MWC is back in full swing this year in Barcelona from Monday, February 27th, through Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, this world-renowned technology carnival marched away from the shadow cast by the pandemic and saw the return of many big-name exhibitors and more importantly, visitors from across the globe. While it’s always exciting to see what’s trendy in the communications technology arena, finding out the new players joining the bandwagon of technological innovations is especially encouraging.

“Digital Everything” is one of the major themes this year at MWC 2023. The expansion of digital technologies represents an immense opportunity to create value for every industry. Digitalization, IoT, and the combination of the real and the digital worlds are game changers as we continue our evolution to Industry 4.0 and beyond.

Many vendors have taken MWC as the main venue for new product launching. Vendors are exploring deeper into industrial use cases and bringing big data connectivity into sectors that used to be dubbed as “niche”, including mission-critical communications and collaboration for public sectors, with products such as LTE Body-worn cameras (BWC) and ruggedized MCX capable smartphones, TD Tech, a new face at MWC,  with a promise to bring “Connectivity for Insight in the World”, released multiple devices in this genre,  as well as CPE and edge computing gateway.

The trend of adopting body-worn cameras has been steadily increasing in recent years. The use of BWCs by public agencies, security personnel, and other professions has become more prevalent. The EC521S body camera runs a 7nm 8-core CPU and Android OS, it features 4K HD video recording, intuitive push-to-talk (PTT), precise positioning, low power consumption, and long battery life. The EC521S integrates versatile hardware modules including a gyroscope, an acceleration sensor, NFC, and a dual-band positioning module. Therefore, it has great potential to be further released by users with custom applications.

The adoption of BWCs is primarily driven by a desire for increased transparency and accountability in the actions of staff of public sectors and security personnel. The adoption of BWCs is not without challenges. But the trend of adopting BWCs will continue in the coming years. As technology continues to advance and become more affordable, it is likely that more professions beyond public sectors and physical security will begin to utilize BWCs as well. As TD Tech staff at the booth explained that EC521S and the rest of the TD Tech bodycam series can help reduce violence and increase the accuracy of reporting.

Another major release from TD Tech, V900 doesn’t seem to differ much from a consumer smartphone, though the hands-on experience indicates that it is a fully ruggedized smartphone for workplaces. The spec sheet says it’s IP68-graded dust & waterproof. V900 has a dedicated physical PTT button, which is a must-have for public sector users. PTT used to be a synonym for two-way radio or walkie-talkie, and now it takes on new layers of meaning in the LTE era for public sectors.

Mission Critical Push-to-talk/Video/Data (MC-PTT/Video/Data) or Mission Critical Services (MCX) communication technologies are specifically designed for public sector users. These technologies offer several advantages over traditional communication methods such as radios and telephones.

One of the key trends in the adoption of MCPTT and MCX devices among public sector users is the shift toward mobile broadband networks. These networks provide faster data transmission rates and greater capacity than traditional voice networks, allowing for real-time communication between team members. MCPTT and MCX devices leverage these networks to provide reliable, secure, and feature-rich communication services to public sectors. Smart PTT device V900 runs Android 13 and adopts a 6nm high-end SoC and an independent encryption chip. Devices such as V900 are pivotal for the ongoing migration from Land Mobile Radio (LMR) to mission-critical LTE in many countries, where their public authorities demand much more than voice-only communications.

TD Tech’s ambition to empower industrial users with one-stop connectivity solutions was manifested in the section on Smart Industry and IoT. It brought a fleet of CPE models, including TPro 5, Max 3, and T5e, of different capacities and price points. TPro 5’s peak download speed can reach up to 3.2 Gigabits and its upload speed up to 900 Megabits; it allows up to 256 devices to access the internet simultaneously.

eCube-C, a 4G edge computing gateway, supports 4G Cat1 and Cat4 and provides various interfaces, including RS485, RS232, Ethernet, and USB ports. At present, the gateway has been deployed in more than fifty countries across the world. The TD Tech staff confirmed the company’s willingness to offer customized solutions.

Besides demonstrating products, the booth staff was attentive to answer a common question, “who is TD Tech”. TD Tech was founded in Beijing in 2005. It has R&D centers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. Globally TD Tech hires over 2,000 employees, 70% of whom are in technological positions. It has a business presence in more than 100 countries worldwide, serving about 5 million industrial users.