A transparent notebook or new smartphones with artificial intelligence, which can control even a car using only the user’s eyes, were presented by the Seznam Zpráv technology editorial office in an article and video on Tuesday. And she also added text and footage to the first live premiere of a smart ring from Samsung, which overtook competitor Apple and could once again return to the top in the profitable wearables market. The company also launched a new super-powerful chip in mobile phones and computers that accelerates AI and increases the number of people it can help at once.
The largest mobile technology fair MWC 2024 in Barcelona also showed various concepts or even prototypes of devices that, although people will not see them in everyday life, will gradually make their way through regulatory authorities or expansion into the labor market and into, or rather into, the hands of users . We are talking about a virtual reception desk, a bendable mobile phone on the wrist, an electric car from the consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi or a flying car.
Virtual receptionist – even in several places at the same time
Already on the eve of the event, when it was open only to journalists, their attention was caught by a giant box in which, as if in real life, was the director of the company that produced it and after which it got its name – Holobox. However, Holoconnects CEO Andre Smith answering questions from editors was just a hologram – he was actually in the Netherlands.
MWC 2024: Holobox from Holoconnects.Video: Jan Marek
Live transmission was traditionally mediated by microphones and cameras, and according to its manufacturer, the invention could be used as a replacement for reception desks in hotels and other buildings at night, when the worker does not have to be physically present there and can serve multiple branches at the same time. It could also be in shopping malls instead of many stalls and salespeople could take turns or serve more at the same time. The screen can also be touch-screen and interactively show products or play a pre-recorded image, not a live broadcast.
“As you know, 90 percent of communication is body language. And in group meetings, you only see this part. So you’re missing a pretty big and essential part of your body when you want to report something. This way you can have a full-fledged conversation with someone who is here in life size,” explains company representative Jurriën Spoelstra in the video above, which shows that during normal video calls, you can only see from the waist or shoulders up.
The Holobox has an 86-inch, i.e. 218 centimeter, large transparent 4K LCD screen, and although the image of a person is projected on it classically in 2D, its backlight creates a spatial illusion like a 3D hologram and gives a spatial impression when viewed from the front.
A smart phone that can be wrapped like a bracelet
At MWC 2024 in Barcelona, the American Motorola, which belongs to the Chinese Lenovo, also secured an enthusiastic audience, presenting its transparent laptop. Its subsidiary company from the USA showed the concept of a flexible smartphone with a flexible display. It was revealed for the first time at the end of last year at the Tech World 2023 conference, but now interested parties could try it live for the first time.
MWC 2024: Flexible smartphone from Motorola. Video: Jan Marek
The smartphone, which can be wrapped around the wrist, as shown in the next video of this article, has a display with a diagonal of 6.9 inches, i.e. 17.5 centimeters. Part of the screen can be used as a stand when bent, which reduces the display area to 4.6 inches, which the Android operating system recognizes and rearranges the applications accordingly. However, it can also be used in a “straight” position or worn around the hand, the company even encourages future users to wear the device in the video.
However, Motorola did not disclose the exact technical parameters at the Spanish fair. According to her, it is still a concept that is supposed to show the possibilities of use in practice. When and for how much it will be possible to purchase is also still unclear.
Another powerful electric car from China – the first from a mobile manufacturer
The Chinese company Xiaomi also got its fair share of attention in Barcelona. In addition to new smartphone and tablet models, it also showed a new electric car – its first ever. Once again, it turns out that Asia is beating the US. This week it became clear that Apple, which was also striving for its own plug-in car, abandoned its development and dissolved the department that worked on it.
The fully electric model Xiaomi SU7 is the first step of the company from China to become one of the world’s leading car manufacturers. And European and American brands are already frightened by another stable from the People’s Republic of China – BYD, which this week also exhibits its cars at the Geneva Motor Show, where journalists from Western motoring magazines praise them.
According to representatives of the company, the electric car of the Chinese smartphone manufacturer may appear in Europe within two years. He has not yet disclosed the price. However, it is equipped with cameras, sensors, and also has a Lidar, so it should drive autonomously on highways and in the future also in cities.
MWC 2024: Xiaomi SU7.Video: Jan Marek
As can be seen in the next video of this article, it is a sedan with a flowing rear almost five meters long and a three-meter wheelbase. It can be equipped with either one electric motor with an output of 220 kW (295 hp) or two with a total of 495 kW (664 hp). And as for the battery, the variants are 73.6 kWh and a range of 658 kilometers or 101 kWh and 800 kilometers. But Xiaomi has also developed its own traction battery type CTB with a theoretical capacity of up to 150 kWh, with which it would be up to 1200 kilometers.
An electric car with which you can fly through a traffic jam – maybe
And finally, a flying car prototype from Alef Aeronautics was shown at MWC 2024. The editors of SZ Tech already wrote last August about the fact that the company received permission for its Model A from the American regulatory authority FAA for a test flight, and also showed the machine in a report.
The company was founded only in 2015 and believes that the first models will be in operation next year. They claim that it will solve traffic jams, but experts counter that once the drivers take off, the same problem will occur in the air, and the question remains as to how the traffic will be controlled there and what authorization or license the drivers will have to have.
MWC 2024: Model A flying car from Alef Aeronautics. Video: Jan Marek
The Model A flying car is supposed to be electric anyway, and Alef Aeronautics said it could use hydrogen in the future. The trick is that it has eight rotors hidden under the body, and at the moment when it is needed, it can take off vertically like an eVTOL, tilt there – the driver’s cabin remains in the same position gyroscopically, and continue its journey horizontally like a flying machine . It uses a lithium-polymer (LiPo) battery that offers a range of almost 180 kilometers.
The Californian company is still deciding the price of the car. According to earlier estimates, it should have been 300 thousand dollars, roughly seven million crowns. However, in addition to the lack of an air traffic control system or the necessary driver certification, the fact that the electric car is still classified as a “slow vehicle” in the road version, i.e. not exceeding 40 kilometers per hour, could be a brake. The speed in the air and the height of the flight are not known.
2024-02-29 18:00:22
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