The field of massive MIMO and backscatter communication is experiencing a significant shift towards innovative and cost-efficient techniques. Researchers are exploring new paradigms that seamlessly integrate co-located and distributed antennas to achieve a favorable trade-off between performance and implementation complexity. Nonlinear power amplifier effects are being addressed through joint optimization approaches, resulting in significant performance gains. Novel multiple access schemes are also being proposed, offering improved spectral efficiency and reduced computational complexity. Furthermore, advances in symbiotic backscatter communication are enabling low-power and spectrum-efficient communication. Noteworthy papers include: Heterogeneous Massive MIMO, which introduces a novel networking paradigm for uniform service in cellular networks. Nonlinear Power Amplifier-Resilient Cell-Free Massive MIMO, which proposes a joint optimization approach to combat power amplifier-induced performance degradation. Parallax QAMA, which presents a novel downlink multiple access system with improved spectral efficiency and reduced receiver complexity. Symbiotic Backscatter Communication, which investigates low-complexity modulation schemes for backscatter devices. Joint Power Control and Precoding for Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems With Sparse Multi-Dimensional Graph Neural Networks, which proposes a framework for reducing computational complexity in cell-free massive MIMO systems. Matrix Pencil-Based DoA Estimation for Hybrid Receivers in Snapshot-Limited Scenarios, which enables direction of arrival estimation in hybrid analog/digital receivers with limited snapshots.