The third day was short because I had to return to Cluj. Despite all this, we managed to learn some more interesting things. At the Mercedes booth, I noticed the new EQC brand.
A new EQC 400 4Matic was displayed. It has two electrical motors and reaches an impressive performance: 408 HP, 765 NM maximum couple, 0-100km acceleration per 5.1sec, and autonomy of over 450 km. At the same booth, there was an interesting research project, that of reusing sensor equipment in a stationing car.
It is a game which runs on the car screen, in our case the standard CLA model. Of course, as part of the game, you must drive using the car wheel, the speed paddles and the brakes.
We are trying to estimate the interest that this game can stir in the case of a driver who drove all day long. How many drivers would like to drive a turtle and stay in the car? However, the game might be very successful with kids who are looking for fun if the driver’s seat is available. The game could be used for educational purposes for those who want to become initiated in the art of driving.
As far as the auto field goes, the Intelsat booth was also very interesting.
They have a communication platform which ensures a direct switch to satellite communication when GSM networks are unavailable because of bad weather. In this case, the equipment was installed on a Ford car, and the services were used for monitoring/inspecting some wind-based energy systems. Among the examples, I noticed the wind turbines from Dobrogea.
We cannot overlook the ZTE booth, which had two interesting projects, in addition to their phones and network equipment. The first project consisted of two robotic arms programmed to play the piano and the drums.
The second project – perhaps even more interesting than the first – performed a 3D scan on a person, and would then produce artistic images.
As far as special projects are concerned, I would like to mention HP Enterprise which is preparing a project for a mission on Mars: The Spaceborne Computer.
The space module seemed real.
We reached the Nokia booth where innovation and fun are kept at a very high level, as usual. We enjoyed the VR ping-pong game played via Oculus Rift controllers.
We could also see the latest phone models, but we will not dwell on these. Why? As mentioned in a previous article, the differences between the latest models are rather small from a user perspective, and the similarities between them are greater and greater. Practically, all manufacturers boast a big screen, some back cameras and the same operating system.
As far as robots are concerned, they were also present at MWC. One of them gave free hugs, but I could not find someone courageous enough to receive a robotic hug during my stay here.
I did not trust the robot’s empathy, so I avoided it respectfully. However, at the nearby MediaTek booth, I found Helio / P90, a small robot who could imitate human motion and who managed to impress the audience more.
We will try to attend next year’s event as well and I hope our articles managed to lead you through this year’s Barcelona event. For more pictures and interviews, you can access our Facebook page and our TSM channel on YouTube.
Advice when visiting MWC
Plan your route ahead of time. You cannot visit everything, so have a plan in mind with what you want to visit. Thus, at the end of the day, you will know whether you have reached your objectives.
Talk to the people who are at the booths when you find something interesting. They are always happy to provide more information, and in exchange for the information they will scan your badge to get your contact details: name, email, job, company.
Take notes of what you see and take photos.
Don’t forget to bring along your business cards. These are particularly useful when interacting with other visitors.
by László Papp
by Rama Anem
by Ovidiu Mățan
