Is a world without smartphones possible? At MWC 2024, these companies are dreaming of it

Aurélien Fleurot 11:56 a.m., February 28, 2024

It's one of the most essential trade shows for the tech world: the Mobile World Congress is being held this week in Barcelona.

As the smartphone market slows down, more and more companies are considering getting rid of the smartphone, but keeping the essentials.

This is the objective of the two most advanced projects: Rabbit's connected box and Humane's intelligent badge.

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Getting rid of our cell phone

On the one hand, customers will be able to have a small box that fits in their pocket, equipped with a screen, two microphones, a speaker and a camera that films 360 degrees.

And on the other, they will have a pin connected that works like a voice assistant and allows you to project information into the palm of your hand.

These two objects have the common ambition of making you put down your cell phone, explains Florent Roulier, innovation manager at the Niji firm: “We are going to do without the screen and we are really going to interact very differently with this device,” he promises. microphone from Europe 1.

Towards a “consequent adoption”… or not

"We no longer use the smartphone as we do today but we keep the intelligence which is still useful on a daily basis, we keep this intelligent assistant. These are truly innovative concepts, which create breaks in usage, which are perhaps a little early. Perhaps it will not take off immediately or not in this form. So we will see in the years to come whether there is a significant adoption or not", adds - he.

While we wait to completely do without our smartphone, there is another trend that is growing: that of minimalist phones, without touch screens or applications for social networks.