Mobile World Congress 2025: Energy, mobile tech, AI take center stage
Innovation is the name of the game in this era of digital technology. Our world today is constantly evolving and business enterprises need technology solutions to keep pace and get ahead of the game. On March 3 to 6, the Mobile World Congress was held in Barcelona, Spain with tech leaders coming together to explore the trends and technologies shaping the mobile industry in 2025. Each year, the event is a chance to see what’s next for mobile phones, laptops, and consumer tech, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence (AI) this time around.
Here’s a round-up of the interesting highlights at MWC 2025:
Deutsche Telekom gives a first look at its AI phone
Germany’s Deutsche Telekom announced that it is launching a Perplexity chatbot-powered AI phone. The phone, which will be released sometime this year, will run “Magenta AI,” which will give users access to a pack of AI tools including Perplexity Assistant, Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs, and Picsart. The company wrote in a press release that the phone will be able to order a taxi, reserve a table, translate in real time, and respond to a user’s questions.
A preview of new Google AI features on Android
Google tested two new AI features coming to Android phones later this month, the company said. A Gemini Live demo showed a user asking the AI to suggest a color for a vase based on the surrounding room’s decor and style. Another shows a user sharing their screen with Gemini Live to ask their AI assistant for outfit suggestions that would go with a pair of jeans they would like to buy.
Phones focus on photography
A few mobile phones at MWC had a higher focus on professional-grade photography. The Nubia Focus 2 Ultra, one of the latest designs from China’s ZTE, has what they call an AI Photography System that “lets you take high-quality photos anytime and anywhere,” the company wrote. The phone’s unique rotating dial at the back lets users choose between five focal lengths that will help them take wide-angle, street photos, portraits, and long-focus shots. It also includes AI features like an eraser that lets users edit their shots.
Lenovo’s solar-powered laptop
While not focused on phones, the Chinese company Lenovo unveiled potential AI-powered laptops at MWC this year. Among the featured is the Yoga Solar PC, a proof of concept laptop with a solar panel built into the cover that could power itself for up to one hour of video streaming when left in direct sunlight for just 20 minutes. The laptop would also keep track of the panel’s current and voltage and automatically adjusts the settings to maximize how the laptop can save energy, regardless of the light intensity in any workspace.
Tech needs to ‘pick up the pace’ on decarbonizing AI production
Energy and artificial intelligence (AI) leaders say that the tech industry needs to pick up the pace on building innovative new technologies to get artificial data centers away from using fossil fuels. “We have the technologies to solve this, we have the knowledge, the capital is willing to move in, but we have to pick up the pace. So, I think the direction is very clear, but the pace is not,” Anna Borg, CEO of energy company Vattenfall AB, told an audience at the tech conference.
Security threats to smartphones also weigh heavy at this year’s meet
Cybersecurity also has had top billing in some product announcements at the MWC. Keeping smartphone users safe from phishing, deepfakes and malicious software is top of mind for many manufacturers and network operators. Chinese smartphone maker Honor showed off a new tool ahead of MWC’s opening that it said would allow its smartphones to detect deepfakes — deceptive AI images and video based on the likeness of real people. The GSMA telecom operators’ association, which hosts MWC in Barcelona every year, has developed a tool called “Scam signals.”
Built alongside Britain’s banking industry group, UK Finance, “Scam signals” is a service that applications can call on to detect signs of phone-based fraud, when scammers call up customers to push them to authorize transactions on their mobile banking apps.
References: MWC 2025: Here is the new AI tech unveiled at Mobile World Congress
Mobile World Congress: Tech needs to ‘pick up the pace’ on decarbonizing AI production
