This week Barcelona played host to the Mobile World Congress (MWC), without a doubt one of the most important new technology showcases that currently exists. The proof lies in the figures: 75,800 delegates, 20,000 support staff, 1,800 exhibitors from around the globe. And most important of all—the presence of the world's technology leaders in the city of Barcelona. The center stage at this year's event was undoubtedly taken by Facebook's Zuckerberg and Jan Koum of WhatsApp fame. They were also behind one of the event's most talked-about "bashes", hosting a joint party at a venue on Calle Tuset to celebrate Zuck's wife's birthday and the WhatsApp acquisition deal. Naturally, some anonymous person captured them on a cell phone and posted the photos... but then what else would you expect at the MWC!

Plenty of novelties and new inventions were unveiled at the congress, but these are the ones that caught my eye:

1. Solar power chargers. The Catalan firm Idapt, headquartered in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and with offices in China, presented its range of solar-powered chargers for Apple products. They're light and you can literally stick them onto your mobile device.

2. Smart glasses and gloves for machine operators. Fujitsu is developing a line of virtual assistants that will let operators pick up a cable with a hand sensor and receive an optical signal in their glasses indicating the socket where it has to be inserted.

3. Smart helmet and gloves. Telefónica is working on various new systems for transmitting information, like motorcycle gloves that come with sensors on the index fingers and thumbs, allowing wearers to interact with a mobile device without touching it, simply by moving their fingers. The firm also unveiled a helmet fitted with sensors that can detect an impact and automatically report it to an emergency center.

4. Identification by iris, voice, signature and face. The Cáceres-based firm Mobbeel has created a program to verify the identity of the user of a mobile device with a camera via his/her iris, voice, signature or face. Very handy for paying by cell phone!

5. Earphones controlled by iPhone. The Danish firm GN ReSound launched this invention that lets people with hearing impairments speak on the phone, use FaceTime and listen to music normally!

6. Fujitsu unveiled a laptop that recognizes the owner through the veins of his/her hands. Simply hover the palm of your hand over the scanner and you're all set.

Of course, then there were the smartwatches and the curved unbreakable displays, not to mention the different types of "Glass".

All in all, you could say the world's gone mobile. Ultra connectivity means we're increasingly connected 24/7/365, and that means endless commercial opportunities with our clients in terms of communication-conversation and business. Here are some interesting facts to consider:

There are 27.6 million smartphones in Spain:

• Only 1.5% of Spaniards don't take it with them on vacation
• 33% take it with them to the bathroom
• 75% don't switch it off when they have sex
• 72% don't switch it off when they go to bed
• 80% lunch and dine with it

And here's a final story from the MWC. Prince Felipe met with Jan Koum, founder of WhatsApp, the day after the party with Zuck. Koum kept the prince waiting for 50 minutes, no doubt a little worse for wear after celebrating the sale of his 50-employee company for 19 billion dollars. Like I said, it's the start of a new era!