The Buzz in Barcelona: Key Mobile World Congress announcements that will impact India -- soon

05th March 2015
The Buzz in Barcelona: Key Mobile World Congress announcements that will impact India -- soon
Open for business @Barcelona....an India brand

Barcelona March 6 2015: :  As the Mobile World Congress closes its annual show,  we sift the hundreds of announcements, discount hype and hoopla  to home in on technologies that will  impact users in India. ( illustrations in our Image feature)

Qualcomm Announced a  next generation biometrics solution with its new Snapdragon Sense ID 3D fingerprint technology....  arguably the mobile industry’s first comprehensive 3D Fingerprint Authentication Solution based on ultrasonic technology. The offering is designed to provide enhanced authentication capabilities, usability and integration over legacy capacitive touch-based fingerprint technologies by utilizing technology developed for government-grade biometric solutions. The platform utilizes Qualcomm SecureMSM technology and the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance Universal Authentication Framework (UAF) specification to provide password-less authentication, further improving interoperability among online devices and addressing the challenge of creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. See infographic.
Honor, the global leading digital brand for the mobile generation, shared ambitious plans for the Indian market at the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company has already launched across 57 global markets only in 6 months.Honor would be officially launching the honor 6 plus in India in late March along with other products. The Honor 6 plus will be the first ever smartphone in Indian market with bionic parallel dual lens. Honor is an independent Internet Smart Phone brand under Huawei Terminals.
Tyroo the largest mobile ad-tech platform in India,  launched world’s first product ads for App developers at MWC Barcelona . Tyroo’s product currently available on Android will enable constant monetization for app developers through transactional advertisers (E-commerce and mobile first businesses).Product ads will appear natively in an application with product recommendation for consumers targeted through millions of data points.  The ads enriched with native design will enable the consumer to experience shopping within their favorite applications; leading to high yield and increase in time spent for app developers. Says  Siddharth Puri, CEO, Tyroo:  “In-App Products Ads analyzes Tyroo’s big data engine to pre-target, target and re-engage user basis data points being captured from various data partners such as Telcos / Advertiser CRM etc. on mobile devices thereby providing transacting consumers to Tyroo’s advertisers and a constant high yielding product ads to In-App developers.”
Gionee, leading global provider of mobile devices and the current GUINNESS WORLD RECORD holder for the thinnest smartphone, announced its latest Ultra Smartphone ELIFE S7 at this year's Mobile World Congress. Developed under the 'making slim to perfection' product development philosophy, the S7 focuses on performance and user experience more than just ultra slim design. Arvind.R.Vohra, Country CEO & MD - Gionee Smartphones India said "We have had a rapid growth since our launch 2 years ago. We are at a threshold of achieving the targets we set for ourselves having sold over 4Million+ devices in India already.Gioneeis aiming to be among the top 5 mobile players in India by the end of next fiscal year. ELIFE S5.5 & S5.1 witnessed huge acceptance amongst Indian consumers and we are certain that the S7 will create its own benchmark. Inspired by the U-shape design of railway tracks, the ELIFE S7 features Iconic frame design, beautifully merging a high glossy finish and metal effect with two parallel metal light lines.
MediaTek  announced the first tablet system-on-chip (SoC) in a family that features an ARM Cortex-A72 processor, the industry’s highest-performing mobile CPU. The Quad-core MT8173 is designed to maximize the benefits of the new processor and greatly increase tablet performance, while extending battery life to ensure a premium tablet experience. The MT8173 meets the growing demand for 4K Ultra HD content and graphic-heavy gaming by everyday mobile computing device users.
The MT8173 is designed with a 64-bit Multi-core big.LITTLE architecture that combines two Cortex-A72 CPUs and two Cortex-A53 CPUs, extending performance and power efficiency further. MT8173 boasts a six-fold  increase in performance compared to the MT8125 released in 2013. MT8173 offers up to 2.4GHz performance, supporting OpenCL with the deployment of MediaTek Corepilot 2.0, and enables heterogeneous computing between the CPU and GPU. The SoC also ensures the ultimate in display clarity and motion fluency on 120Hz display, promising smooth scrolling with crystal clarity as compared to a normal 60Hz display. 
Huawei announced a strategic collaboration with Intel to deliver public cloud solutions for global telecoms carriers. By combining Intel’s technology leadership with Huawei’s expertise in global information and communications technology solutions, the companies aim to provide carriers with greater access to high-quality, innovative technologies and solutions as they deliver carrier grade cloud services to enterprises and individual end-users.
Mozilla, joined with KDDI, LG U+, Telefónica and Verizon Wireless, to announce a new initiative to create devices based on Firefox OS. The goal is to create a more intuitive and easy-to-use experience (powered by Firefox OS) for consumers around the world. The companies are collaborating to contribute to the Mozilla community and create a new range of Firefox OS phones for a 2016 launch in various form factors - flips, sliders and slates - that balance the simplicity of a basic phone (calls, texts) with the more advanced features of a smartphone such as fun applications, content, navigation, music players, camera, video, LTE, VoLTE, email and Web browsing.
“By leveraging Firefox OS and the power of the Web, we are re-imagining and providing a modern platform for entry-level phones, said Li Gong, President of Mozilla.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich today announced a series of mobile platforms including the company’s new low-cost system-on-chip (SoC) for phones, phablets and tablets, a global LTE solution, innovative personal computing experiences, and a range of customers for mobile device and network infrastructure offerings.               
Intel introduced the Intel Atom x3 processor series (formerly code-named “SoFIA”), Intel’s first integrated communications platform for entry and value tablets, phablets and smartphones. Combining 64-bit multi-core Intel Atom processors together with 3G or 4G LTE connectivity, the integrated communications SoC combines the applications processor, image sensor processor, graphics, audio, connectivity and power management components in a single system chipset. This integration allows device manufacturers to deliver full-featured tablets, phablets and smartphones at affordable price points for the rapidly growing entry and value market segments.
Broadcom introduced a new smartwatch platform that reduces power consumption for Android Wear devices. The platform offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) more features including GPS with sensor hub processing and wireless charging support. It reduces power usage by up to 40 percent over the previous generation, driving further improvement on the core challenge of battery drain in wearables. The platform improves function and performance by offering a smaller form factor, enabling OEMs to add more features or include a larger battery inside their wearable to allow for even longer time between charges.
Finally kudos for an India brand:
Bharti Airtel announced that its WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) portal - One Touch Internet has been accredited as the ‘Best Mobile Service/ Application of the Year for consumers’ in the category of Best Mobile Services at the prestigious GSMA Global Mobile Awards 2015 in Barcelona.
Launched in November 2014, Airtel’s One Touch Internet is a specially designed portal that has witnessed a total of about 53millionpage views/hits within 4 months of its launch. It makes internet discovery easy for first-time users by being a single point destination for the uninitiated internet users on Airtel prepaid to see, try and buy a host of popular services (including social networking, videos, online shopping and travel bookings) through free tutorial videos and trial packs – all with just one touch. More information on One Touch Internet   
A complete list of winners of the GSMA Global Mobile Awards 2015 here