MWC 2025: First Impressions

Precisely a month since I was at the Barcelona Fira attending the mammoth of a trade show that is Integrated Systems Europe, here I was back in Barcelona for an even bigger and busier event, the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) promoted by the GSMA. 109,000 attendees and 2,900 exhibitors. In this first impressions report I discuss Bluetooth, why there was no Auracast, how Qualcomm made a splash with XPAN, and why are mobile operators obsessed with AI and Robots.

Honor introduced the Honor Earbuds Open – a unique open-ear design that rests directly on the ear and is able to cancel the outside world thanks to advanced AI audio processing capabilities. In fact, Honor calls this design the “industry's first open-ear 3-mic hybrid active noise cancellation system.” And the Honor Earbuds Open not only block external noise, but allow users to make calls privately thanks to its reverse acoustic system that reduces audio leakage. The user’s voice is perfectly captured even in noisy environments with a combination of a voice accelerometer, 3-mic array, and bone conduction sensor technology.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), an organization devoted to motion-imaging standards and education for the communications, media, entertainment, and technology industries, revealed the outstanding industry members who will be recognized Thursday, October 24, at the SMPTE …