GADGET
GIZMO .. AND THE AWARD GOES TO...
Presenting
the winners from the Mobile World Congress, held this year in Barcelona
THESE AREN’T the official awards (those are slightly fuddy-
duddy). This is my take on how the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 in
Barcelona truly fared. With about 1,50,000 people attending, more than 3,000
companies taking part and literally millions of products being showcased, it’s
important to recognise the best and weed out the worst. Without further ado,
the awards for MWC 2017.
BEST PRESS CONFERENCE OF MWC
Easily, the Nokia relaunch event. With a melodramatic venue, the
brand name in large white cutouts (the wind even blew the K and A away twice),
a live choir that performed a rendition of the classic Nokia ring tone, extreme
expectations and the right mix of nostalgia and products on stage – this one
easily stood out.
THE
STANDOUT PHONE
In a world of dull and similar, the Alcatel A5 LED is a total
stand -out. Nice-looking and well-priced, the back of the phone is all LED and
you can customise the pulsating lights with whatever you want. Appearing soon
at a nightclub, rock concert and a bhangra wedding party near you.
LEAVES
YOU BREATHLESS
Goes to Sony for the XZ Premium. This is a phone so far ahead of
everything else that it leaves you breathless for a while. Excellent
ergonomics, first 4K HDR screen on a phone and then the absolute shocker. It
can record 960 frames per second for slow motion. Even professional rigs can’t
do that.
BEST
LAPTOP OF MWC
There weren’t too many, but the ones that stood out were from
Samsung, one from Porsche design (stunning but too expensive), Lenovo and
Alcatel. Serious horsepower, can multitask anything, beautifully built and a
better Surface book than Microsoft itself, the winner is the Samsung Galaxy
Book.
BEST
NEW OPTICS ON A PHONE
No contest here. The best optics on a new phone were on the
Huawei P10. Leica optics front and back (twice on the back) and a really nice
looking phone to boot. This surge forward on optics is the best thing to happen
to a camera phone.
COMBO
OF ALL THINGS WE WANT
Gionee went out and spoke to thousands of customers as to what
they really want. Turns out that they want a phone that looks good, slim, over
the top battery life and a camera that can do it all. So no compromises here.
It takes pictures and lasts all day too.
WE
BROKE THE INTERNET
The reboot of a 15-year-old phone won this hands down. The New
Nokia 3310 is a sleeker version of its granddad. It also broke the Internet by
creating euphoria around it. It offers the Snake game, Nokia’s classic ringtone
and a 30-day battery life!
BEST
TEASE OF TECH
Oppo wins this one by a distance. It gives you 5X optical zoom
with stabilisation without any telephoto lens protruding out of the phone. Only
the tech is out for now.
THE
STUNNER OF MWC
Fantastic design, great lines and best use of different
materials. The BlackBerry Keyone is easily the best looking phone in a long
time. It has some serious tech too including a fingerprint scanner in the space
bar of the keyboard.
THE
BEST PHONES
Multiple winners here. The LG G6 for reinventing borderless
phones and introducing a new screen ratio (18:9) in a gorgeous-looking phone.
The Nokia 3 for having the perfect mix of looks and features for a ground
breaking economy phone and the Huawei P10 for taking optics to a whole new
level.
BEST
CON JOB OF MWC
No Uber, No Lyft and thus a world that can charge a bomb. Taxis
in Barcelona at the time of the MWC are impossible to get. Someone at MWC needs
to work on this.
MOST
INSENSITIVE DECISION
Early press conferences. Some of them at 8am. Hardworking
journalists that party till 4am can’t be expected to wake up at 6am to make it
to your bright and early press conferences!
- Rajiv
Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru,
Cell Guru and Newsnet 3
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