release, this is the world's first fingerprint sensor that can be built into the AMOLED display of mobile devices.

The In-Display Fingerprint Sensor turns any area of ​​the AMOLED display into a fingerprint scanner. This technology eliminates the need to place a fingerprint scanner in the home button or on the back panel. As a result, manufacturers can create phones with thinner bezels and a higher screen-to-bezel ratio. Additionally, the new phones may be thinner as the fingerprint sensor will be located directly below the display.

The company noted that the new technology can also be integrated into curved AMOLED displays. Apple has registered a patent for this technology. A number of companies are now also actively working on similar ideas, but Goodix was the first to demonstrate a ready-made solution.

Previously developed by Goodix, fingerprint recognition technology is used by many phone manufacturers, including Huawei , OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, ZTE, LG, Nokia and ASUS. It is not yet clear which company will be the first to use the new generation Goodix technology.

MWC 2017: Samsung Exynos 9 processor will be used in virtual reality helmets

At a closed presentation at the MWC 2017 exhibition in Barcelona, ​​Spain, Samsung demonstrated a prototype of a self-sufficient virtual reality (VR) helmet.

Samsung already offers a Gear VR device, but it requires a smartphone to operate. The shown sample of the VR helmet is equipped with all the electronic components necessary for immersion in virtual reality, and does not require additional computing nodes.

Network sources note that in its current form, the prototype is intended primarily to demonstrate the capabilities of Exynos mobile processors developed by Samsung. The South Korean giant expects the latest Exynos 9 Series chip to become the basis for all-in-one VR headsets.

Let us remember that the processor in question was available at the end of last month. The Exynos 9 Series 8895 product contains eight computing cores and a powerful ARM Mali-G71 graphics accelerator. Supports displays with resolutions up to WQUXGA (3840 × 2400 pixels) or 4K/UHD (4096 × 2160 pixels). In addition, 4K/UHD video processing at up to 120 frames per second is possible. Thus, the processor can fully cope with the graphic load of a VR environment.

It is expected that in the future the Exynos 9 chip will be included in self-sufficient virtual reality helmets from third-party manufacturers. In addition, Samsung intends to promote Exynos products in the segments of smart cars, robotics, etc.

MWC 2017: Leisure L7, Ginger G7 and Ginger G7s smartphones on display at Haier

Haier brought several new smartphones to Barcelona (Spain) at the MWC 2017 exhibition. In particular, the Leisure L7, Ginger G7 and Ginger G7s models are demonstrated at the event.

The Leisure L7 device received a 5.5-inch Full HD display (1920 × 1080 pixels), as well as cameras with 13- and 5-megapixel matrices.

The hardware basis of the Leisure L7 is the Snapdragon 430 processor, which combines eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a clock speed of up to 1.4 GHz and an Adreno 505 graphics accelerator. The built-in LTE Cat 4 modem allows you to download data at speeds of up to 150 Mbps. The amount of RAM is 3 GB, the capacity of the flash module is 32 GB. The battery has a capacity of 3000 mAh. There is a fingerprint scanner on the back. The Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system is used. The approximate price will be 230 euros.

In addition, as already noted, the Ginger G7 and Ginger G7s smartphones are presented. They are equipped with a 5-inch 720p screen (1280 × 720 pixels) and a Mediatek MT6737 chip, which contains four computing cores with ARM Cortex-A53 architecture and a clock frequency of 1.25 GHz. Graphics processing is handled by the integrated ARM Mali-T720 controller.

The Ginger G7 model carries on board 1 GB of RAM, a flash module with a capacity of 16 GB, cameras with 5- and 8-megapixel sensors (both with flash). Operating system - Android 6.0 Marshmallow. You can buy the device for 130 euros.

The Ginger G7s modification is equipped with 2 GB of RAM, cameras with 8- and 13-megapixel matrices, as well as a fingerprint sensor. Price - about 170 euros.

MWC 2017: General Mobile GM 6 - Android One smartphone with LTE support

General Mobile, in partnership with Google, presented the GM 6 smartphone, created using the Android One program, at the MWC 2017 exhibition, which takes place in Barcelona (Spain).

Let us recall the essence of the Android One initiative. The idea is to help manufacturers produce cheap Android-based cellular devices. To do this, Google creates reference platforms that third-party companies can then use as the basis for their own devices.

In the case of General Mobile GM 6, the silicon “heart” is the MediaTek MT6737T processor. The named microchip contains four computing cores with ARM Cortex-A53 architecture and a clock frequency of up to 1.5 GHz. Graphics processing is handled by the integrated ARM Mali-T720 controller. The processor works in tandem with 3 GB of RAM.

The smartphone received a 5-inch OnCell IPS 2.5D display with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels (720p). Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protects the screen. Equipment includes cameras with 8- and 13-megapixel matrices; Moreover, both are equipped with an LED flash.

The device carries on board a flash module with a capacity of 32 GB (memory expansion is possible using a microSD card), Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.1 adapters, and a GPS receiver. Fourth generation LTE mobile networks are supported. A fingerprint scanner is built into the home button. Dimensions - 144 × 71.3 × 8.6 mm, weight - 150 grams. Power is provided by a rechargeable battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh. The smartphone has the Android 7.0 (Nougat) operating system installed.

MWC 2017: Robocar electric car for robotic racing of unmanned vehicles

Before the Barcelona MWC 2017 exhibition, the organizers of the Roborace racing tournament with the participation of robotic cars showed only renderings of the future production version of unmanned vehicles and very vaguely named their characteristics. But during yesterday's press conference dedicated to the Roborace racing, the authors of the growing initiative finally demonstrated a working prototype of the car. The need for the rapid development of such a test specimen was explained by the requirement to unify the racing format in order to offer the participating teams a single regulation and technical standard in the discipline.

The car, codenamed “Robocar,” is similar to the model from the preliminary sketches and is able to attract the attention of even those who are indifferent to any type of racing. The structure weighing 975 kg, made mainly of carbon fiber, reaches a length of 4.5 meters with a two-meter width, which makes it larger than similar cars from the world famous Formula 1.

The developers chose an environmentally friendly electric motor as the power plant for automated cars. The final version of Robocar received four 300 kW motors, as well as a 540 kWh battery. The power of the electric motors allows the racing car to reach speeds of up to 320 km/h.


Unmanned navigation on the track and implementation of accident-free robotic driving is carried out due to a set of built-in sensors, including:

  • two radars;
  • five lidars;
  • 18 ultrasonic sensors;
  • two optical sensors for measuring speed;
  • six cameras controlled by a software algorithm based on the AI ​​concept.

The central computer, which is responsible for processing all incoming data, is the NVIDIA development system - the Drive PX 2 chip.


Robocar's exterior has hints of futuristic cars from Hollywood blockbusters. There is a completely logical explanation for this: designer Daniel Simon was involved in the design of robotic cars. He took an active part in creating the visual image of future vehicles in the films Tron: Legacy, Oblivion, and Captain America: The First Avenger.



MWC 2017: fast SanDisk Extreme microSD card with a capacity of 256 GB

Western Digital presented at MWC 2017, which takes place in Barcelona (Spain), a new SanDisk Extreme series microSD memory card that meets the Application Performance Class 1 (A1) standard.

Application Performance Class cards are primarily designed to expand the internal memory of Android devices. They are optimized for working with multimedia materials and applications.

The A1 standard sets IOPS (input/output operations per second) for reading and writing to at least 1500 and 500, respectively. The established data transfer rate must be at least 10 MB/s.

The presented SanDisk Extreme card has a capacity of 256 GB. It is claimed to provide data read speeds of up to 100 MB/s and write speeds of up to 90 MB/s.

The dimensions of the product are 15 × 11 × 1.0 mm. It is protected from water and temperature changes. The new product comes with a lifetime warranty.

The 256GB SanDisk Extreme card will go on sale at the end of March for about $200.

MWC 2017: four smartphones from the French company Wiko

MWC 2017 is an excellent way for young manufacturers like the French company Wiko Mobile to introduce themselves to the whole world and introduce them to their range of branded products.

The Wiko Wim device received an AMOLED matrix with a diagonal of 5.5 inches and resolution 1920 × 1080 pixels. At the edges, the protective glass of the display has a slight rounding, which is commonly called the 2.5D effect.

The top-end member of the Wiko family is powered by an eight-core Snapdragon 626 processor in tandem with 4 GB of RAM, and a 64 GB flash drive is responsible for storing information. It is possible to expand the built-in memory with microSD cards.

The Wiko Wim smartphone is notable for its photo potential, which is designed to be revealed by a dual rear camera with 13 megapixel sensors. According to the developers, the pictures it takes, even in low light conditions, can pleasantly surprise you with their detail and color accuracy.

An equally pleasant surprise was the front camera module with a resolution of 16 megapixels, which should be appreciated by all lovers of high-quality selfie shots. The autonomy of the new product is ensured by a 3200 mAh battery with support for fast charging. Out of the box, the smartphone will come with Android 7.0 OS pre-installed. The approximate price of Wik Wim is about €400. The appearance of the device on the market is expected in June 2017.

The next exhibit offered to visitors to the Barcelona event was the Wim Lite smartphone. As you can guess from the name, the manufacturer positions it as a simplified version of its flagship. At the same time, the gadget inherited design features from the older version along with rounded shapes, as well as the front camera sensor.

Wiko Wim Lite was equipped with a 5-inch Full HD display, a Snapdragon 435 processor, 3 GB of RAM and a built-in 32 GB storage, a 3000 mAh battery, and a fingerprint scanner.

The front camera sensor here, as in the basic Wiko Wim model, has a maximum resolution of 16 megapixels, but the rear camera has lost its dual layout and is presented in the form of a single 13 megapixel sensor.

Wiko Wim Lite has a retail price of €250. Sales start in June.

For those who are not ready to shell out the indicated amount for Wiko Wim and its Lite variation, the French company offers a look at the more affordable Upulse and Upulse Lite models.

Wiko Upulse boasts:


In 2016, Huawei sold about 139 million smartphones, slightly short of its goal of 140 million devices. The head of Huawei's consumer business, Richard Yu, on the sidelines of the MWC 2017 exhibition, said that the company did not fulfill the profit plan for the mobile division, although revenue was higher than expected.

“He [telephone business - approx. 3DNews] is still profitable, but the profit margin is very small.", Mr. Yu said, adding that the consumer division brings about one-third of Huawei's turnover.

In a memo to employees, Huawei Group founder and chairman Ren Zhengfei called on staff to work harder and said that otherwise the company could “fall apart”: “Strong men in their 30s don’t work hard, they just want to count money in bed. Do you think this is possible? Huawei won't pay those who don't try."

Currently, Huawei employs about 170 thousand people, 45% of whom are in research and development departments - the most vulnerable to layoffs, Reuters notes.

According to the publication's sources, Huawei has maintained a 5 percent annual quota for dismissing employees with poor performance, but the company is pushing workers with unsatisfactory performance to leave, transferring them to positions that do not suit people.

MWC 2017: two new branded accessories for the HTC Vive VR helmet

The Vive virtual reality helmet, unexpectedly for everyone and for HTC itself, became a financially successful initiative and helped reduce the losses the Taiwanese company brought to it from its smartphone business. The manufacturer has high hopes for the Vive VR model and is trying with all its might to popularize its product on the market. In an attempt to get ahead of competitors and offer more advanced methods of interacting with the digital world, HTC at MWC 2017 presented a set of accessories for its branded headset.

Along with the virtual reality helmet, the developers offer the Vive Tracker tracking device, as well as Deluxe Audio Strap headphones. Both accessories will provide maximum immersion in the digital space and make using the VR helmet even more comfortable.

Deluxe Audio Strap are headphones made specifically to work in conjunction with the Vive helmet, taking into account all its design features. Let us remember that previously the HTC Vive VR headset did not have speakers for playing audio. The owners of the gadget had to be content with the means at hand to create musical accompaniment during virtual walks, which often caused discomfort due to the inconvenient connection and the mismatch in the sizes and shapes of the two devices.

Deluxe Audio Strap will relieve the HTC Vive VR user from the problem described above, providing comfortable surround sound. The cost of the accessory, which will be included free of charge with the HTC Vive Business Edition, is $100. The headphones will be available for pre-order from the second of March, and their deliveries are scheduled for June this year.

As for the Vive Tracker, this gadget is a universal controller for tracking the position in virtual space of any improvised object to which it is attached. Simply put, by installing Vive Tracker on a regular tennis racket, your every move, subject to software support, will find feedback in the virtual world. This will happen with any object under the “supervision” of Vive Tracker, which will make VR simulators even more realistic and truthful.

Samsung changed traditions this year: the MWC (Mobile World Congress) exhibition did without the announcement of the flagship smartphone of the Korean company. Only the “announcement of the announcement” took place - journalists received invitations to the presentation of the Galaxy S8, which will be held on March 29 in New York. Instead, the company showed in Barcelona new tablets with Android and Windows, as well as a fresh version of the Gear VR smartphone VR headset - now with a wireless joystick controller.

Samsung Tab S3: design, specifications, features

Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

The Tab S3 tablet is an "improved and expanded" re-release. One of the improvements concerned the design - the back cover, which is attached to the metal frame of the device, is now not plastic, but glass (hello, fingerprints!). At the same time, the tablet remains light: the device with a 9.7-inch display weighs 429 grams.

The display resolution remains the same - 2048 x 1536 pixels are quite sufficient for such a diagonal. But now this Super AMOLED panel supports the correct display of HDR content. This is an increasingly popular video format with high dynamic range, in which the eye can distinguish more shades, especially in very dark or very bright scenes.

Other news from the main mobile exhibition of the year:

The tablet has four built-in speakers, their sound has the blessing of the AKG acoustics brand (which, like other Harman brands, is now owned by Samsung) and changes dynamically depending on how the user holds the device. Finally, the rear and front cameras have been updated - they now have 13 and 5 megapixel sensors, respectively.

But the biggest progress has concerned the filling: the tablet is built on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, has 4 GB of RAM and a 32 GB drive, which can be supplemented with microSD cards with a capacity of up to 256 GB. The device runs on Android 7.0. The Tab S3 comes with an S Pen stylus made of rubbery material with a thinner tip that recognizes not only 4096 pressure levels, but also tilt relative to the screen surface. The main thing is not to lose it: there is no compartment for storing the accessory in the tablet case.

Galaxy Book 10 and 12 tablets

Samsung Galaxy Book 12. Unfortunately, a more informative image of the new product was not found in the Samsung photo bank

For those who would like to use a tablet to run Windows 10, Samsung is offering two new devices in the Galaxy Book line: with 10-inch and 12-inch screens. The smaller tablet is built on an energy-efficient Intel Core m3 processor and has up to 4 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of built-in storage (there is also micro SD), the screen resolution is 1920 by 1080 pixels. Its “big brother” uses a Core i5 with the latest Kaby Lake architecture that does not require active cooling, up to 8 GB of RAM, up to 256 GB of storage and an AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2160 x 1440 pixels.

To charge and connect Galaxy Book accessories, they use USB-C ports, of which the older model has two, and the younger one has one. The devices weigh 645 and 754 grams, respectively, and the 12-inch tablet is also very thin - 7.4 mm. However, these indicators do not take into account the included keyboard covers: now with full-fledged island-type keys with significant “travel”, backlighting and an enlarged touchpad. Unlike the Microsoft Surface, the tablet does not have a built-in folding support, so you won't be able to set it upright without the help of the keyboard cover.

Gear VR 2017 virtual reality headset

True, like Daydream View, the controller does not have sufficient accuracy and speed to fully use it in games. Rather, its task is to make it easier to navigate the menu and rid the VR helmet itself of controls that are not quite conveniently located on the side. Note that while Daydream View is compatible with smartphones from different manufacturers, Gear VR 2017 only supports devices from the Korean manufacturer: Galaxy S7, S7 edge, Note 5, S6, S6 edge, and S6 edge+.

After the albeit short-term, but still successful game Pokemon Go based on the old anime, it’s hard to be surprised at how strong nostalgia is in people. Apparently, the company HMD Global, which has recently started producing mobile devices under the Nokia brand, tried to awaken these pleasant memories of childhood and youth.

A few days before the start of MWC, information appeared that the same legendary model 3310, which was rightfully considered indestructible, would enter the market. The public greeted this news willingly, and the most anticipated press presentation at the congress was the one hosted by Nokia.

Having presented its new smartphones and not its “smart” gadgets, the company really showed Nokia 3310 as One More Thing. And so, high hopes gave way to great disappointment.

It's obvious that

The 2017 Nokia 3310 doesn't have anything we loved about the good old phone.

The lightweight plastic body does not inspire confidence in the durability of the device, the color screen looks vulgar, and it is not at all clear who the device is aimed at. But there is “Snake” and the classic Nokia ringtone. In general, the new product received only a name from the original model. The manufacturer also promises that the battery will last 22 hours on a single charge.

Photo report: What happened to Nokia 3310

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Nokia 3310 will cost €49

Smartphones based on the Android operating system Nokia 150 and Nokia 6 were also presented. The latter of them, initially aimed at the Chinese market, will go on sale in other countries at a price of €299 in the Art variation, consisting of a black glossy case.

At the event, the company showed the simple Nokia 5 and Nokia 3. The diagonal screen sizes of the devices are 5.2 inches and 5 inches, respectively. Nokia 5 will cost €189, and Nokia 3 – €139.

All phones will hit the market in the second quarter of 2017.

In addition, Nokia decided to squeeze into the health monitoring niche through the acquisition of Withings. Smart watches, scales and special devices for measuring blood pressure and pulse were presented. All of them did not arouse much interest among the public, since, apart from the name, virtually nothing has changed in the gadgets.

Buttons and modules

TCL, the new owner of the Alcatel and Blackberry brands, has also decided to revive the past. She held two press conferences at MWC, at one of which three budget Alcatel smartphones were presented.

These are U5, A3 and A5 LED. The most interesting of them is the last one. This is, in fact, a modular smartphone made in the Moto Mods (Motorola/Lenovo) concept. The difference is that both the A5 LED itself and the removable modules for it are in a different price and, accordingly, quality category than the modular Moto Z smartphone and its accessories.

The set of modules for the A5 LED includes various cases, a battery, a speaker, but the removable LED panel is exclusive.

The LED panel of the smartphone contains a matrix of colored LEDs. They can light up to the beat of music, show notifications, and simply turn on when the display is activated. There is customization in the colors and nature of the indication depending on the type of notification, person or group from the Contacts application.

U5, A3 are even simpler models, with U5 positioned as the most affordable 4G smartphone. European prices for new Alcatel smartphones: U5 – €99, A3 – €149 and A5 LED – €199.

The second press conference was dedicated to the new Blackberry - KEYone. This smartphone with a physical keyboard and screen has a diagonal of 4.5 inches and a resolution of 1620x1080. The smartphone is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, RAM - 3 GB, built-in - 32 GB.


Blackberry smartphone

Dmitry Bevza/Gazeta.Ru

The device has average technical specifications and a flagship smartphone price of €549 and €599, respectively.

Tablet instead of smartphone

Even before the start of MWC, it became known that the 2017 flagship - Samsung Galaxy S8 - will not be presented in Barcelona this year.

At MWC, Samsung Electronics only officially announced what most experts already knew: the presentation of the new flagship will take place on March 29, 2017 in New York. What the transfer is connected with (for comparison, the Galaxy S7 was shown at MWC 2016) is not very clear.

Perhaps the company did not want to mix the media effect of its main premiere with the events of other vendors at MWC, or perhaps the final version of the smartphone is simply not completely ready.

So, Samsung's headliners were the new Galaxy Tab S3 and Galaxy Book tablets and updated virtual reality glasses with a new control controller.

Galaxy Tab S3 runs Android OS and is equipped with a 9.7-inch Super AMOLED screen. One of the models, Galaxy Book, received a 10.6-inch TFT LCD display, the other - a 12-inch Super AMOLED screen. Both Galaxy Book devices run on the Windows 10 operating system.



Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

Dmitry Bevza/Gazeta.Ru

The main feature of the Galaxy Tab S3 and Galaxy Book with a 12-inch screen was video playback in HDR format.

The tablets use Samsung Flow technology with biometric authentication, which allows compatible devices to be wirelessly linked to transfer documents and other information.

All new devices also feature an updated S Pen stylus with a 0.7mm tip, a 13-megapixel main camera with autofocus, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The Galaxy Tab S3 is the first Samsung tablet to feature quad speakers from AKG.

Modesty and economy

Lenovo brought two budget smartphones to MWC - Moto G5 and G5 Plus. Both phones received a metal body and a new version of the Android 7 Nougat operating system. The Moto G5 model is equipped with a 5-inch Full HD display, 13-megapixel main and 5-megapixel front camera.

In Russia this particular device will be sold at a price of 13 thousand rubles.

Lenovo also presented tablets running on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors and the Android 7.0 operating system. The line includes Lenovo Tab 4 8, Lenovo Tab 4 10 and the more powerful Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus and Tab 4 10 Plus. One of the features of the devices is a proprietary multi-user mode, which allows you to create children's accounts with pre-moderated access to Google Play applications.

Lots of colors, little meaning

Sony traditionally presented the entire Xperia smartphone line at MWC.

The flagship XZ Premium features a 5.5-inch 4K (2160 x 3840) display with high dynamic range (HDR) and supports ultra-fast file loading. The device is based on the newest and very powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset.



Sony Xperia XA1 and Xperia XA1 Ultra

Dmitry Bevza/Gazeta.Ru

The smartphone is water and dust resistant and has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides. Longer battery life than before is ensured by updated Smart Stamina technology, which uses a learning engine that can more accurately predict battery life based on daily usage patterns and optimize device performance.

The device warns the user if it detects that a discharge will occur during the day.

A special feature of the Xperia XZ Premium is a new camera mode - predictive shooting.

The function automatically starts buffering frames before the camera shutter is pressed, that is, as soon as the camera detects movement.

Thanks to this, after the shooting is completed, you can find the moment that was missed.

The pixel size in the new sensor is increased by 19%, which allows the camera to capture more light and produce more detailed and clear images in low light conditions.

The Xperia XZ Premium is equipped with an image sensor with a built-in memory chip, which makes it possible to shoot HD video (720p) at 960 frames per second, and then play back super slow motion.

The Xperia XZs, XA1 (with a 5-inch display) and XA1 Ultra (with a 6-inch display) were also shown in Barcelona.

The XA1 and XA1 Ultra are a continuation of last year's XA series, which features a frameless design. They are equipped with main cameras with a resolution of 23MP and an F2.0 lens.

Journalists go outside, 5G goes under glass

Even on the “zero” day of MWC, Huawei distinguished itself by not allowing a significant part of the press into the presentation, as it handed out more invitations than the room could accommodate. However, despite such a global mistake, which the Chinese vendor will be remembered for a very long time, the demonstrated P10 and P10 Plus smartphones are almost the most interesting thing that is at MWC this year.



Maria Latsinskaya/Gazeta.Ru

The cameras of the devices received Leica optics, a large screen (5.1 inches with FullHD resolution in the younger model and 5.5 inches with WQHD in the older one), which has smaller edges compared to the previous generation of Huawei flagships. In addition, there are no buttons under the display: they have been replaced by a sensor that reads fingerprints.

Using it, you can perform various manipulations with the device: unlock, press “Home” or go back a step.

Huawei offers potential owners as many as eight colors, including the “color of 2017” – grass green.

Huawei P10 and P10 Plus will go on sale in Europe, Australia and New Zealand in March. The price of the devices will be €649 and €699 respectively.

Chinese ZTE also tried to surprise this year, which, as company representatives say,

showed the world's first smartphone capable of operating in 5G networks.

Mass implementation of the network of the future will not begin until 2020, and so far it has not even been standardized.



ZTE Gigabit Phone

Maria Latsinskaya/Gazeta.Ru

However, ZTE claims that the smartphone is capable of handling speeds of one gigabit per second. The prototype is based on the Pre5G Giga+ MMB solution from the vendor itself.

The device was bulky and was under glass, but one had to take one’s word for faith in its abilities.

The annual exhibition of mobile technologies has passed, leaving behind a noticeable aftertaste. Once again, the largest market players gathered under one roof to present their key products. Traditionally, a large number of new products were presented, but there were only a few worthwhile and truly interesting announcements. We will talk about just these in this final article.

The former Canadian smartphone manufacturer (now a security software developer) BlackBerry was one of the first to hold a presentation - it happened on February 25, even before the start of MWC 2017 (later they also took part there). TCL, the licensor of the BB brand, introduced a premium mid-class Android smartphone with a recognizable design and a physical keyboard - KEYone.

Despite the weak user interest in the old form factor, the BlackBerry KEYone impressed everyone. BlackBerry, as always, has outdone itself: the new product is confidently on the same level of uniqueness as the Priv slider. A metal body, protective glass with 2.5D coating, USB Type-C, a powerful camera from Google Pixel, as well as a proprietary physical QWERTY keyboard with a fingerprint scanner in the spacebar button and a touch layer are the main characteristic qualities of KEYone. Without a doubt, the new flagship stands out among everything that is currently on the market.

The technical characteristics of the BlackBerry KEYone are far from truly flagship - the Chinese have clearly saved money here. But this does not make the new blackberry keyboard worse.

The KEYone's screen diagonal and resolution are non-standard: 4.5 inches with a 3:2 format and Full HD resolution (1620x1080 pixels). The heart of the device is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with eight computing cores and 64-bit architecture. It is quite enough for all basic tasks, even for simple games without heavy graphics. After all, KEYone's main audience is wealthy businessmen who require confidentiality. The amount of RAM is sufficient for multitasking - 3 GB. There is also a good battery capacity for the form factor and hardware - 3,500 mAh. At the same time, Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging is supported.

The camera module in KEYone is also quite strong. There is a 12-megapixel Sony IMX378 sensor installed here, like the Google Pixel flagships. The smartphone operating system is the latest version of Android 7.1 Nougat without software interfaces, but with applications and an additional layer of security from BlackBerry.

The unveiled BlackBerry KEYone breaks the mold again. He is admired, but also feared. The main deterrent in this case is, of course, the price. It is at the level of $600 or approximately 35 thousand rubles. Moreover, it will be impossible to officially buy a BlackBerry KEYone in Russia, and not everyone will be able to order via the Internet or buy the gray model. However, none of this takes away from the fact that the KEYone is truly an amazing device.