Best of MWC 2024: Bendable Screens, AI Wearables and More

Speaker 1: Flexible phones that bend around your wrist. A tiny computer you can wear as a pin and laptop screens. You can actually see through. These are just a few of the cool devices and concepts we've seen at Mobile World Congress, the annual tech conference that takes place in Barcelona. After scouring the showroom floor and seeing countless demos, here are the gadgets that stood out to CNET the most. First up is Motorola's wearable phone concept. This is exactly what it sounds like. A device [00:00:30] that can function as a phone when flat, but can also curl around your wrist like a bracelet. It attaches to a magnetic strap on your wrist to secure it in place. Without spending more time with it, it's hard to see exactly what the benefit of a device like this would be, aside from preventing you from having to buy both a smartwatch and a phone. Speaker 1: But the idea of a screen that can change shape depending on your needs is certainly intriguing. However, it's important to remember that this is just a concept, meaning it's not an actual product [00:01:00] that's available for sale, and there's no telling whether it will ever actually go on sale. Instead, it just shows what Motorola's technology is capable of and how it could potentially be applied to future devices. Motorola isn't the only one thinking about wearable technology. Samsung showcased its upcoming Galaxy Ring at Mobile World Congress, a smart ring. The company plans to launch later this year. Samsung gave us a peek at the ring in January, but we got a closer look at it this week. The ring will primarily [00:01:30] function as a health tracker for monitoring things like sleep activity, heart rate, and monthly cycle tracking for women, even though we're still waiting for more details, it's exciting to see a big player like Samsung getting into the smart ring space. Speaker 1: If it lives up to expectations, it could be a stylish alternative to smartwatches for those who just want a health tracker without feeling constantly tethered to their phone. A startup called Humane has big ideas about where mobile technology is heading Next, the company's [00:02:00] AI powered PIN is essentially a wearable personal assistant. You can use it to translate languages, ask questions, and receive incoming messages. Unlike most wearable devices, the Humane AI pin is meant to be a standalone device rather than a companion to your phone. It doesn't have a screen, but it can project images and text onto your hand using lasers. Yes, lasers. We also saw some more traditional devices that really stood out to us like the Shall me 14 Ultra [00:02:30] X me's new top of the line phone has a giant camera sensor with a variable aperture, which should make it a dream for photographers. On top of that, it has a lot of the hardware you'd expect from a high-end phone, such as the latest mobile chip from Qualcomm, a big 5,000 milliamp battery and 90 watt fast charging. But Xmi is showing a lot more than just phones. Its first electric vehicle. The Xmi, SU seven also made an appearance at the show Speaker 2: In an eye catching blue [00:03:00] color. The company claims the vehicle can go from zero to 60 in less than three seconds since it uses Xiaomi's own bespoke electric motors, and it should get more than 470 miles of range per charge. While we don't know how these claims will hold up in real world scenarios just yet, the SEU seven's expected performance and sleek looks certainly caught our attention. It's probably safe to say you've never seen a laptop screen like this. Lenovo's new concept Laptop has a transparent display [00:03:30] that allows you to see through it and a digital touchscreen keyboard. The idea is to turn the traditional laptop into something that can kind of function as a digital whiteboard. The See-through screen makes it possible to overlay content over the real world, kind of creating a similar effect as augmented reality devices. But again, it's just a concept that means you shouldn't count on buying a See-through laptop anytime soon. So what was your favorite thing from Mobile World Congress? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to keep following [00:04:00] CNET for more coverage. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.