Mobile World Congress—or simply MWC—isn’t one in every of our favourite commerce exhibits simply because it’s located within the lovely metropolis of Barcelona throughout a seasonally acceptable time of yr. (Cheap cava and tapas don’t have something to do with it both.) No, this present is a favourite as a result of it’s one of many best to navigate, and there’s at all times loads of attention-grabbing, enjoyable, or simply plain loopy tech to scavenge by means of.

This yr, such bounty consists of transparent laptops, bendable telephones, a Barbie flip cellphone, and extra. Here are the highlights.

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HMD Rebrands (Sort of) and Teases a Barbie Phone

HMD was presupposed to be the rebirth of Nokia telephones again when it made a splash at MWC 2017, nevertheless it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the corporate misplaced steam and it was clear that the Nokia model identify wouldn’t actually compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple anymore. HMD as an alternative put its deal with funds Android telephones over the previous few years and its characteristic cellphone enterprise. At MWC, it introduced that 2023 was the corporate’s first worthwhile yr, and now it’s attempting to alter issues up with a rebrand. First is the identify—it’s leaning extra on “Human Mobile Devices” (the complete model of its acronym) as an alternative of HMD. This yr’s lineup of units will embrace an HMD cellphone, an iconic Nokia cellphone, plus a Barbie flip cellphone.

Yep, you heard that proper. HMD is collaborating with Mattel to launch a Barbie characteristic flip cellphone. It’ll be coming this summer season, will clearly be pink, and is being touted as a digital detox gadget. That’s all we all know. The solely photos of all of the teased telephones have been pixelated.

What we do find out about HMD’s different cellphone is that it’s going to revolve round a system known as HMD Fusion. Similar to Motorola’s Moto Mods or Google’s long-lost Project Ara, it feels like a system of modular parts that builders can construct for the smartphone, from an prolonged battery and a barcode scanner to a fee terminal to medical gear. It launched a toolkit that developers can use to get began.

HMD additionally had a giant deal with repairability—it expects half of its units launched globally this yr to be repairable. But this summer season, it says it is going to have a system that dramatically reduces the variety of steps it takes to repair a cracked display.

Motorola Bends a Phone, and Debuts Smart Connect

Late final yr at Lenovo’s Tech World occasion, Motorola unveiled a bendable idea cellphone known as the Adaptive Display. I received an opportunity to mess around with it at MWC. It seems and appears like its Razr folding telephones, besides as an alternative of getting a hinge that snaps the cellphone closed exactly in half, you possibly can bend the entire thing backward.