The Mobile World Congress was held this week in Barcelona and we understand if you missed it. While Apple and the iPhone are on everyone’s minds, MWC is primarily an Android show. But there are still a few announcements that will make Apple fans a little jealous. Here are five that caught our attention and we hope Apple pays attention to them too.
Galaxy Ring
As if Samsung was reading the rumor blogs, right after reports emerged that Apple had explored developing a smart ring, new details emerged about the upcoming Galaxy Ring, which apparently won’t work with iPhones. We don’t know much about it, other than it will track most of the health metrics a smartwatch does (sleep, heart rate, fertility, etc.) and will last about a week between charges. Just as importantly, this is the first smart ring from a major smartphone maker and it looks great in pictures, so consider our interest piqued by the prospect of an Apple Ring.
Inghe de Matt
Gemini in Google Messages
We’re still waiting for Apple to unveil its first real generative AI feature, which is expected to arrive at WWDC, but Google is moving at a rapid pace with its own Gemini chatbot. Despite some early issues with image creation, Gemini continues to add new tools to its arsenal. Latest announcement at MWC: You can chat with Gemini directly in the Google Messages app. We don’t know what Apple has planned for the AI generation in iOS 18, but something similar in iMessage would be fun.
OnePlus Watch 2
The Apple Watch is the king of smartwatches, but there’s still one area we’d like to see a big improvement in: battery life. So we’re a little jealous of the OnePlus Watch 2, which claims 100 hours of battery life in light use and about half that in heavy use. The testers were able to last two to three days with normal use. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Series 9 is still stuck at around a day and a half.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Honor Magic 6 Pro
Among the many new technologies introduced with Vision Pro is next-level eye tracking technology for navigating without waving your hands all over the place. Honor also has new eye-tracking technology, but it’s not in a headset, it’s in the company’s new Magic 6 Pro phone. Called Assistive eye-gaze control, it will expand notification banners and launch apps when it detects that you’re looking at them longer than usual. Since it will be a while before everyone can afford a Vision Pro, we wouldn’t mind doing eye tracking on the iPhone 16.
Lenovo ThinkBook Clear Screen Laptop
One day, we will wear Vision Pro as thin and transparent as a pair of glasses. One day we’ll use iPhones and iPads that are little more than thin sheets of glass. Lenovo wants that future to be now. The company unveiled its 17.3-inch Micro-LED transparent display at MWC, featuring “a completely transparent, borderless display experience.” It’s one of the coolest things we’ve ever seen – and we hope Apple has something similar deep in its labs.
Lenovo
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