Gadget fans might have walked away from this week’s Mobile World Congress feeling slightly disappointed by the non-appearance of any glaringly obvious breakthrough products. While smartphones like Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 and the outsized Asus Padfone represent a trend for bigger, more powerful devices packing all the latest tech available, there were few real hardware innovations on show at Barcelona this year, with most of the offerings having a distinctly “more of the same” feeling about them

But what we did see at this year’s MWC was the continuing advancement of mobile phone accessories and gadgets, with dozens of innovative new add-ons being shown off for the first time. So let’s have a look at some of the most interesting developments and top trends from this year’s show!

Solar Powered Displays

Remember those old standalone calculators you used to use at school, powered by a single strip of solar cells? Well, France’s Wysips has built on that idea, developing a transparent photovoltaic film that can be built into a mobile phone display, delivering the joy of life to a flat battery almost anywhere – just add some sunlight and your phone will spring back to life in an instant!

Wysips CEO Ludovic Deblois was on hand personally at MWC to show off a smartphone integrated with the new display tech. Simply by shining a torch at the screen, the mobile’s battery icon indicated that the device was being charged.

“With 10 minutes in the sun you will be able to communicate for two minutes. To recharge completely you will have to expose it for six hours, so our technology is not necessarily for a full recharge but rather for an energy boost for specific applications,” Mr Deblois said.

Not surprisingly, Wysips new gadget attracted quite a bit of interest from phone makers, and its designers said they’re hopeful of seeing devices equipped with the wonder tech hit the stores by the end of the year.

 ‘Protective’ Screen Protectors

Just a couple of years ago, a 4.3-inch screen seemed massive for an Android phone. But following the success of Samsung’s Galaxy series, smartphone displays have grown and grown, with 5-inch and above displays now more or less the norm for most company’s flagship phones. This trend could well continue in future if devices like the 5.7-inch ZTE Grand Memo, or god-forbid, Asus’s Padfone catch on.

Bigger screen sizes means there’s even more opportunity for screen protector manufacturer’s like Otterbox, and not just because of the worry of scratching your shiny new display. More real estate means more opportunity for people snooping and reading private messages over someone’s shoulder, and this is something that Otterbox is trying to address.

This week, firm took the opportunity to launch its new, Clearly Protected range of smartphone stickers, featuring a quad-laminar polyster construction that narrows the available viewing angle from all four sides, making the content visible only to someone who’s looking at the device head on – in other words, you.

Portable Power

Squeezing more life out of existing devices has become a big focus from accessory makers in recent years. What with devices growing ever bigger and sporting more and more power-hungry tech, batteries simply can’t keep up.

To overcome this, smartphone users are increasingly turning to portable power packs, especially those that cause minimal hassle to use. One such gadget that caught the eye was the PowerSkin PoP’n, which can deliver an extra 2000 mAh of juice when you’re on the go. What’s great is that PoP’n features a cool little suction cup so it can be stuck on most devices and power them through its range of inter-changeable tips (compatible with Apple 30 pin, micro USB and Lightning).

We also got to see some cool wireless chargers at MWC, including Nokia’s Fatboy pillow that’s designed to not just “recharge” but also “refresh” your phone at the same time (a gimmick we know, but its a cute one at least), and what’s claimed to be the world’s smallest wireless charger from LG, measuring just 6.9cm in diameter.

Biometric Secruity

Never worry about leaving compromising text messages or emails on your phone ever again, Fujitsu’s got you covered. Those days of leaving your phone lying on the table, only to have someone sneakily looking at it when you go to the bathroom are over.

Fujitsu’s latest new device, the Arrows V F-04E, features full biometric security with a built-in fingerprint scanner that needs YOUR fingers to unlock the device. Fingerprint authentication isn’t a new technology in itself of course, but until now no one has bothered to try and squeeze it onto a smartphone. Given that in many cases, people leave a lot more personally incriminating evidence of their phone than anywhere else, we have a sneaking suspicion that biometric security on smartphones might be an idea that catches on.

In-Car Audio Streams

Spotify has linked up with Ford to bring its popular music streaming service to Ford SYNC AppLink cars, beginning with the EcoSport later this year. For those who haven’t had a chance to use it, Ford SYNC AppLink is basically a system that allows drivers to launch a variety of smartphone apps using voice control, meaning they never have to take their hands off the wheel.

One of the biggest challenges with this tech is being able to understand human voice commands amid all the background noise generated by the vehicle itself, and so Ford has invested a lot of energy in making sure that its EcoSport cars are equipped with the best microphones around. Integrating a service like Spotify is an obvious next step for Ford, and it’s likely that other car manufacturers will want to get in on the act too.