5 big things I took away from MWC 2018

To anyone working in tech, Mobile World Congress (MWC) is one of those conferences that can tick every box in terms of what’s on offer; from the latest in smart phones to the micro-chips and gizmos that power them. And because our phones are now smart enough and powerful enough to autonomously drive a car (as Huawei demonstrated with a tricked out Porsche), the tech in these phones pretty much powers ALL electronics out there. So although MWC is not officially focused on consumer electronics, much of the underlying technology on show at CES in Vegas earlier earlier this year was here in Barcelona. Here's what I took away from the conference this year:

5G

The tech that linked everything together was 5G. The emergence of 5G and the important role it will play in all our lives soon was up front and center at all the key stands. Speed is obviously a factor; yes you’ll be able to download 8K movies in a few seconds, and 5G will be 100 times faster then 4G and 10 times faster then a speedy home broadband connection. The real game changer however is the huge improvement in latency that 5G provides. Ahem - latency is the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer

A ubiquitous 5G network will allow surgeons to perform delicate surgeries without being in the same room as the patient. Cars can communicate with each other and the city environment at a staggeringly fast rate opening the doors to truly safe autonomous travel . Experiences in VR will come alive through virtual touch and live streaming of virtual worlds. Drones will be able to perform the most dangerous tasks remotely. Our home and the much hyped IoT will all be powered by 5G which would allow everything to be more instantly responsive and aware, meaning better, more useful services. Phew. So super useful.

When everything man made is truly connected by 5G and ‘digital stuff’ (games, movies, etc) are appearing in an instant, it doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to believe that 5G will be truly revolutionary in what it will enable us to do.

And it’s coming really soon. This year in small tests with bigger roll-outs in 2019. 

Ai

With faster connections and data exchanges, come faster microchips. And these chips combined with a super fast network will allow for Ai to learn faster and provide a more precise and personal experience. AI has the potential to democratize costly services, elevate poor customer service, and even free up an overburdened workforce.

IBM, Google and Salesforce talked about how Ai is already making their businesses more efficient. They were all convinced that Ai will enhance, not replace, the human element in the work place. IBM's Watson was put forward as a tech that predicts issues before they occur. Alerting workers to a fault before its real and before it causes chaos, thus saving time, money and potentially lives. Seemed to make sense to me.

Shopping Tech

An oldie but goodie seems to be making a comeback; RFID - Radio Frequency Identification. It’s old tech but it’s price and size are now at a level that make them disposable. The latest form of these are called 'Universal Tags' and they’re ultra discreet. That means they can now be used on products in a grocery store, for example, to enable a cashless experience without the need for a multitude of sensors and infra-red cameras throughout the store a la Amazon Go. And because they can be connected to a central Ai ‘brain’, store owners and suppliers can get live data on stock. 

These 'Universal Tags' can eventually be applied during the product manufacturing process meaning they arrive in store already tagged. Shoppers will pick up their items from the shelf as normal, and simple scanners on exit will auto detect their items and charge the customer. This solution simplifies the process and achieves the same results as Amazon Go. (Here's how IBM are testing the tech with Shell.)

Great news for shoppers as it means more stores will be able to enable this type of solution without an expensive technology investment. Sorry Amazon, you can’t win everything.

Phones

I was pretty happy with my iPhone X, until I came to MWC this year. There were of course a staggering amount of smartphones on display. However pretty much every phone I tried out, from Huawei to Sony, ZTE to Samsung, looked slick, felt great in-hand and had features way beyond the latest from Apple. Even these challenger laptops and tablets seemed to have an edge in form and function over you-know-who. 

Thd big take away for me? If only I could install iOS on a non-Apple phone..

??

Four days at Mobile World Congress = extreme tech over-load. This left me gasping at the end of each day for non digital, non virtual, more human experiences. Technology is making the world a smaller, safer & smarter place to be by connecting people in ways they never imagined. At the end of the day though, nothing could beat a dirty martini and some in-person human interaction.

Think I’ll be unplugging for a few days.

#MWC2018 #5G #Ai #FutureOfShopping

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About me: I'm the global Chief Digital & E-Commerce Officer at omni-shopper & brand activation network Geometry. I can also be found on Twitter @fadi.