The most-anticipated innovations of the MWC

The forthcoming edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which once again will make Barcelona the world capital of mobile devices, is just around the corner. In this edition, leading companies will present revolutionary innovations in their devices, such as personal unlocking IDs, artificial intelligence and 5G connectivity. Carles Garrigues, mobile technology expert at the UOC Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, analyses the most-anticipated innovations of the congress.

The importance of the camera

The camera is probably the key element that manufacturers will focus on this year in order to position their devices ahead of the competition. This will involve the consolidation of trends such as the dual camera, "which we will start to see imposing itself even in mid-range terminals", making it possible to create effects such as blurring the background, improving the zoom, retouching black and white photos, etc.

There will also be improvements to the camera apertures, which will increase the speed of image focusing and capture. "The new Samsung S9 will have an aperture of 1.5, larger than the 1.6 aperture on the LG V30", Garrigues explains. This improvement to apertures will, of course, be accompanied by other improvements, such as the sensor size, the quality of lenses or post-processing features (for blurring, producing photos with more natural or more saturated hues, etc).

With regard to photo processing, a clear trend is the consolidation of the use of artificial intelligence, which will make it possible to recognize the type of image, allowing improved adjustment of the parameters of each photo, or to improve the brightness in low-visibility conditions, among other aspects. Advances of this type have already been announced for the new Xiaomi, Samsung, LG and Huawei terminals.

Improvements to unlocking systems

Another aspect which will establish a trend at this year's MWC and in the coming months will be the security systems for unlocking telephones. "In the latest high-end terminals we have already seen the consolidation of three alternatives that are now becoming widespread", according to Garrigues.

The first and most conventional is the fingerprint scanner. "This device is quite fast and safe, but its conventional positioning at the front of the terminal is not popular with manufacturers because it takes up screen space and therefore affects the overall size to screen ratio." For this reason, designers have opted for alternatives, such as positioning it on one side (Sony), at the back of the terminal (LG, Moto) or beneath the front panel (Vivo). Carles Garrigues feels that the latter option, which might appear to be ideal, is not without risks, because in this position "the scanner is more susceptible to scratches and requires the use of glass screens, which can break more easily and are more expensive to replace".

Another option, currently used in Samsung terminals, is the iris scanner. In this case, it has been demonstrated that it is not as user-friendly as a fingerprint scanner and less reliable (sometimes it does not recognize the iris correctly).

Finally, the third option, which Apple has made popular on its iPhone X, is facial recognition. The use of this unlocking mechanism presents the evident challenge of preventing someone else from using a photo or video image of ourselves to unlock the terminal. To overcome this, the latest iPhone has adopted a 3D recognition system which uses infra-red light to construct a detailed model of our face. "The system works well in the vast majority of situations, although it may be problematic in low-light conditions, if our face is partially covered, or if we have an identical twin", Garrigues explains. Other manufacturers, such as OnePlus, have also developed facial recognition systems; in this case, without infra-red light or additional equipment. They are based solely on the front camera and have been shown to produce very good results. However, they continue to experience the same problems in the situations referred to above.

While it is clear that facial recognition technology has to improve to become a suitable alternative, it is also clear that the alternative solutions do not offer a problem-free system either. "They all have their drawbacks", Garrigues affirms; therefore, it looks as though the latest proposal by Apple will set a new trend and "we will see more terminals with this technology in the immediate future".

Artificial intelligence and the internet of things

Artificial intelligence will also feature strongly at the congress. Its use is not only increasingly more widespread in mobile device technology, but also in other fields, such as data analysis or the development of virtual assistants, among many others.

The future internet of things, which we will also see many examples of at the MWC (such as wearables or autonomous and connected cars), "is leading us to a world where everything is connected and, consequently, the volume of data generated requires new algorithms that are capable of making everything comprehensible", Garrigues explains. Here, once again, artificial intelligence will play a key role.

5G connectivity

Another star of the MWC will be 5G. 2020 is the date announced for the official roll-out of this technology, and all the major telecommunications operators and manufacturers (Intel, Ericsson, Samsung, Huawei, Qualcomm, etc) are aiming to be well-positioned when this technology is implemented on a wide scale.

Recently, the first specification of the 5G standard was approved, which defines the architecture of the system, and in recent times a multitude of concept trials have been conducted to continue with the evolution of this technology. "The Winter Olympics in South Korea provided a recent example of some of these trials, where we saw driverless buses, 360 degree video broadcasts and real-time reproductions of sled races, among other examples."

Other improvements

As well as improvements to cameras or unlocking systems, the mobile devices of the future will have certain characteristics we have already seen introduced in many high-end devices: 18:9 screens, borderless front panels, slow-motion recording capability or the use of artificial intelligence. In the latter case, artificial intelligence will be used not only to improve photos, but also to recognize objects, and by doing so, offer services such as assistance when shopping or internet searches.

Net neutrality

The need to standardize 5G technology and the amount of investment required by operators for its roll-out will be themes for debate at the new edition of the congress. The need for investment in order to update the mobile network is also the reason the FCC (the communications regulatory body in the United States) has changed its policy concerning the neutrality of the internet. This highly controversial measure will, undoubtedly, also feature among the debates we will see during the congress.