TelefónicaInnovación Digital held today its ‘Innovation Day’, an event where the company presented the latest trends and technological developments in key areas such as Open Gateway, web3, artificial intelligence (AI), digital home and its digital services platform Tu.com, among others. The event is a meeting point for companies, technology partners and developers interested in discovering how innovation can transform their businesses.
Under the slogan “(Un)Expected Connections”, more than 2,000 attendees followed the event in person and via streaming. In addition, on-site attendees had the opportunity to experience more than 20 technology demonstrations in an exhibition space set up at the company’s headquarters in the Telefónica District.
TU Wallet, an app to manage cryptoassets intuitively and securely
During the event, Telefónica Innovación Digital presented TU Wallet, an application to manage cryptoassets in a simple and transparent way. This cryptocurrency wallet allows users to buy, sell, send and pay with a selection of cryptocurrencies with the highest market turnover. The service is operated by Bit2Me, the first Spanish exchange registered with the Bank of Spain*.
TU Wallet offers an accessible, secure and simple experience. The app is now available for Android and, soon for iOS. To operate it will only require downloading the app and registering with an email address and cell phone number. The service is aimed at any customer with a Spanish cell phone number regardless of the operator they are a customer of.
In addition, the app will incorporate Bit2Me Card, the virtual card in collaboration with MasterCard, which allows cryptocurrency payments to be made in any establishment or ecommerce.
TU Wallet thus joins the catalog of services and solutions of TU.com, the commercial platform of Telefónica Innovación Digital to offer the company’s most cutting-edge technological products and services.
In addition to the recently launched TU Quantum Encryption service or the well-known TU Latch and TU Metashield security services, TU.com incorporates new products that have also been presented today at the Innovation Day. TU Quantum Drop Beta’, a new product that allows files to be encrypted and decrypted, stored and even sent and received securely using post-quantum cryptography; and TU VerifAI PRO Beta, which solves the problems arising from the abuse of AI in the generation of deepfakes. Audio, images and video are analyzed in real time to determine if they have been generated by AI. The service also allows companies to integrate into their services via APIs and forensic analysis through one platform. In addition, Telefónica’s NFT Marketplace has been relaunched under the TU Gallery brand, which integrates new collections.
Chema Alonso, Chief Digital Officer de Telefónica y CEO de Telefónica Innovación Digital, ha afirmado durante el acto: “Tu.com es la plataforma que nos permite innovar en productos y servicios digitales over-the-top y llevarlos al mercado rápidamente. Es, en realidad, una incubadora de proyectos de innovación que nos facilita ser más disruptivos y probar nuevos productos que comercializamos directamente en todo el mundo y que podremos integrar eventualmente en la oferta de nuestras marcas comerciales en los países donde opera Telefónica”.
Telefónica Open Gateway: APIs applied to drone flights
Open Gateway, the telecommunications industry initiative led by the GSMA that seeks to transform telco networks into programmable platforms for the development of new digital services, was another of the protagonists of the event. Telefónica has played a leading role in this project from the beginning, promoting new APIs, up to a total of 36 published under the CAMARA open source standard. Telefónica has shown use cases of the APIs available for sectors such as banking, security or aerial connectivity for drone flights.
During Chema Alonso’s presentation, a demonstration of drone flight in airspace has taken place in which, through the use of advanced network capabilities and the QoD (Quality on Demand) API, the 5G video streaming experience from a drone in a congested network environment such as a stadium with thousands of people can be optimized. Thanks to the high-quality image and video processing capabilities enabled by this API in this type of flight and the incorporation of AI algorithms, another facial recognition demonstration was performed during a live connection to the Riyadh Air Metropolitan stadium.
Movistar: innovating in user experience
Among the new features presented by Movistar Plus+ is the ‘Hub Live Shopping’, a catalog of living apps with which it reinforces its commitment to shopping from television to become a platform where brands can offer their customers this type of experience that combines events with e-commerce. In addition to well-known brands such as Adolfo Domínguez or IKEA, which already had their own living app, new brands such as Clikalia or Movistar itself are incorporated, offering a unique interactive experience, with the possibility of resolving doubts and making purchases directly from the TV.
For its part, ‘Movistar Immersive Experience’ (MEI), a virtual reality app with which users can access the world of Movistar in the metaverse through the Meta Quest glasses, incorporates a new feature, the ‘Mobile Advisor’. Through generative AI, and through a natural language conversation with Aura, Telefónica’s AI-based virtual assistant, the mobile advisor helps users to find the ideal cell phone according to their preferences and needs, making it a seamless and personalized experience. Ahead of the arrival of the Apple Vision Pro in Spain, the company has also presented the development of MEI for this mixed reality device.
Another new feature has been Movistar Home Connect, the evolution of Movistar Home the home device that Telefónica launched in 2018, in an app exclusively for Movistar customers. For now it is in beta phase for customers with fiber home line and Android tablet with version 10.0 or later. The new app integrates the communications functionalities that users enjoy most in Movistar Home. It will soon incorporate the second screen function to enrich the Movistar Plus+ experience and generative AI capabilities that open up a world of new experiences that will be unveiled progressively.
Likewise, Wayra, Telefónica’s corporate venture capital, has also been present at the Innovation Day with some of the startups that are part of its portfolio, such as the recently announced invested startup Perplexity, as well as Airalo, Bit2Me, Factorial or Mitiga.
Investing in cryptoassets is unregulated, may not be suitable for retail investors and the entire amount invested may be lost. It is important to read and understand the risks of this investment which are explained in detail at wallet.tu.com/advertising.
*Registration in this registry does not imply any approval or verification by Banco de España of the activity carried out by providers of virtual currency for fiat currency exchange and electronic wallet custody services.
