MWC 2024: Everything announced so far, including HTC’s VR headset and Motorola ‘rollable’ phone concept

The TechCrunch team is in Barcelona this week to bring you all the action happening at Mobile World Congress 2024. You already know what we’re expecting, so sit back, relax, and stay tuned throughout the week as we bring you products, announcements and startup news. of the MWC you need to know.

So far, we’ve seen some big announcements from companies, including new Android features from Google, Lenovo’s new concept rollable laptop and phone, and Xiaomi’s robotic dog. As MWC progresses, here’s how you can follow our team’s coverage.

Tuesday February 27

HTC Vive has become a business

HTC launched into a mixed reality division about ten years ago. During this time, Vive’s Magic Leap headset has evolved from primarily a consumer-focused game to more of a business-oriented tool. Brian Heater sat down with Dan O’Brien, General Manager of HTC Vive, and John Dabill, Head of Product Operations, to discuss Vision Pro, Magic Leap, the Metaverse, and Generative AI.

eQub digitizes peer-to-peer lending in Africa

Meet eQub, an Ethiopian startup and fintech pitch-off winner at 4YFN 2024, the Mobile World Congress startup event. Nahom Michael, the company’s business development manager, explained that the company’s name is an Amharic word referring to a local form of peer-to-peer credit. An Equb is a group of people who join forces to save money, like a tanda, which is then distributed in turns. eQub is digitizing the experience, starting with an app, to target users among the growing number of Ethiopians who have bank accounts and mobile phones but limited access to credit.

SynFlora tackles acne

The skin is the largest organ we have and we don’t always treat it correctly. This is where biotech startup SynFlora is offering a new type of skin treatment technology. The company is initially focusing on acne and is working on a way to deliver the treatment more thoroughly than topically applied creams, as well as designing and developing a wider range of treatments using biotechnological methods for harnessing bacteria to deliver targeted therapies.

Lizcore’s sports tracking system

Lizcore has achieved what Natasha Lomas thought was impossible: digitizing and improving the indoor climbing experience. With Lizcore’s progress tracking system, climbers don’t need to climb with their phone or wear a smartwatch. All they need is its lightweight NFC wearable, which the company calls the Lizy Bracelet that pairs with the startup’s app.

Jolla’s “black box for your life”

Jolla, a mobile operating system maker, wants to fix this by designing a way for users to gain the superpower of advanced AI without having to let data-hungry third parties gobble up their privacy. It presents a device that resembles a private cloud and an AI router all in one, making user data accessible to run AI queries. It’s like having a personal server “reconfigured for the era of generative AI,” writes Natasha Lomas.

Replace wireless TV

Mike Butcher sat down with Displace founder and CEO Balaji Krishna, who discussed the company’s 55-inch Display Flex product. It’s a $3,000 “wireless” 4K OLED TV that sticks to walls without a traditional stand. It was launched in January at CES. Krishna says more versions of the screen and new features will be coming. One that we can talk about now is a “Display Mini” which will be a smaller 27-inch TV and designed for a kitchen or bathroom space. Krishna also hinted at a future feature based on an “AI-powered shopping engine” allowing consumers to purchase products based on ads and a contactless payment reader.

Motorola’s rollable concept phone

What is the maximum size of a device you will wear on your wrist? If “bigger is better” is your go-to answer, Lenovo has something for you. The company designed what it calls a “rollable concept phone” for Motorola that folds around your wrist. The key word being “concept”, because there is no evidence that this can become a product. Either way, it’s fun to see.

Monday February 26

Doublepoint’s updated WowMouse touch gesture

Android smartwatch users can now have their own version of Doublepoint’s WowMouse gesture control app. Pinch!

Microsoft AI Access Principles

Brad Smith, president and vice president of Microsoft, today announced a framework called the “AI Access Principles,” which is an 11-point plan that Smith said “will govern how we leverage our AI data center infrastructure and other significant AI assets around the world.” world.” While the implication here is that Microsoft is open to dialogue and conversation with stakeholders, ironically, Smith announced the news in a keynote speech, with no opportunity for follow-up questions.

Xiaomi’s first electric car

Xiaomi EV’s first product – the highly anticipated Xiaomi SU7 – is scant in detail. We know it’s a “high-performance full-size eco-tech sedan” that’s expected to arrive in China next year. In addition to design, Xiaomi has developed the five core technologies of electric vehicles: electric motor, CTB built-in battery, Xiaomi die-casting, Xiaomi Pilot autonomous driving and intelligent cabin. And, as mentioned before, it will have the “HyperOS” operating system.

Samsung’s first smart ring

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but if you’re a girl who can’t sleep, Samsung’s new Galaxy ring might just become your new favorite. Some of the features include built-in sensors to measure heart rate, movement, and breathing to create insight into the user’s health and sleep habits. Questions regarding pricing and battery life remain unanswered for now.

Extended battery life for OnePlus

OnePlus’ upcoming Watch 2 promises a jaw-dropping 100 hours of battery life “in full smart mode.” The claim comes after the company spent three years on its battery technology. Brian Heater spoke with Tuomas Lampén, head of strategy at OnePlus Europe, about why the company took so long and how it managed to squeeze 100 hours out of the new watch.

Last week, Brian reported that “the battery is precisely the sort of thing OnePlus needs to rely on,” given that its first-generation product only had about 25 hours of battery life. And that was with GPS turned off.

Xiaomi’s CyberDog

After years of reporting on Xiaomi’s CyberDog, Brian Heater finally got to see the robotic dog up close at MWC. He was able to watch the little dog being trained and do a little dance, which he said reminded him of “a smaller version of the Boston Dynamics pet robot.” Since Brian’s story in 2021, Xiaomi has made some changes to his dog, including a more realistic version of a head to replace the previous, flatter one. CyberDog 2 can currently be purchased online for $3,000, almost double the $1,600 price of its predecessor.

Lenovo’s laptop concept

If you’ve ever wanted to look behind your desk while working, Lenovo’s new transparent laptop will definitely give you that joy. That is, if it ever makes it to production. It looks like your standard laptop with a few exceptions: the screen has a transparent glass, and it and the keyboard portion remind us of an augmented reality experience, meaning the graphics are overlaid on whatever’s behind it. For now, Lenovo likes to show off its creativity.

Google Brings AI to New Features

Today, Google rolled out AI into more of its services, including a new set of features for phones, cars and wearables. These use Gemini to create messages, AI-generated image captions, summarizing texts via AI for Android Auto, as well as access to passes on Wear OS. Additionally, Google Messages will get a feature that lets you access Gemini within the app. The feature is currently in beta and only supports English. The mobile giant is also launching some accessibility-related features. One of these is the Lookout app, which helps visually impaired people with things like labels and food documents and will now generate AI-based captions for images with missing captions or alt text or inaccurate.

Also at MWC, DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis spoke on a panel with Wired’s Steven Levy to talk about Google’s ability to “reactivate” the capacity of its multimodal generative AI tool, Gemini, to represent people. The ability to respond to requests for images of humans should be back online in the “next few weeks,” he said. Natasha Lomas reports that “Google suspended the Gemini feature last week after users pointed out that the tool produced historically incongruous images, such as depicting the founding fathers of the United States as a diverse group of people, rather than only white men. »

A desk lamp to improve your mood

Seaborough, a Dutch company, introduced small devices designed to replace large light therapy lamps that mimic the impact of the sun on serotonin production in the brain. One sits next to the computer and the other clips above it display, looking very much like an external webcam. Both plug into the USB port for power. However, you will have to wait a bit, because the lamp is still in proof of concept mode.

Infinix wants to run the back of your phone

The Infinix E-Color Shift improves on the e-ink screen work launched by YotaPhone years ago. What’s new here is the addition of color and what Brian Heater describes as “a fun aesthetic addition to the part of your device that is almost always covered by a case, your hand, or otherwise face down on a table “.