It’s perhaps a sign of the times for the annual Mobile World Congress event that the biggest buzz was created by a mobile phone first launched 17 years ago.
Nokia’s classic 3310 was unveiled alongside a host of new, more powerful, Nokia devices. But the old-timer stole the show, which probably says more about the type of news emitting from the Barcelona-held event than the strength of the opposition.
In many ways MWC has become similar to the PC market, with relatively minor upgrades and incremental advances in technology offering little to get truly excited about.
Apple have always held their own conferences, but this year Samsung too decided to delay the unveiling of its next Galaxy handset – although a teaser trailer was shown at MWC. But it demonstrates that MWC may not have the pull it once did.
Of course there were some hits at the massive event. LG finally gave consumers the no-nonsense handset they had been waiting for with the G6, while Samsung’s Tab S3 tablet looks like a genuine iPad challenger.
But it seems that these huge events more often than not pass by without the fanfare that was once guaranteed. As tech lovers it’s a little disappointing, but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for the major announcements still to come.