[The opinions expressed in the blog post are entirely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mobileshop.com.]

Y’recognize, I will keep in mind that the days of yore, when the Cellular World Congress was once literally the most thrilling experience of all the 12 months for people like me. I will nonetheless take into account that the old days, like the primary MWC I did protection on, the place Sony Ericsson first unveiled the telephone that I later went on to buy, the Xperia X1. I was agape with wonder, on the massive raft of phones that received released in Barcelona, right through MWC.

Minimize to the present day, five years later, and it’s unluckily a very totally different story.

I’m sad to assert it, however I reckon that MWC’s days as the optimum cellular business adventure of the year are, principally, just about over. That will appear harsh, but I shall provide an explanation for why I feel that…

The the reason is, I say that is in truth quite simple; have a look at the MWC 5 years ago, when everyone (with the exception of Apple) introduced their latest, most enjoyable, most gobsmacking phones on the Barcelona exchange show. Now take a look at this 12 months’s MWC, where the big names like Samsung, HTC and Sony all decided to now not unveil their new headline telephones on the exhibit.

Critically, when we’ve already seen the HTC One and the mind-breakingly powerful Sony Xperia Z prior to MWC, what’s left to be announced at the exhibit? The Samsung Galaxy S4? No chance, that’s getting unveiled in March. A new prime-finish Nokia Lumia telephone? Nice are attempting but no; they went with a mid-ranger as their giant unveiling. That is what this 12 months’s MWC supposed to me: a sea stuffed with mid-rangers, with nary a celebrity phone to be viewed (except for presumably a pair from ZTE and Huawei, however they don’t clutch headlines like the big boys, even now).

Oh, positive, we acquired the possibility to look some new fledgling OSes strut their stuff, but the issue is that they largely aren’t superb, and that brings us on to the biggest let-down of everything of MWC 2013.

Bleedin’ Firefox OS.

When it used to be first announced, I had such excessive hopes for Firefox OS, I truly did. right Here used to be one thing totally open source, that would are available in and show the large boys the way it’s all executed, bringing a couple of new paradigm within the mobile trade, or something like that. On the very least, I thought it could be good, and wondered how it’d run on prime-finish hardware. Frankly, I’m nonetheless questioning how it’ll run on high-finish hardware, for the reason that simplest Firefox phones that’ve been unveiled up to now all, every one of ‘em, to a phone, mid-rangers. Seriously, the producers have the nerve to call the Geeksphone Peak innovative, and it would had been if it used to be launched two yr in the past. Now, though? Yeah, mid-ranger.

Even the Sony one seemed rubbish, and that’s chuffing Sony…

What makes it worse is that when you see Firefox OS running on those mid-vary phones… well, it seems to be needless! It stutters and lags all over the place the save! Truthfully, I’m no longer joking once I say it strikes a chord in my memory of a telephone from two years in the past, and that doesn’t just imply the hardware.

So far as I will be able to see, then, Firefox OS is a wash (and I could well do every other, extra in-depth publish about that on Monday).

So, what about Ubuntu?

Well, I’m still now not keen on Ubuntu. I can see what they’re seeking to do with the OS, and how they’re planning on making convergence occur, betwixt telephones, capsules and entire-fat PCs, however I just don’t just like the appear of it. It appears about as customisable as a lump of strong adamantium (i.e. no longer customisable at all), and the overriding feeling I get, after I take a look at Ubuntu Touch, is that the cellphone constantly reminds you it’s Canonical’s child, as an alternative of yours.

Possibly that’s just me, though.

Then again, happily, Sailfish OS is continuing to provoke me increasingly, every time I see it. It seems actually beautiful, and I reckon it may possibly make a severe play to be the 1/3 approach between iOS and Android (until Microsoft buck their ideas up with Windows cellPhone 8, natch). which You can due to this fact assume that I was once pleased with the aid of what I saw of Sailfish, at MWC. However therein lies the problem; one first rate thingie does not make for a superb exchange express. It makes for one respectable thingie surrounded by way of plenty of rubbish. It makes for MWC, as per the title up there, being a massive anti-climax.

Does this mean the end of MWC? Neatly, no, no longer yet, but if issues proceed as they have this 12 months, next yr’s might be even more of a let-down.

Time will inform…

(Image credit: Engadget)

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