Having survived the first day at the Mobile World Congress, we’ve been back for more today.
Here are some of the highlights from the announcements and apps on display today.
Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, made his keynote address to the mobile congress today. Rather than announce any major new Google products or talk about Android specifically, he preferred to philosophize on the “digital divide”. He pointed out that just 2 billion out of the 7 billion people in the World are connecting to the internet, and spoke of his vision for breaching the digital divide with the use of mesh networks and “digital watering holes” where communities can come together to connect with the rest of the world.
Aside from Eric Schmidt’s tech messiah act (in the same vein as the same one I whinged about last year), Google showed off some of the neat features of its Chrome browser for Android. Tools such as link preview, tab swiping, and the ability to sync open tabs and navigation stacks across multiple devices, make browsing the web and effortless experience. These seems to fit in with Google’s plan to make technology and the web much more accessible to the masses.
Kaspersky
If you’re paranoid about security on your mobile device, then there’s plenty of good news for you today. Kaspersky has announced new ways to protect your phone from attacks and misuse.
The first, Kaspersky Tablet Security, is designed to protect Android tablets from various threats and includes: anti-virus, cloud protection, web protection and web management. One of the most interesting features of Tablet Security for us was the anti-theft mugshot feature, which secretly takes photos of whoever is using the device and sends it to you.
The other Kaspersky launch of the day was its new Parental Control apps for both Android and iOS (to be released in March). The software allows parents to limit what their kids can do on their phones. Besides placing restrictions on the sites they can visit, Parental Control can permit or restrict access to certain apps on a device.
Scalado Remove
Elsewhere in the show, we got to try out the much-hyped Scalado Remove, an eye-catching app that lets you easily remove people or objects from a photo in real time.
Scalado Remove captures a ‘video’ and focuses on moving subjects. Once detected, these subjects can be erased with just a tap before capturing the still image. You can keep the app running as long as you like until you find the perfect image (if someone blinks, for example).
Scalado Remove is still in development and it sometimes struggled to detect subjects, though the glaring artificial lights of the exhibition hall didn’t help. Still, once it’s ready for release into app stores, Remove will be a real head-turner.
SPB TV 3D
Finally, 3D TV has now gone mobile – kind of! The new SPB TV 3D user interface was unveiled today and looks gorgeous.
The application offers access to a wide range of TV channels, and comes with a handy channel store, smart search, TV guide with reminders, picture-in-picture mode, plus social networking support. It’s all packaged into a plush 3D interface.
Yesterday, SPB unveiled its new Three Screens solution, which brings HD television to subscribers across phones, tablets, PCs, set-top boxes.
