Like tens of thousands of business people, the TechRadar Pro team will be heading for the sunnier shores of Barcelona for this year's edition of Mobile World Congress which will be held from Monday 24 to Thursday 27. To help our peers make the most of the event, we've compiled a list of tips that will make this trip that little bit easier to fathom.
1. GSMA MWC App
Download the free GSMA MWC app (available for Android, Windows Phone and iOS) as soon as you can. This is a lifesaver allowing you to rapidly make your way to your meeting points and find essential amenities like the cafetaria or the loos.
The app adds mobile registration as well as three "SMART" features including the ability to use a NFC-enabled mobile device, the ability to order food and skip queues and an interactive indoor way-finding gizmo.
2. A translation app
Get yourself a Catalunia-English translation app. There are a few free ones (like this Offline English Catalan dictionary or Translator Voice Translate) but we'd probably suggest you get the paid ones which offer a much larger dictionary of words, add more features and get rid of the pesky adverts.
3. Power socket converters
Take a few of these with you. Barcelona, like the rest of Europe, uses two-pin round sockets. Make sure the models you're taking with you are not compatible only with electric razors or other low-powered electricals.
4. A portable battery
Any business traveler attending MWC will likely have a tablet, a laptop and a smartphone (if not two of the latter). Making sure that they are all topped up and ready to run is a challenge if you're away from a power socket.
That's why an essential accessory for your handbag would be a battery charger, one with a sizeable capacity that can feed your electronic devices all day long. Something like this IntoCircuit Power Castle from Amazon that, in theory, should be able to provide with 26,000mAh. That's up to 12 charges for your iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S. Just don't forget to charge it again when you're back to your hotel room.
5. Go to "Four Years from now"
You can attend the Mobile World Capital's "Four Years From Now", an event that is happening at the same time as the Mobile World Congress and takes place at its former venue, for free when you register via TechRadar Pro. Mobile World Capital is geared towards startups and mobile developers but even if you're not part of that audience, there's enough of quality speakers and activities going on to make it a worthy trip.
