The World’s biggest mobile-focused event of the year, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) will kick off in Spain’s capital Barcelona on Monday, June 28. The MWC Barcelona is an annual event, which was cancelled last year due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, attended by major telecom operators, smartphone companies, component manufacturers, trade insiders, media, and representatives from telecom ministries globally.

However, this year, major brands like Google, Nokia, Xiaomi, Facebook, and Sony are not attending the event in person and it is still unclear that if they will announce new products virtually in the MWC.

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The MWC this year will take place from June 28 to July 1 and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be a mix of in-person and virtual events. The annual event was pushed from March to June due to the pandemic.

Who all are attending?

While Samsung has confirmed its participation, it is not sure that the company will launch new smartphones at the annual MWC. According to reports, Samsung is expected to talk about its Galaxy ecosystem and how it is going to reimagine the world of smartwatches. Samsung’s MWC event will be streamed on June 28, Monday at 10.48 pm.

Intel will also be participating in the event virtually and the chipset giant is expected to focus on 5G and AI.

Lenovo has also confirmed that it is participating in the world’s largest mobile-focused event and is expected to announce new products on June 28. Lenovo has already announced new laptops, Chromebooks, and accessories ahead of MWC.

Meanwhile, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk will deliver a keynote address on Tuesday and he is expected to talk about Starlink, his internet satellite project. 

What to expect from major companies?

Google

While Google is not expected to attend the event, the company, along with Samsung, had announced at Google I/O 2021 to make a new smartwatch software platform. The new software is expected to be teased at MWC 2021. 

Samsung

Apart from the new smartwatch software with Google, Samsung might announce its new devices, which can include a new smartwatch, a foldable smartphone, and a tablet, at the end of MWC. 

TCL

TCL might unveil “NXTWEAR G” smart glasses, which can operate with a secondary display, a report by TechRadar said. The glasses can be connected with phones, tablets or computers via a USB-C port, reports say.