Meizu showcased its new Super mCharge technology at MWC 2017, which claims to fully charge a zeroed-out battery in just over 20 minutes.

The Chinese company’s third generation charging technology is going head-to-head with Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 3.0 (QC3.0) and apparently ousts it in a few keys ways.

First off, Super mCharge utilizes its own cable and connector, in conjunction with its own 3,000mAh test battery, to bring an industry-leading five amp current that goes a long way in pulling in more power at a faster pace than Qualcomm’s standard.

Yet somehow, Meizu’s technology can charge faster while keeping the temperature of the cable and thus, the device, lower. Compared once again to QC3.0, Super mCharge tops out at 39-degrees celsius (about 102-degrees fahrenheit) while the competition gets up to 85-degrees celsius.

It’s impressive that Meizu can accomplish such a thing while maintaining a lower temperature, but that alone doesn’t really benefit the consumer in a tangible way. That’s compounded by the fact that this tech won’t show up in phones outside of Meizu’s own future devices.  

However, what is of more relevance is safety. Can Meizu guarantee that its new charging solution won’t be a fastlane to another fiasco like the one that the Note 7 brought on?  

Li Tao, of Meizu’s research and development team is confident that it won’t happen, saying “Super mCharge is not only the fastest charging technology, but the safest one of all.”   

OK then, I guess we’ll have to take his word for it until we see the tech (hopefully) showing up in a Meizu device later this year.  

MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2017 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar's world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone.

Meizu showcased its new Super mCharge technology at MWC 2017, which claims to fully charge a zeroed-out battery in just over 20 minutes.

The Chinese company’s third generation charging technology is going head-to-head with Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 3.0 (QC3.0) and apparently ousts it in a few keys ways.

First off, Super mCharge utilizes its own cable and connector, in conjunction with its own 3,000mAh test battery, to bring an industry-leading five amp current that goes a long way in pulling in more power at a faster pace than Qualcomm’s standard.

Yet somehow, Meizu’s technology can charge faster while keeping the temperature of the cable and thus, the device, lower. Compared once again to QC3.0, Super mCharge tops out at 39-degrees celsius (about 102-degrees fahrenheit) while the competition gets up to 85-degrees celsius.

It’s impressive that Meizu can accomplish such a thing while maintaining a lower temperature, but that alone doesn’t really benefit the consumer in a tangible way. That’s compounded by the fact that this tech won’t show up in phones outside of Meizu’s own future devices.  

However, what is of more relevance is safety. Can Meizu guarantee that its new charging solution won’t be a fastlane to another fiasco like the one that the Note 7 brought on?  

Li Tao, of Meizu’s research and development team is confident that it won’t happen, saying “Super mCharge is not only the fastest charging technology, but the safest one of all.”   

OK then, I guess we’ll have to take his word for it until we see the tech (hopefully) showing up in a Meizu device later this year.  

MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2017 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar's world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone.

Are you with BT for your landline service? In that case, prepare yourself for some good news, because the bill for your line rental could be due for a reduction to the tune of at least £5 per month, possibly more – providing you’ve subscribed for just the landline (as opposed to a bundle of other products such as broadband and TV).

This is Ofcom’s freshly announced plan, with the watchdog believing that those who only have a landline are being asked to fork out an unfair amount for their monthly rental fee.

Ofcom is proposing that those who pay £18.99 every month for their line rental at the moment will see a reduction to a maximum of £13.99. The watchdog said that it’s looking at such a cut of at least £5, but it could be as much as £7 for an £84 annual saving (depending on the feedback it receives from interested parties during its review of landline pricing).

Ofcom noted that the price of landline rental has risen rapidly despite falling wholesale costs, and that this represented ‘poor value for money’ for landline-only customers, many of whom are often ‘elderly or vulnerable people’ who have been with the same phone provider for decades.

Statistics show that the wholesale price of landline provision has seen a 26% drop over the past decade or so, whereas landline rental costs have gone in the other direction and risen by between 25% and 49% in real terms.

Turning back the clock

The proposed £5 price cut would effectively return line rental costs to the same level as 2009 in real terms, which the watchdog believes is the fair and right thing to do.

In total, this will affect some 2.3 million BT customers who are landline-only – the vast majority of the total of 2.9 million landline-only subscribers in the UK. Ofcom further observes that BT’s price cut would likely force the hand of other providers to also decrease their tariffs in order to stay competitive.

Sharon White, CEO of Ofcom, commented: “Line rental has been going up, even as providers’ costs come down. This hurts people who rely on their landline the most, and are less likely to shop around for a better deal. We think that’s unacceptable.

“So we plan to cut BT’s charge for customers who take only a landline, to ensure that vulnerable customers get the value they deserve.”

BT defended itself by telling the BBC: “Unlike other companies, [we] have many customers on special tariffs for socially excluded or vulnerable customers. Recently, we have frozen the cost of line rental for all of our customers who take a BT phone line.”

• We’ve highlighted the best business broadband deals right here

Update: We've extended the voting period for this award - grab your chance to vote for the best tech of MWC now!

MWC 2017 has seen brand new phones, tablets and wearables as well as the weird and wonderful tech we've seen as companies from all over the globe descend on Barcelona. 

Now it's time for the TechRadar MWC awards 2017, and you can have your say too. You can now vote below for our favorite announcement of MWC 2017 from the likes of Huawei, Samsung, Nokia and Sony.

Be sure to vote by 14:00 GMT (9:00 EST, 6:00AM PST, 01:00 ACT) February 28 to make sure your vote counts.

MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2017 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar's world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone.

Your future Netflix binge sessions could be beamed directly to your eye via a smart contact lens, and the co-founder of the company is all about it if it happens.

"If virtual reality takes off, we’ll adapt to that. If it becomes contact lenses that have amazing powers, we’ll adapt to that,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings at MWC 2017.

Netflix-capable contact lenses are theoretical today and not ready for prime time. We haven’t seen smart contact lens prototypes outside of dozens of sci-fi movies – many of which are on Netflix itself.

However, the thought of projecting video onto a contact lens is an idea that’s been talked about before, when industry leaders have speculated about the future of mobile. It’s a recurring topic.

We’ve also seen Google Smart Contacts tied to medical use. They’re not for entertainment – at least not yet – but everyone’s mind went there as soon as they were announced.

Stream Black Mirror while you’re living Black Mirror

What’s important is that Netflix has the willingness to follow new technology trends, according to the keynote comments by Hastings, who naturally cited Black Mirror in his comments.

“Charlie Brooker is a UK film maker who has done Black Mirror for us,” he said. “In Black Mirror, he tells many strange and wonderful speculations on technology.”

This includes “wearing contact lenses that have all of the world’s information,” Hastings said in a spoiler-free overview of the hit British television series.

“What’s amazing about technology is it’s very hard to predict. If you started ten, 20 or 30 years ago, very few people would be able to predict what’s happening today,” he said.

“What we do is try to learn and adapt, rather than just try to commit to view of what’s going to happen. We’re very flexible and we learn as we go.”

MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2017 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar's world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone. 

It's still more than a month away before Samsung officially shows off the Samsung Galaxy S8, but that isn't stopping some eager eyes from taking a peek at the unannounced flagship phone.

Two videos have recently surfaced showing what looks undoubtedly like Samsung's upcoming Galaxy successor in action, according to Phone Arena.

The first video, courtesy of Slashleaks, shows not just the supposed S8, but another device claiming to be the larger Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. 

The video lines up the two phones together, showing us the size difference, ports (headphone jack confirmed?), and all-screen front face for each handset.

The second video, provided by MobileFun's YouTube page, claims to show the S8's keyboard – including digital buttons on the bottom of the screen in place of the Galaxy S-series' normal three-button setup.

A quick PSA to future mobile videographers: humans typically have two eyes arranged horizontally, so shooting in landscape is probably a better way to go than giant black bars eating over half the screen. Just pointing that out.

Framing gripes aside, both videos are convincing and appear to back up previous leaks and rumors; it's still always wise to take unconfirmed visuals with healthy skepticism.

As for when we'll finally get the word from Samsung itself on its next big mobile device, the electronics giant is teasing an event on March 29 that we are 99.99% certain will host the S8's official reveal, finally putting speculation to rest.

• It's MWC week! Check our MWC 2017 hub for the latest mobile news