Ovidiu Mățan: Hello. We are at MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona and we are talking to Magnus Frodigh, Head of Research at Ericsson. Magnus Frodigh: Hello. Ovidiu Mățan: 5G seems to be the trend at MWC Barcelona. How do you see 5G adoption? Can we leverage any of the existing infrastructure? Magnus Frodigh: We are seeing a rapid take-up of 5G. We started the standardization for this 5-6 years ago. We were aiming for 2020, but now we have full commercial builds out there. Our customers’ interest is enormous (and it should be) because 5G offers such a powerful platform for the operators, for the society, for the industries. It is super important to get involved early on. To do this, you must build on what you have. You cannot build completely new networks. We have designed 5G so that 4G is actually a subset of 5G. This is done so that 5G is so much more, but the 4G fits in the 5G. We built a system that can instantly switch between 4G and 5G because they share the spectrum. So, if you have an operator that has an attractive spectrum, 4G customers, it is hard to switch completely, but if you add 5G on top of it, you cater for all your subscribers.

Published in Issue 66 Read more

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.

We began the second day with a rather long visit at the booths. The great number of technologies on display can convey a feeling of surcharge.  The fascination or curiosity showed by attendees is many times turned into financial gain.  This type of event is different than the classical IT conferences where technologies and ideas are presented only for the sake of users. Therefore, beyond the quaint technological mood, you start noticing that everyone is trying to sell you something. As journalist, you are many times overwhelmed by invitations.

This year we had the pleasure of attending MWC 2019, one of the biggest conferences in Europe, held annually in Barcelona. The main trend is 5G, the next step after 4G. All communication-based technologies (AR/VR, IoT, Automotive, Industry 4.0) benefit from 5G. HTC introduced its new VR device which has frontal cameras. Therefore, we could witness a mixed VR which, until now, would isolate users from the external environment via Augmented Reality. Ericsson had one of the biggest booths at MWC, but access was restricted because of the large number of attendees.

George Mesașan is involved in the TORO project of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), since spring 2016. Passionate about robotics in general, and particularly about the current project, where he works with his fellow researchers, George Meseșan agreed to give us more information about the famous humanoid robot project.

We all have problems in our day-to-day activities. We all need to come up with new ways to cope with those problems and find a solution that saves us time and resources. This is similar to those moments when we need to go through the morning traffic to get to work. It is similar to when we are trying to plan our weekend getaways. During this time, we're all designers of our own personal lives. You don't have to be a professional designer to improve your life. However, we can all apply the design principles into every aspect of our lives. One of those principles is design thinking.

I have been a tester since 2004. I have taken many roles in 13 years but have always considered myself a tester. I have not seen it all, but I have seen a lot. I have been ecstatic when I found bugs that were on the verge of an insane check and terribly ashamed when I missed something that made using the product difficult or impossible in production. I have hidden away in my projects and company believing that I am a good tester I, and I have been on stage, in front of hundreds of people, expecting the one question that will make me realize how stupid my assumptions are.

We are talking with Peter Lawrey about digital currencies.
What do you think is the main advantage of a digital currency vs. a classic one?
Peter Lawrey: Digital currencies have a different trust model. This allows multiple organisation and individual to co-operate with a lower level of trust required. There is less risk of hacking as the data is designed to be shared from the start. Instead of trusting central governments, people can trust the platform and/or a company which interests are known. This doesn't make the solution better but does provide a viable alternative.

For myself, and for many of us, the first thing that goes through our mind after we wake up is: I haven't slept enough. And the second one is: I don't have enough time. It doesn't matter if it's true or false,the thought of not having enough pops into our head automatically, and we don't have enough time to question its accuracy or to examine it carefully. Even before getting out of bed, even before our feet touch the floor, we have the feeling that things aren't going as they should, that we are behind with something, that we are missing something. Moreover, in the evening, when we get back to bed, our mind is contemplating all the things we managed to achieve or didn't achieve on that day. We go to sleep under the weight of our thoughts and we wake up again thinking about what we are missing…' (Lynne Twist in her book The soul of money)

There are 4.77 billion mobile phone users spread all over the world. They can choose between 2.8 million apps on the Android platform and over 2.2 million on Apple's App Store. Mobile phones are used in schools, on the streets, in the buses, inside personal cars, everywhere. The statistics confirm that it's a real challenge to deal with the mobile device diversity. The app should work and look good on all devices, regardless of their size, orientation or capabilities. Currently, the most popular screen size is 5.4 inches (i.e. iPhone 6) because it was rated as the best size that fits the human hand. Recent studies show that most users hold their phones with one hand and that they prefer portrait mode. However, they often rotate their devices from ergonomic reasons.