At Mobile World Congress this year, we’ve seen Honor’s Robot Phone in action, fallen in love with the adorable iMoochi and been wowed by the astonishing Leica-branded Leitzphone.. In the years CNET has been attending MWC, we’ve seen some amazing devices from companies like Samsung, Xiaomi, Lenovo and Honor. But we’ve also seen a lot of unusual products that have promised more than they’ve delivered.. From concept devices that are quickly forgotten to new gadgets that boast revolutionary functions, these are the MWC tech launches that arrived with a fanfare… but aren’t necessarily where you’d expect them to be today.. Andrew Lanxon/CNET. Humane AI pin. AI might still be the biggest buzzword in tech, thanks to every phone company cramming their devices with all kinds of bizarre AI functions. But at MWC 2024, one company wanted to take that further. The Humane AI pin was a wearable badge that you could talk to and ask questions about your schedule, the weather or things like sports results. It could read answers out and even project them onto your hand with a laser. Because everyone loves lasers.. Sounds fun, right? And the company’s rhetoric around how AI-based devices like this will replace phones sounded compelling. However, the product, well, sucked (just ask CNET’s Scott Stein, who spent extended time with it), and the company was eventually swallowed by HP, with the Pin itself ceasing to function in February last year. If you were one of the early adopters, do let us know what you’ve done with that $699(!) paperweight now.. Andrew Lanxon/CNET. Motorola Rizr. MWC is a great place to show off concepts that will excite technology nerds like us. Motorola has a good history of this at the show and the Rizr is one of my favorites. This phone didn’t just have a flexible display like we’ve seen on many of today’s foldable phones, its display could actually mechanically unroll at the push of a button, extending the top of the screen to give a more immersive display for watching videos or playing games.. It was amazing to see in person and it was certainly a different idea on how to use flexible displays. But that’s all it was; an idea. Motorola hasn’t deployed the Rizr’s mechanical unfurling into any of its products, with its upcoming Razr Fold launch being just a standard book-style foldable. The reason is obvious: The technology is likely expensive and probably fragile too. Three years on and Motorola hasn’t said a thing about this cool concept, but I’ll still keep my fingers crossed for this year.. Andrew Lanxon/CNET. Xiaomi SU7 EV. Xiaomi might be better known for its superb camera phones, but the Chinese firm has fingers in many pies, including scooters, vacuums, air fryers and, er, water pistols. It was no surprise then that during MWC 2024, the company showed off its first EV, the Xiaomi SU7. With sleek, sporty looks and a promised range of over 470 miles, I was excited.. I was excited again when the company showed off an even more performance
