Each year, the biggest players in the mobile communications game gather in Barcelona to show off the next big thing at Mobile World Congress. While some products are unveiled, the main focus of the event is on connectivity.
More than 2,200 companies of all sizes will exhibit at MWC, including the likes of Huawei, HTC, LG and Sony. Operators such as Vodafone will be in attendance, so too will car manufacturers like Ford and Volkswagen.
Samsung has dominated the conference in the past, unveiling the various flagship S models, but we know that is unlikely to happen this year, following on from the Note 7 disaster. It is thought they will launch a new tablet, Galaxy Tab S3, that looks set to impress.
Sony is expected to unveil an entire range of new phones, including a flagship model, boasting a 5.5-inch, 4K display that is optimised for VR.
My “one to watch” for MWC 2017 is Huawei. Their P9 device really impressed me last year and was one of my top phones of the year. I’m very excited to see what they have up their sleeves as they are expected to launch their next flagship. It's thought their partnership with Leica will continue.
Nokia 3310
If you’re fond of a bit of nostalgia, you may want to keep an eye on Nokia’s upcoming announcements, expected to be made on Sunday 26th. Rumours were circulating that the 3310 was making a comeback, but that's just one of a number of devices expected from Nokia.
We’re expecting a Nokia 6 with a 5.5-inch screen, Nokia 5 with a 5.2-inch screen and then the budget, Nokia 3. Fans of the original Nokia 3310 are excitedly waiting to see if the firm brings the "dumb phone" back and how it will work. It's rumoured to cost less than €60.
As with pretty much all tech conferences, there’s a host of keynote speakers at MWC, promising to give us insight into their side of the industry. This year we’ll hear from John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic, the company that brought us Pokemon Go, Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix as well as the CEO of Nokia.
