Companies, innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world turned out for the annual Mobile World Congress to pitch their latest tech and products. So what were the best “takeaways?”

Juniper Research offers six:

•‘The Next Element’ – Juniper saw this year’s conference as a move away from MWC’s ‘purely mobile’ foundation. Rather than revolutionary, the event showcased an evolutionary phase, where interconnection and integration of emerging technologies are coming to the fore. With the theme for the 2017 event being ‘The Next Element’, developers displayed integration of new technologies alongside the unification of ecosystems via the IoT (Internet of Things).

• Nostalgia Drives Revamped Products – After 17 years, Nokia’s renowned 3310 mobile phone has been relaunched, targeting consumers who want simple, hardy feature phones with long battery life. The 2MP camera helps bring the phone into the current decade, but still lags well behind most recent smartphone camera offerings.

• VR Content Push – Whilst 2016 was a watershed year for VR hardware, 2017 is proving to be the year in which VR content is scaled-up to deliver immersive and more innovative VR experiences to consumers.

• Notable Absentee –MWC hosts many of the mobile industry’s key phone launches each year, so Samsung’s Galaxy S8 device was a notable absentee. Whilst the Korean giant did display 2 new tablets, it has opted to launch the Galaxy S8 at its own event on 29th March, making this the first time since 2013 that Samsung has not revealed a flagship phone at MWC.

• IoT Tech & Innovation – This year saw the application and integration of IoT across a number of levels. Whether it be bringing user data onboard a connected car, or creating connected clothing for people working in the most remote locations, IoT is truly set to be everywhere.

• Slim is in & so are Shrinking Bezels – The trend for slimmer phones continues, but also now expands to phone bezels (the outside frame of a smartphone screen, often including a speaker, front-facing camera and home button), with manufactures seemingly in competition to push these to their absolute minimum. LG revealed the impressive G6 device with its 5.7-inch Quad HD screen at MWC 2017, and it is believed that Samsung’s S8 device, due for launch in late March, will also place an emphasis on screen size and video quality.

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