From chocolate phones to bending screens and handheld batteries that can make calls, this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona served as a showcase for how unique phones are still possible — even after years of touchscreen slabs running iOS and Android.
And it wasn’t just phone-inspired creations. Robot dogs and electric cars also made the show floor their home this past week, combining for an eclectic mix of technology to check out.
Here are the most attention-grabbing sights that we’ve seen at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
T Phone concept makes AI do the app work for you
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This flight booking interface was generated by command, and was not a pre-existing app.
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Motorola has re-created its Razr in chocolate, with a display that matches the “Peach Fuzz” model.
Motorola’s chocolate Razr
Sometimes, when attending a press event, tech companies putting on demos will provide various refreshments. Motorola decided to re-create its Razr phone in chocolate as its own snack for visiting journalists.
This edible edition of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra — otherwise known as the Razr Plus in the US — shows off the “phone” in mid-fold with a display coated in the Peach Fuzz shade that debuted late last year.
The phone’s specs are otherwise just chocolate (aka cocoa butter and sugar instead of Snapdragon chipsets and lithium-ion batteries). And if you try to text on it, the bar might start to melt.
This Motorola concept can be bent to place it right on your wrist.
Motorola and Samsung’s wearable phones
Both Motorola and Samsung brought out phones that you could strap right onto your wrist like a watch. The Samsung Cling Band concept and Motorola’s similar concept device both can be used as a standard candybar phone — but that’s not what’s fun about them.
Both devices have screens that can bend backward, and it does so far enough that you can them curve it around your wrist. While neither company is announcing plans to develop these concepts into future products, it does signal a possible future for a smartwatch that could also literally be your phone.
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The Honor Magic 6 Pro is showcasing eye tracking technology for controlling apps.
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After years of remaking Nokia phones, HMD is bringing its flip phone expertise to Barbie.
Barbie as a minimalistic phone
HMD has previously reinvented Nokia-branded basic phones with MWC debuts, but in 2024 the company plans to do the same with Barbie. The company announced that a Barbie-branded minimalistic flip phone is in the works, debuting sometime in 2024.
Having a Barbie phone itself — specifically as a minimalistic device — raises some interesting questions about what it could be like once we do learn more about it. Will it try to re-create the early 2000s flip phone aesthetic while providing access to essential communication apps like WhatsApp? Or will it dive into an even more simpler experience enriched by the Barbie brand while having more in common with an e-Ink device like the Light Phone 2.
What we do know for now is that Barbie can be anything, and HMD Chief Marketing Officer Lars Silberbauer said, “It’s for any kind of fan of Barbie.” We’ll find out more as the year continues, with the Barbie Flip Phone expected to debut in July.
Read more: The MWC 2024 Tech You Can Buy Right Now
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