Poll of the week: What's your MWC highlight?
With the MWC 2022 in our rear-view mirrors, it is time to revisit what were your favorite announcements from the event, which went beyond smartphones and covered lots of topics related to connectivity. Let's see what the NextPit Community thought about the Barcelona trade show!
Highlight of the event
The results in the international domain were a little skewed due to low participation. But in general, our German readers preferred real product announcements and hands-ons, while the French community voted more towards technology trends like the metaverse/VR/AR, and Huawei's "super device"
The "new normal"?
Besides all the big announcements, trade shows are perfect for spotting quirky concepts (rollable screens anyone?), independent projects (palmtop smartphones are returning?), and passion projects that would otherwise get lost in the regular news cycle.
Armed with masks the NextPit team braved the halls of the Fira Barcelona convention center and side events to present all those things (time permitting) and it seems that the readers, in general, approved the live coverage, with the German community evenly split.
The truth is that without big phone unveils from Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, or even Motorola/Sony/Nokia, the German readers expressed their disappointment with MWC 2022, like Sebo commented:
And I thought it had just passed me by:-D
Somehow hardly notice anything, but also does not affect me for a long time as it used to.
And also ShaxXx in the French poll:
You need the answer "Was there an mwc?"
CES leading the community preference
The last question asked which shows the NextPit community thought were the most important, and the results were rather surprising, with the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) getting the most votes in total across the three domains.
The North-American event not only is where all the TV, sound, appliances, and other segments show their wares but even some phone companies, like Samsung, which tried to upstage its Chinese main rivals - which ended up not announcing their expected flagships during MWC...
In second place overall was Google I/O, which usually kickstarts the next Android beta program, presenting all the features expected to arrive in the lucky devices scheduled for an update.
MWC was placed third, tied with Samsung's Unpacked events. The latter one is now usually held at least three times a year - for the Galaxy S in the first quarter of the year, for the Galaxy Z line in the third quarter, and an extra edition for when the FE model is ready or some disapp unexpected announcement, such as the Bespoke edition in 2021.
Well, that was it for this week's poll. Check back again on Friday when we will publish more questions regarding mobile technology. And don't forget to check our coverage for the Spring Apple Event on Tuesday (8).
Original article
As Mobile World Congress comes to an end, it's time for us to know what you think about the launches that took place at the show in 2022. If you've followed our coverage, you know that despite the focus on cell phones, this year's show drew attention for the hype around the Metaverse and virtual, augmented, and mixed reality devices. So, take part in our poll this week and help us understand the best of the Barcelona show.
What did you really enjoy seeing at MWC this year?
After a cancellation in 2020 and the first attempt to hold a show in the middle of a pandemic scenario in the world, this year's MWC edition tried to show that the event is still relevant for the mobile industry. However, with the still reduced participation of companies and the public, we did not have launches that really stood out in the program, but a set of announcements that justified holding the Barcelona show.
Some companies, such as Motorola, chose to launch their products in the days leading up to the show. However, Huawei, Honor, Realme, and Poco, for example, used MWC as a stage for new product announcements.
More than that: manufacturers with products still exclusive to the Chinese market, such as Honor and OnePlus, took the opportunity to showcase their devices in the West during the Barcelona show. Therefore, our team could publish hands-ons of phones like the Honor Magic V and the OnePlus 10 Pro.
Last but not least, it was enlightening to attend the fair and see the importance of virtual reality and Metaverse for the industry. For this kind of insight it was enough to enter the fair halls on the first day, see the Qualcomm banners scattered throughout the halls, and of course walk through the booths of the big mobile companies and carriers present at the show, such as T-Mobile.
That said, between smartphone announcements and demonstrations of VR, AR, and XR/MR gadgets during the show, tell us in the poll below what you consider the main highlight of MWC 2022:
Was it more interesting to have live coverage from us this time?
We also want to know your opinion about the content produced in the field during the show in Barcelona. This year, in addition to the virtual coverage of the show, we also decided to send a team to Barcelona, which had the chance to participate in the events in person.
Respecting all the requirements of the GSMA, the organization responsible for holding the MWC, my colleagues Antoine Engels, Benjamin Lucks, Fabien Roellinger, and I were able to attend the announcements in the fair's amphitheaters, as well as quickly test the announced devices and record videos showing our first impressions of the products announced by the companies.
And of course, we do this for you, who follow the news here on the channel and who, like us, love technology. So your opinion is really important to our team: do you think the coverage is more exciting when journalists attend the events in person?
What is the most influential technology show in your opinion?
Finally, technology fairs and events move the industry forward, so they have considerable importance for executives, developers, journalists, and of course consumers and technology fans. After all, it would be very boring to rely only on company press releases and release news based on technical specification tables.
However, large events such as CES, MWC, and IFA have lost relevance over the years as companies such as Apple, Google, Samsung & Co. have started to have dedicated events such as WWDC, Google I/O, and Galaxy Unpacked.
In this regard, we want to know your opinion regarding the major technology events and trade shows today. Do you prefer to attend dedicated presentations for smartphone launches and new software releases, or do you still get excited about tech fairs that cover everything from robots and smart gadgets powered by AI to Metaverse?
As usual, on Monday we'll be looking at our NextPit community's picks in three different languages. Personally, I really enjoyed going back to MWC this year and being able to see the launches up close and chat with executives and other colleagues about the products we love to test. And what do you have to say about technology trade shows and their relevance today?
