February 22,2016
At the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the smartphone is king.
"The smartphone is getting more powerful, more connected to all the things you might have at home or with you," said Shu On Kwok, senior editor at AndroidPIT.
So, move over home computer — smartphones are taking the lead in allowing us to control the Internet of Things, or IOT for short.
"IOT, it's a buzz word, but what it really means is your smartphone becomes the center of not only your mobile life on the go, but of everything within your home," said Nirave Gondhia, editor of Android Authority
And the number of those smartphone-connected devices is rising, from electric toothbrushes to home robots equipped with cameras, lasers and a range of sensors.
Another area seeing improvements: smartphone cameras.
Some are capable of changing focal length, while others keep the image sharp at all times or offer 360-degree vision.
"So when you are at the bar, it is easier to fit more people in your selfie," according to Nicole Scott, co-founder of Mobile Geeks.
LG's G5 phone lets users add different attachments, as well as replacement batteries.
But wait, there’s more.
Thanks to a partnership between Facebook and Samsung, instead of meeting friends online through what amounts to a video phone, soon we will be socializing and making videos in virtual reality.
Samsung's Gear 360 camera, with front and back lenses, will connect with the company's phones and the Gear VR headset.
"One day soon, all of us are going to have the power to broadcast live what we're doing, whenever we want, so that way our friends and families and the people we care about can experience it as if they are right there with us,” said Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
As in previous years, Apple did not attend the show but, according to rumors, the company plans to launch a new iPad in March.