New Products To Get Excited About At Mobile World Congress 2019

Once again it’s time for the developers of mobile devices to really show us what they’ve got with new and improved products at Mobile World Congress. This year’s event in Barcelona is already confirmed to be the showcase for the new Microsoft HoloLens 2, the LG L8, OnePlus’ 5G prototype, and the Huawei Mate X, notable for its foldability.

Huawei, despite its place in the news for more political/economic reasons, is really coming out as a top dog at this year’s MWC due to the foldable, 5G connectivity included, Mate X. But foldable phones and 5G aren’t the only notable announcements. These are some of the top product spotlights and announcements from MWC.

LG DualScreen

LG’s reply to the mad dash towards foldable phones is a second screen that can attach, essentially via a folio case, to the new LG V50, which is LG’s first 5G phone. Verge writer Vlad Savov got to go hand on with the new system. Read his experiences here.

Sony Xperia 1

The Xperia 1 is said to be the top phone for film and is one of Sony’s best phones, but that’s because it looks totally different than every other phone. No notch, no 5G, and no foldable design, but it does boast an extra tall screen, three cameras, and a 4K HDR OLED ultra-wide 21:9 display.

Microsoft HoloLens 2

Even though MWC is a very phone heavy event, Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 is a big point of conversation. The upgraded HoloLens 2 is a lighter, more sleek and comfortable mixed reality headset that has a larger field of view, and is much more powerful. The designed for business headset clocks in at $3,500, versus the $5,000 price tag of its original counterpart.

Nokia 9 PureView

Nokia is also making waves this year, with more than one new phone changing the game. Their most exciting phone is the Nokia 9 PureView, which is leapfrogging the MWC trend of having three rear cameras and is outfitted with five rear cameras. This ultra-powerful phone camera system could even replace some real cameras.

Samsung Galaxy S10

The Samsung family is really a huge presence at MWC, as the S10e, the S10 and the S10+ are all surpassing what has come before, with faster performance, larger and sharper screens, bigger, more powerful batteries, and more camera power. See a hands-on look that Mashable did with the three S10 phones here.

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Tech Radar- The Best Cryptocurrency Wallets

Cryptocurrency can’t just be stored in your pocketbook, which is why having a cryptocurrency wallet is important for those mining or buying Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and more. There are four types of crypto wallets: hardware, software, mobile, and web.

For security’s sake, hardware and software wallets are generally more secure, mostly because if a mobile or web wallet provider is hacked, your key can be stolen, allowing cybercriminals to also steal your cryptocurrency funds.

So how do you choose? There is no simple answer besides choose what works best for you and your cryptocurrency goals and needs, but these are some top-notch choices for hardware and software wallets.

HARDWARE

Trezor

Trezor has two wallets available that have robust functionality for secure cryptocurrency storage, the Trezor One and the Trezor Model T.  The Trezor One is really great for novices in the crypto world, and at $104 it’s a solid basic wallet that boasts data encryption, a personal recovery seed and highly secure storage for keys, coins, and passwords.

Ledger

Ledger offers two of the most secure wallets available, the Ledger Blue and the Ledger Nano S.

These wallets are simple, safe, and highly secured so you can access your bitcoin from anywhere safely.

KeepKey

See this video to see how KeepKey works:

BitBox

Plug BitBox into your computer to securely store, spend and receive cryptocurrency, including Ethereum, Bitcoin and Litecoin. The simple design is made with a dual chip design and crafted from the same material as bulletproof glass.

SOFTWARE

Electrum

Electrum is one of the most popular Crypto wallets, and for good reason. It’s free, reliable, simple to learn and use and very secure. Electrum encrypts your keys and stores them on your computer and then enables two-factor authentication. This software is faster and less bulky than many others, so it’s understandably a popular choice in the Crypto community

Exodus

Exodus is more than a crypto wallet, it is also a crypto exchange and portfolio service, so you can store, manage and trade all in one place. All of your data is encrypted so your funds are securely stored.

Jaxx

Jaxx was started by one of the co-founders of Ethereum with the idea that users shouldn’t be tied only to one type of cryptocurrency or crypto wallet. Essentially, Jaxx provides their users with a Masterseed that can be used to manage all the private keys for your blockchain based assets and lets you access them on any other wallet or software. Jaxx is also equipped with a Blockchain Interface so you can convert digital assets to other cryptocurrencies.

Copay

Copay is an open source, multisig wallet, which means you can create your own version of the Copay wallet as well as share your crypto funds with a group. Shared-funds wallets are one of the most secure ways to prevent fraud and send cryptocurrency because your entire group needs to approve the transaction, similar to how each transaction of a cryptocurrency on a blockchain is verified.

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Tech Radar: Blockchain Explained

Blockchain is the building block and underlying technology for cryptocurrency and other digital properties. Blockchain technology allows for the secure transactions and decentralization of these digital currencies and properties, as every transaction is recorded into a ledger or database that is publicized. How does this technology work? Let’s begin with the basics.

The Components of a Blockchain

1. The Record- all recorded information about a digital transaction
2. The Block- a collection of records
3. The Chain- All the blocks linked together

So let’s say you have 100 cryptocurrency coins. You can either keep those coins in your cryptocurrency wallet, or you can sell them for a monetary amount, based upon what those coins are worth (usually a supply and demand based number).

If you sell five of those 100 coins, for say, $250, that trade will be listed in a record with all of it’s associated details, including a cryptographic signature unique to that transaction, as well as a timestamp.

This record and all of its transaction details will be sent throughout the computer network associated with that specific cryptocurrency. The network will then cross-reference each copy of the database to ensure that transaction’s validity.

Once the network has proved validity, miners of the cryptocurrency add it to a block. Every block has an associated code called a hash that is completely unique on one side, and half of the previous block’s is on the other side, which allows those related blocks to link together forming the blockchain. These blocks are placed permanently, in chronological order.

Now that the chain is formed, your transaction is complete and you have sold your five cryptocurrency coins in exchange for $250.

The reach and potential of blockchain technology are difficult to estimate, but the ways in which these developments have the capacity to impact sales, marketing and business as a whole are innumerable. What do you wish you knew more about in the blockchain ecosystem?

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