FC Barcelona seeks its own metaverse and cryptocurrency

STORY: FC Barcelona seeks its own metaverse and cryptocurrency DATELINE: March 9, 2022 LENGTH: 00:02:02 LOCATION: Madrid CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY/SPORTS SHOTLIST: various of the stadiumSOUNDBITE 1 (English): JOAN LAPORTA, President of FC BarcelonaSOUNDBITE 2 (English): JOAN LAPORTA, President of FC Barcelona STORYLINE: FC Barcelona wants its own metaverse and cryptocurrency to help the football club "survive financially" and attract new supporters around the world, says the club president Joan Laporta. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona from Feb. 28 to March 3, Laporta said the club has to be "imaginative, innovative, and brave" to compete against clubs owned by large corporations and wealthy foreign investors. In a keynote speech on the first day of the congress, Laporta announced that the club will soon launch a range of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), and he added that it is already developing its own in-house digital currency. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): JOAN LAPORTA, President of

Strong Chinese presence at Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona

STORY: Strong Chinese presence at Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona DATELINE: March 2, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:45 LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY SHOTLIST: various of Mobile World Congress 2022 in BarcelonaSOUNDBITE 1 (English): TOM HERON, Xiaomi Technology's head of communications, Western EuropeSOUNDBITE 2 (English): DAVID AN WEI, CTO of Group Asia for ZTEvarious of Mobile World Congress 2022 in BarcelonaSOUNDBITE 3 (Spanish): JOAN VICENS SARD, Generalitat's general manager for FDI Attraction STORYLINE: Around 50 Chinese companies, including Huawei, ZTE and Xiaomi, are present at the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), which opened its doors in Barcelona on Monday. According to the market research company Counterpoint Research, seven out of the top 10 smartphone brands most popular in Europe are based in China, and the Chinese manufacturers present at the MWC appear determined to bring this figure higher. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of the MWC and last year's