4K Smartphones - Stand and Deliver

In my last post I ventured to predict that 4K displays will become mainstream on high-end smartphones at some point even though they’re unlikely to deliver a better viewing experience for the mobile user on average. To become a game changer, it takes more than just adding a impressive new feature to a device to attain that immersive cinematic experience. What about 4K video content? Is enough readily available? Are the wireless networks and mobile infrastructure in place to transport high-resolution content? What are the effects of 4K displays on the smartphone itself? It’s a tall order to provide a comprehensive picture in a blog, so I’ll attempt providing some vignettes of insight in a question and answer style. We’ll shortly probe the ecosystem from production through to transfer and finally consumption of 4K content to arrive at the bigger picture.

"Looks pretty much like 4K to me"

Seeing the difference

Spicing up the quality of images or video is not only a case of increasing resolution. It’s technical and personal matter at the same time.

What parameters influence the perceived quality of a display?

A combination of technical factors such as the screen size, display resolution, frame rate, color depth, dynamic range, viewing distance and other parameters make up for the quality of the viewing experience. In addition, your own eyesight plays an important role, in particular its ability to distinquish fine details, known as visual acuity. The resulting mix of objective and subjective factors makes it extremely difficult to pinpoint a single metric as being paramount in providing a superior viewing experience.

What does it take to produce 4K broadcast quality content?

Producing 4K content dictates a four times higher resolution than the prevalent HD (high-definition) standard, resulting in 4x the amount of data too. That translates to very expensive equipment in the production chain (cameras, lenses, switchers, encoders, storage disks, editing workstations) so that only a trickle of material is currently shot in 4K. Over time equipment pricing will erode and options will increase. Shooting in 4K will ultimately ensure that content is future proof, spurring on its adoption.

What content is available in 4K resolution to date?

YouTube Netflix, Amazon, Sony, DirectTV, Comcast are just some of the names who boast 4K UHD movies, TV shows, or video clips, all of which have caveats of sorts. A good overview of 4K UHD programming available in the USA currently (December 2014) can be found at Digital Trends. Indeed, it’s quite a limited offering but it’s an incoming tide that’s rising.

Squeezing 4K data

Getting 4K content to the end-user requires high-bandwidth transmission paths. 4K codecs that efficiently compress the material when it is captured (encoder) and decompress it again when viewed (decoder) play a pivotal role in easing bandwidth requirements and the cost of transfer.

What are the transport requirements for 4K video?

As can be seen from the listing of offerings at Digital Trends, most 4K content is streamed over the Internet and requires a 25 Mbps channel. Many experts contend that 36 Mbps is the best channel bandwidth for delivering Ultra HD, whilst others purport that 15 Mbps is sufficient for a decent 4K experience that is also commercially viable. Whatever the case, that’s certainly a lot more compared to delivering a HD (1K) stream at 3 Mbps. It also costs approximately 5x more.

	SD (720 x 576)	HD (1920 x 1080)	UHD (3840 x 2160)
Recommended Internet Speed	3 Mbps	5 Mbps	25 Mbps

Netflix’s recommendations on Internet speed for viewing their movies and TV shows

Why are differing minimum 4K bandwidth requirements quoted by experts?

This depends on the type of content and the codec used for compressing the video footage. For example live sports events with fast moving action will require higher frame rates (more data to encode) for a fluid viewing experience. In addition the encoder used to reduce the data must compress at a faster rate due the live nature of the event. Stated in simple terms, the more time a codec has available, the more it can squeeze the data without sacrificing quality. So it stands to reason that films shot and compressed in the studio require less transport bandwidth than live sports events broadcast on the fly.

What codecs are available for 4K video compression and do they differ in the quality and bit-rate?

Of late there’s been a pitting of solutions between Google’s VP9 that follows an open source approach, and MPEG / ITU groups’ HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec, also known as H.265). The latter’s previous H.264 (MPEG) codec has been the defacto standard for HD content in the past, but Google is hot on the heels to change this for 4K. Then there’s another initiative from Mozilla and Xiph.org called Daala that claims it will beat both on technical merit. In a future post I’ll attempt to uncover some of the key differences of these codecs in their complexity, delivered quality, achievable bit-rate reduction, available content offerings and devices that support each.

Please, no frame freezes or fallouts

Many of us know how annoying a sudden and unexpected throttling of bandwidth can be, especially when enjoying streamed video or audio. Consistent channel bandwidth is of the essence, so let’s take a look at the options.

What channels are available for transmitting 4K Ultra-HD content?

Several options are available such as satellite, microwave, cellular and fixed networks using cable or DSL. Currently the majority of 4K content is available as video-on-demand (VoD) that is stored and then streamed through fixed networks (cable/DSL) to the end user. On the broadcast TV front, satellite providers like DirectTV and BSkyB will lead the 4K race. Terrestial TV broadcasting will require more time for standards to come into place and availability will largely depend on country initiatives in transitioning to newer technology with Japan and Korea at the forefront.

Will mobile networks have sufficient bandwidth to transmit 4K content?
4G cellular networks typically support download rates of up to 150 Mbps for LTE Cat 5 smartphones that are prevalent on the market . More than enough for one UHD channel at 25 Mbps one would think. Keep in mind though, the cellular broadband network is being shared by many people at the same time. In fact we’re dealing with a top theoretical download speed that most of us won’t ever witness in the real world. Even worse, the data rate may change unexpectedly depending on network usage, and your 4K video may suddenly freeze.

Can Wi-Fi reliably stream 4K video content?

The more recent WiFi standards that employ 40 MHz channel bands (802.11n or 802.11ac) provide sufficient data throughput to support 4K video transmission in theory. In practice however, performance is unpredictable as those of us who have tried streaming HD video at home will know. This is largely due to contention between neighbouring WiFi networks whose data rates start sagging as they counter the chatter of next-door access points on the same frequencies. In addition WiFi microwaves, especially those operating in the 5 MHz band, are attenuated by walls and floors, leading to a 80 - 90 % drop in peak rate compared to the access point being in the same room. In short, uninterrupted video delivery is simply not reliable enough.

What other wireless standards can handle 4K streaming and when will they become available?

Two new standards, WiGig and WirelessHD, are out there and both operate in the 60 GHz band. They are much faster than Wi-Fi 802.11ac or LTE mobile broadband technologies. Their formidable throughput rates (7.5 Gbps for WiGig) are targeted at the wireless delivery of high-definition content. Yet the 60 GHz signals they use cannot penetrate walls. It’s all about connecting computing and entertainment devices in the same room without cables. The idea is to turn mobile devices into media stations that wirelessly dispatch streams to 4K TVs and displays. Devices supporting the new standards are expected to start shipping this year and they will allow uninterrupted wireless streaming of 4K content, albeit in the same room.

Expensive power hogs

Smartphone innovation happens at a mindboggling rate and users often wait for announced models to be released before replacement. Even if 4K is one of those desirable new features, there are other factors to observe.

What are the drawbacks of smartphones with 4K displays?

Power and cost are two inhibitors in the uptake of 4K displays on smartphones. The display is one of the major culprits in draining the battery on a mobile phone and the amount of power consumed is directly related to the size of the display. 4K also means four times more data to store and process. More memory and busier units on the SoC (system-on-chip) will sap precious juice from your phone’s battery even faster. In addition, the display is the component that costs the most in a smartphone. Paying more and having to charge your phone more often don’t speak for a runaway market success.

Can smartphones record 4K video?

The minimum requirement for a smartphone camera to capture 4K content is a camera with at least 8 megapixels (MP) of resolution. Most mid-range devices already sport such pixel magic. But can available smartphones capture and encode 4K video? Suprisingly yes, even though most don’t feature 4K displays. For example, both Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models (8 MP camera) support 4K video recording; Samsung’s Galaxy S5 (16 MP camera) and Sony’s Xperia Z2 (20.7 MP camera) both use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 that supports video capture and playback using the HEVC / H.265 codec. In fact, an impressive list of smartphones supporting HEVC can be found at phoneArena.com which are able to record 4K videos.

A nascent technology gaining momentum

What do you do if 4K content is limited, seamless transfer paths still patchy, the first smartphones with 4K displays just around corner, yet many featuring 4K capture available right now? 4K’s marketing machine has the answer and is harping that user-generated 4K content on mobiles will bridge the gap. Smartphones will be the force to bring 4K into the limelight as users record 4K footage and either watch it on 4K TVs or upload it to YouTube. A bulletproof business model or high hopes on an act of faith? Whatever the case, it is apparent that the industry is working its fingers to the bone towards a single new display standard. At some point the law of large numbers will bring down costs and herald in the age of 4K phablets, one way or another, sooner or later. The market research company ABI Research forecasts almost 500 million 4K display-enabled mobile phones to be sold in 2019.

It’s still an HD world out there and will be for quite some time, but 4K UHD is on the move.

4K on Mobile - splash, bang or thud?

The new year has just begun and the mobile industry is bracing for the splash of 4K displays in the smartphone market. Will smartphones with Ultra-High-Definition (UHD - the acronym denoting 4K resolution) become a runaway success? They promise a four times higher resolution than the current high-end of small screen technology. They also require four times the amount of data to transfer and a lot more processing muscle to handle the extra workload in tasks such as compression and image enhancement .

 
Rumours have it that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 (to be released mid 2015) will feature a 4K screen resolution of 2160 x 3840 pixels on a 5.9 inch display delivering an astonishing pixel density of 746 ppi (pixels per inch). What does this all mean and does it make sense, or is it just one more superlative being added to the spec list of megapixels, octacores etc. to dazzle the consumer?

10-fold increase in 4K smartphone unit shipments

Not if you believe Qualcomm, the Nr. 1 chip supplier in the mobile handset world with a market share of over 50 % for baseband modems in cell phones according to Forward Concepts . A quick look at 4K support in their Snapdragon 805 system-on-chip reveals an unshakeable commitment and formidable investment in this latest display technology.

Smart Phone Display Trend – Source: IHS DisplaySearch, 2015 IHS DisplaySearch expect a 10-fold increase in annual shipments of 4K displays on smartphones by 2017. A modest 6 million units are forecast to ship this year (2015).

Why the 4K smartphone market differs from its TV counterpart

Most of us have witnessed how TV formats battled in moving from PAL/NTSC to high-definition HDTV and the time it took for content and broadcasting in this format to become common. Seers from the mobile world expect the change to 4K to be a completely different kettle of fish. Uptake of this superior technology will be swift . The premise is that mobile devices such as smartphones don’t need to wait for 4K content to become available on a large scale as they are already equipped with cameras and codecs that generate 4K video which can be shared with like-minded. The breakthrough will be further fueled by the fact that consumers buy new mobiles every other year. That’s a very different replacement cycle to PCs or TVs, driving down the cost of high resolution handsets at a much quicker rate. 

Your best viewing distance

 The proposition of enjoying an immersive cinematic experience, viewing an image in fine detail, or simply reading crisp text are undeniably attractive. Does 4K on a handheld deliver on this promise and improve the user experience compared to lower resolution displays? Image quality is an extremely subjective experience and its perception depends on a multitude of factors, not the least of which being the condition of your eyesight. Objectively speaking however, a higher resolution always makes perfect sense the closer you get to the screen or the bigger the screen gets. At some point your eyesight will notice the edges of rasterized text or displayed objects. But how close is close and how big is big? Smartphones are getting bigger by the day - sometimes that small hand can barely hold newer models. In addition, the phone, or shall we call it phablet (phone + tablet) , is at most an arm’s length away from your eyes, usually viewed less than elbow’s length away or some 40 cm / 16 inches. Experts from the display market rely on a simple but reliable rule of thumb for the “best” viewing distance based on screen resolution and size for 16:9 aspect ratios:

• for UHD (2160 x 3840) it’s 1.5 x height of the display
• for Full HD (1080 x 1920) it’s 3 x height of the display

Even the best-sighted of us will no longer be able to distinguish differences to the next lower-resolution display beyond this measure.

So, how does this translate to the latest phablets?

 

	Screen Diagonal	Screen Size	Resolution In pixels	Pixels-per-Inch (PPI)	Best Viewing Distance (landscape)
SAMSUNG Galaxy Note 5 **	15 cm 5.9 "	13.1. x 7.4 cm 5.2 x 2.9 "	3840 x 2160 UHD	746	11 cm 4.3 "
SAMSUNG Galaxy Note 4	14.5 cm 5.7 "	12.6 x 7.1 cm 5.0 x 2.8 "	2560 x 1450 WQHD	515	16 cm 6.3 "
Apple iPhone 6 Plus	14 cm 5.5 "	12.2 x 6.9 cm 4.8 x 2.7 "	1920 x 1080 Full HD	401	21 cm 8.3 "
Apple iPhone 6	12 cm 4.7 "	10.4 x 5.9 cm 4.1 x 2.3 "	1334 x 750	326	31 cm 12.2 "

       ** estimated release is mid 2015

As the table suggests, a cinema quality movie on a 4K smartphone will deliver a better user experience if viewed from a distance of less than 11 cm / 4.3  inches (landscape mode). That’s really close in front of the eyes. Of course, zooming ever further into a hi-res photo by pinching the touchscreen remains an attractive side benefit of 4K content on 4K displays. The “best viewing distance” matches Qualcomm’s affirmation on the average person being able to immediately appreciate the superior quality of a 344 ppi display if viewed closer than 10 inches (25 cm). However note, 344 ppi is not even Full HD resolution.

Notwithstanding, the mobile future is 4K

In the mid nineties when browsing the Internet and Search were at their genesis, I remember contending with technology peers that the future of the medium would remain text-based, more than enough for the emerging knowledge-based, networked society at the time. My rationale was that pictures, let alone videos, would never break through because of bandwidth and cost considerations. How wrong could I have been! As the saying goes “a picture says more than 1000 words”. And if a picture actually sells more than 1000 words, the dynamics of retail and commerce will drive adoption for certain. So, with this in mind and unencumbered by conventional wisdom, 4K on smartphones are destined to break in and break through, even if their added value may not be apparent to the mobile user at first glance.

Who Needs a Smartwatch?

Touted as the next big wave of consumer devices to impact our lifestyles, smartwatches will supposedly change many of our daily habits. Or will this be just one more device that finds it way into some drawer of collectibles after a few weeks of use? 

Examining my own behaviour, I have to admit that I always wore a wrist watch until the day I became the proud owner of my first cell phone. On that veritable day my cheap wrist watch became a forever companion to the special-occassion premium model in my bedside drawer. Yet recently I rediscovered the convenience of strapping a regular watch to my wrist to tell the time. A quick glance instead of fumbling for that phone slate somewhere deep in a pocket.

Hands freed up at long last

If you're on the go, there's a certain magic to having both hands free from carrying things like a luggage item or a phone. Smartwatches have the potential to deliver on that promise. In addition they they will be so much more than just an elegant timepiece.  Having a launchpad for calls, guidance, management and diversion strapped to one's wrist is a tempting thought. And a few clicks, swipes or voice commands could initiate all the fun. If regular wrist watches with a brand name cost 100 Euros at the lower end of the scale, then surely 300 Euros is a consumer-friendly price tag for a watch with smarts?

I’d be an easy mark for a smartwatch if

• it offers full functionality without my smartphone, unless I want to make/take calls or access the internet.
• the casing and industrial design in no way resemble an electronic device. As all smartphones resemble rectangular slates, it’s a fitting time to break out of the uniformity mould and revive lifestyle regalia.
• it powers itself through a kinetic mechanism or energy harvesting. As long as I never have to charge it.
• it unfolds a whole new world of “hands-free” functionality for
  • phone calls (missing parts: the Bluetooth earpiece that invisibly clips behind an ear or integrated in an eyeglasses’ arm, and some kind of highly directional microphone that won't require any strange gestures so that the person on the other end understands me)
  • effortless and efficient contactless payment
  • finding my way whilst walking or cycling
  • helping improve fitness or basic monitoring of health (heart rate, blood pressure, glucose level...)

My short list above might one day appear quite meek. Equipped with a multitude of sensors, smartwatches will see unthought of functionality unfold as creative developers build new applications using development kits that the manufacturers provide. The beauty of “smart” in smartwatch means different designs, different functions, different uses for different types of users.

Apple Watch	Samsung Gear S	Moto 360	Asus ZenWatch	LG G Watch R
Photo courtesy of Apple	Photo courtesy of Samsung	Photo courtesy of Motorola	Photo courtesy of Asus	Photo courtesy of LG

From Swatch to Rolex: will smartwatches ever span the breadth from the low-cost to the up-market?

Visitors to the Mobile World Congress earlier this year could witness smartwatches and fitness gadgets galore on display. Apart from the trendy fitness band, I have yet to see any of my personal acquaintances sporting a smartwatch. Will the announcement of Apple’s Watch for next year change consumer behaviour at the flick of a switch as they so often have proven before? 2015 might indeed provide the spark to catapult smartwatches and wearables into mass adoption.

Smartwatch and Wearables Shipments

Smartwatches fall into the so-called category of "Wearables" that many technology market research companies track. Forecasts vary and inflated expectations are sure to traverse a temporary trough before certain mass adoption occurs. Various sources suggest that around 10 million wearables were sold in 2013 with sports and activity trackers topping the list. Looking further into the future, opinions differ on the potential market size. Bold seers predict over USD 100 billion of wearable device revenue for 2018, whilst the more cautious cap their forecast at USD 30 billion. Compared to 2013 smartphone revenues of roughly USD 300 billion (around 1 billion smartphones were sold at an average price of USD 300) smartphones overshadow wearables considerably, but for how long?
On the smartwatch front Generator Research provide a short yet comprehensive history and outlook for smartwatches (free). The market research outfit’s recent study Smart Watches: 2014 forecasts sales of 5.8 million devices worldwide in 2014, rising to 313 million by 2020.

Sample Market Research on Wearables

Wearables Service	CCS Insights	http://bit.ly/1ou2S2b
Wearable Computing: Technologies, Applications and Global Markets	BCC Research	http://bit.ly/1qReqfq
Investing in Wearables for Financial Services	Javelin Research	http://bit.ly/ZnzAMS
Wearable Computing: Fitness and Health in Style	Parks Associates	http://bit.ly/1nEvg71

On wi360 you’ll find many more report summaries that focus on wearables and smartwatches providing insight and opinions into a consumer market segment that is set to boom.

Designed in China - Assembled in China

Fueled by WhatsApp peer pressure, our ten-year old recently bought his first smartphone. Make: Huawei. Price: Euro 70.00 without a plan/contract. Performance: admirable. Anyone used to Apple’s macrocosm will find it hard to believe that a smartphone can retail at that price. Mobile phones in Europe used to be all about Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens. Then came Apple and Samsung. Names disappeared. Now it’s China’s turn in changing the handset game.

A common Western misconception

“Made in Hong Kong” was imprinted on many of the toys in my boyhood days (way back in the seventies). Then this label was synonymous with “cheap”, “plastic”, “throw away after light use”. At that time China meant little more to me than the occasional meal at a restaurant, the timeless wisdom of a nation as portrayed in the sayings of Confucius, or the iron-fisted communism and class struggle headed by Chairman Mao. Quite frankly, today China is much more than world’s manufacturing workbench. It’s well on its way in advancing to a major R&D force whose impact is beginning to be felt by high-tech consumers around the world. Are the days of “Designed in California - Assembled in China” numbered?

China: think big, think volume

When a topic touches something as vast and far away as China, it’s tough staying grounded and getting the facts right. Clearly China not only has the brains, capability and drive to impact technology worldwide. More than that it has an immense end-user base at home that allows scaling volume production into realms unthinkable for many of us in the West. Case in point: China Mobile boasts some 750 million subscribers. That’s on par with the total population of Europe! Imagine, one single wireless operator with this sheer number of customers at the controls of mobile voice, messaging, apps, handsets and other desirable services.

Reaching out and moving in

On the infrastructure side Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE have already made inroads in foreign markets. I remember their sleek offices quietly opening in Dusseldorf on the river Rhine several years ago. Price disruptions in telecoms infrastructure followed and ever since Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and NSN (Nokia Solutions & Networks, formerly known as Nokia-Siemens Networks) have been feeling the bite at their established clientele. Yet it’s not all threat. Flip the coin and China’s colossal market offers tremendous trade opportunities for foreign companies.

Telecoms market research on China

In wi360’s research and event directory you will find many studies from various sources that provide a detailed view of China’s mobile and wireless landscape. Here are a few sample results when entering “China” in the Search field for Reports at wi360 .

• China Telecommunications Report from Business Monitor International provides an overview of the Chinese telecoms market. In addition it profiles 19 MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) in the country.
• China’s top five vendors account for 20% of the world’s smartphone shipments from Canalys ranks smartphone vendor shipments and growth in China’s domestic and foreign markets
• The Mobile Industry Alliance’s (MEA) Certimo benchmark measures user experience ratings for popular Android smartphones sold in China from manufacturers such as HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Meizu, OPPO, Samsung, Sony, Vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE, and these have been published by Tencent, China’s largest Internet portal. Results can also be found on MEA’s website.
• Consumer Demand Analysis of Smart Wearable Devices in China is a survey from MIC - Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute in which Chinese consumer purchasing behaviour with respect to wearables is profiled
• TD-LTE Market Developments and Forecast, 2014–2016 from Digitimes details mobile networks based on China’s homegrown TD-LTE standard and their outlook in 17 further countries where they have been deployed
• Strategy Analytics’ report titled China Mobile’s One Man Show to End reveals the strategies of China’s three operators regarding LTE FDD (note: not TD LTE) infrastructure in the country
• Global and China EMS and ODM Industry Report, 2013–2014 from ResearchInChina takes stock of manufacturing services for consumer electronics in China, Taiwan and other countries around the world

Understanding China and its wireless markets as well as the companies, services and products that comprise it mobile ecosystem is an important step in spotting and tapping potential opportunities and participating in the country’s unquestionable growth in trade. Western manufacturers may even be at an advantage in being able to produce high-quality kit at much lower production volumes that allow product customisation and variation. “Designed in California - Assembled in California” could potentially be a prized imprint from the perspective of future Chinese consumers.

MWC 2014 - Mobile World Congress Wrap-Up

It feels like the early morning rush of commuters at a train station on a key junction, yet I'm on the upper walkway that connects the 8 pavilions at the new Fira Gran Via expo grounds in Barcelona that is host to the Mobile World Congress. Over 85000 attendees flocked to the annual gathering of the worldwide mobile crowd this year (2014) to see the products and services of more than 1800 exhibitors. Now, a few weeks later, as the dust of announcements, trends and gossip settle, here are some memorable observations from media, analysts and others who visited the show, including myself.

Great expo, but what about the conference?

Those of you who remember the original location of MWC in Cannes (titled 3GSM) or previous versions of the event at Barcelona's Montejuic fairgrounds will miss the distinct charm, the ease of getting there, and strolling around a confusing maze of booths without ever being connected to WiFi. What you now get instead is a long train ride, blisters on your feet from doing the rounds, BUT an admiringly well-organized exhibition. Hats off to GSMA and the venue people! Yet the adjunct conference pales substantially in terms of content. Passes start at €2,000.00 which is asking a lot for a conference agenda that fits on to a few pages and primarily boasts key note speakers of notoriety who are broadcast anyway on the many wall-like screens scattered across the fairgrounds.

Wearables herald a new era for devices

Wearables were this year's big new theme with smart watches and health bracelets everywhere. Will the consumer who is accustomed to never bother about regularly charging "jewellery" accept this new burden every other day?

What’s inside the Sony smart watch? TechInsights	http://bit.ly/1gEYCHI
What’s Inside the Pebble watch? ABI Research	http://bit.ly/1mkpMvz
What’s inside the Nike+ Fuelband SE? TechInsights	http://bit.ly/1d6PzEu

Wireless charging by way of placing a device on a mat or specific surface is breaking through the ice with two consortia proposing different approaches.The Wireless Power Consortium is promoting it's Qi technology based on inductive charging whilst Rezence (formerly A4WP - The Alliance for Wireless Power) believes its magnetic resonance approach is more promising.

The Nokia X was launched at the MWC - notable in that it is a Microsoft device that uses Android instead of Windows' mobile operating system. A difficult balancing act lies ahead for Microsoft, and as Jim McGregor from Tirias Research notes, a clear downside its that it does not offer Google Play store, making the app side on the Nokia X rather unappealing.

Smartphone pricing is spiraling downwards in an attempt to capture lower-income markets segments. Case in point: Mozilla (mobile version of its operating system Firefox) teamed with Spreadtrum (Chinese mobile phone chip maker) to show a WCDMA/EDGE smartphone reference design that is expected to retail at no more than $25.00 owing to the low memory requirements of the browser. We'll have to wait to see if this promise is fulfilled.

Smartphone manufacturers are attempting new, innovative ideas to escape the unimaginative slate-life form factor. LG's new G Flex banana-shaped smartphone sports a large curved display with superior viewing qualities. Retailing at around € 800.00 this is not a smartphone for everyone, but certainly an eye-catcher.

LG's G Flex - Source: http://www.lg.com

Russia's Yota breaks the mold by featuring a second always-on, full-sized e-ink display on the back of its YotaPhone that opens up a set of never-thought-of-before useful features.

The YotaPhone with an always-on full.sized e-ink 2nd display - Source: http://yotaphone.com

Phone sizes are definitely on the increase proving the point that the shift from a device used primarily for voice calls to a browser/emai/messaging/entertainment platform is gaining further foothold. Apple beware! For the uninitiated it is indeed a weird spectacle to see users hold almost tablet-sized devices to their ears for that all important call. 
 

My next smartphone will be a 64-bit one

Ever since Apple introduced its 64-bit A7 application processor in the iPhone 5S, many other vendors have followed suit. The MWC had its fair share of announcements with Intel, Marvell, MediaTek, Nvidia and Qualcomm all announcing 64-bit chips with smartphones using these due towards the end of the year. The questions remains if bringing the performance of servers to mobile devices through a wide-bus architecture may be overkill. But remember, during the nineties many pundits were convinced that 8-bit mobiles would suffice forever. So the story goes on. 

64-bit mobile processors to dominate by 2018 ABI Research	http://bit.ly/1ooHGfd
Who needs 64-Bit mobile processors? EETimes	http://ubm.io/1egJKCG
Cellphone & Tablet Chip Markets Forward Concepts	http://bit.ly/1nB4Amx

 

Cost cutting in the infrastructure world

Virtualization of functions in the network, particularly on the packet core and transport layer, is on the agenda of most infrastructure vendors as cost cutting goes into its next round. As Caroline Gabriel of Rethink Wireless notes "battle lines are being drawn, and the players are placing big bets on unproven technologies and new architectures." Particularly smaller players are providing new solutions that will drive down costs of the network and they will certainly be the target of acquisitions during the months ahead.

Small Cells that solve the challenge of overcoming the data capacity crunch in urban, enterprise and residential areas with high subscriber densities are now becoming real and entering the deployment stage. Yet overcoming the high cost of backhaul (in relation to the cost of the cell itself) remains an issue, as an Informa analyst notes. In a similar vein, Frank Rayall of Xona Partners reported "Backhaul is the problem!"  last year.

Backhaul is the problem

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet-of-Things (IoT)

Enabling all electronics and industrial devices with cellular or wireless capabilities is a promising way forward for operator's to expand their revenues outside of their traditional subscriber-based voice & data services. The challenge in the M2M (machine-to-machine) sector remains that every usage scenario is application specific with particular deployment considerations and constraints. This does not scale well and thus monetization remains a formidable challenge for operators. Moving to the home, Glenn Lurie of AT&T envisages that  "anything that has a current going through it" as a potential IoT (Internet-of-Things) device. Stan Boland whose start-up Neul offers complete IoT wireless solutions, including endpoint modules, base stations and management in the cloud, states that "the price of modules needs to drop below $2.00 and they need be protocol-agnostic" for IoT to become a viable option for consumer device and white good integration.

Enterprise Mobility is big

Mobile collaboration and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) are driving security and cloud services in the enterprise space.  According to Andrew Brown of Strategy Analytics, the global mobile workforce will increase from 1.3 billion this year (2014) to 1.6 billion in 2017 with the Asia-Pacific region being particularly vibrant. No wonder that Enterprise Mobility is a key theme at MWC, taking up increasing exhibition space. I was surprised to see Airwatch (recently acquired by VMware) to have a booth that seemed to be one of the largest at the show despite a worldwide headcount of only 1600.

Enter "The Connected Car"

New to the MWC are exhibitors such as Ford, BMW, and Volvo, and the operator Telefonica showing a Tesla Model S on their booth. The trend "The Connected Car" is more than just about infotainment and navigation inside the car. Automotive manufacturers are testing new waters by embedding modems in the vehicle enabling better management from outside the car, allowing it to become one further item to deliver useful information to its owner's smartphone. It's also all about tightening the bond between vehicle manufacturer and owner through remote diagnostics to the point that tomorrow's car might be viewed as a further asset of an automotive manufacturer's fleet.

OTT - just another acronym but with enormous operator implications

The $19 billion Facebook acquisition of the WhatsApp somewhat eclipsed many other exciting announcements at this year's MWC. That's a formidable valuation for a 5-year old company with just over 55 employees and a product that some view as better SMS messaging for a $1 subscription fee per year. Yet it certainly drives home the point that Over-The-Top (OTT) services such as WhatsApp require priority attention from operators who will certainly see their share of the lucrative $1 billion per year worldwide SMS business shrink as time progresses. 

See you next year

All in all it was time well worth spent in Barcelona despite dizzying overnight costs. Mobile World Congress does really draw the worldwide mobile crowd in every respect.