We were of course once again at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona today (from where we’re live tweeting @tefdigital). Here’s a roundup of the four hot topics that grabbed our attention.

Making wearables wearable

One thing that doesn’t seem to have been given lots of attention is the durability of wearable devices. While looking around MWC, we stumbled across a great company called HZO. These guys can essentially make almost any device water proof by opening it up and coating it in a super-secret solution. It can then be dunked, dropped or plonked into water with absolutely no issues.

Now just a few stands away the construction equipment company, CAT, was showcasing some chunky looking phone and tablet cases.

They’re not going to win any awards for beauty, but they serve a valuable purpose for those who might take a sledgehammer to a phone. The point here is that if wearables are going to become more heavily adopted, people need to be able to keep them on during [almost] any activity. The moment there’s a reason to take the device off; the danger is that you might not put it on again. Let’s not forget the basics!

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Payments, my old friend

A lot of companies here at MWC are showing off new mobile payment solutions. While the payments market is very crowded, there’s certainly a big focus this year on solutions for the millions of people still ‘unbanked’ in emerging markets.

For those more developed markets the battles at MWC seem to be the classic ones, but with many new upstarts biting at the heels of the traditional payments big guns. The focus is primarily on loyalty solutions and contactless solutions like NFC. Interestingly the use of geo-fencing technologies such as beacons, powered by Bluetooth Low Energy, as well as in-app purchasing models seems to be quite heavily showcased. A definite ‘sector to watch’ this year.

Connected City

“Another day, another connected device” seems to be the order of the day in Barcelona. There’s a large ‘Connected City’ area at MWC that really brings this concept to life in a visual and engaging way. On display in this area are a number of connected devices and solutions – from smart locks that use NFC for building access, to mirrors displaying news, emails and calendar information all controlled by hand gestures.

Alongside this are the likes of smart meters, smart door locks (see below) and wearable fitness devices. What remains to be seen though is how all of these things can be integrated and managed together. There’s lots of connectivity at present but it all seems a bit disjointed. For a connected city to really work, you need to break down the walled gardens and be as open as possible. By doing so, these connected bits of a city can actually come together to play a much bigger role in people’s lives.

Virtual Catalonia

This absolutely needed a reference, because it’s just cool. The Government of Catalonia have been showing off some quite cool tech on their stand. One thing that caught our eye was their use of the Oculus Rift to give some 360 degree ultra-immersive Catalan experiences such as skydiving. Great tie up to bring Catalonia to life right in centre of MWC. Who said Governments were boring?

On that note – see a recent guest post we featured on our blog from another VR company called Virtuix.