Mobile World Congress: 5 Hot Gadgets
MWC, the premier mobile trade show, will once again show plenty of smartphone goodies for hardware freaks to get excited about.
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The pace of smartphone innovation continues to march forward, though some might say it's moving much slower than before. In the race to be on top, phone makers trot out devices with improved specs every few months and hope it will be enough to satisfy smartphone-starved consumers. That's not enough anymore. People want more than feature creep if they're going to invest hundreds of dollars -- and up to two years -- with a device.
Mobile World Congress 2014 officially gets underway Feb. 24 in Barcelona. The show is the epicenter for all things related to mobility, networks, and smartphones. The annual mobile extravaganza has been the coming-out party for some of the most exciting and important phones ever made.
Consider the Samsung Galaxy S, introduced at MWC in 2010. Little did Samsung know that the S would spawn generations of industry-leading hardware and help push it to become the number one smartphone maker in the world. Surely Samsung is hoping for similar fireworks at its MWC 2014 media event.
This year, new hardware is expected from most players in the market. HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Nokia, Sony, and ZTE all have media conferences lined up during the show. These phone makers will announce a range of devices that span entry-level to top-of-the-line. The vast majority will run Android -- including a new AOSP handset from Nokia.
Speaking of Nokia, don't expect to see any new Windows Phone hardware. Makers of WP devices are likely waiting for Microsoft to reveal Windows Phone 8.1 before bringing out new phones. Microsoft is scheduled to talk about Windows Phone 8.1 in depth at its Build conference in early April. Further, Microsoft should finalize its acquisition of Nokia's handset division by the end of the quarter. Microsoft will share its vision for Nokia -- as well as Windows Phone -- at Build, not MWC.
Who's sitting out? Despite all the activity, not every company participates. Motorola will largely be absent from the show this year. Motorola's handset business is being acquired by Lenovo, so new handsets from Motorola are not expected. Lenovo itself may show off a new phone or two, but they'll be pure Lenovo. It's fair to say BlackBerry, which is in the middle of restructuring, will also have a subdued presence in Barcelona this year. Apple? Don't make me laugh.
The big question is just how far the manufacturers will go to tempt consumers. Will they offer evolutionary updates or revolutionary new features and designs? What boundaries can still be pushed? Can smartphones truly get any better than they already are?
The show floor at the Fira Gran Via may not open until Monday morning, but there's plenty of action Sunday to kick the show off. Expect news from LG, Huawei, and Samsung's Tizen operating system on Sunday. New phones from Nokia, Sony, Geeksphone, HTC, and Samsung will follow on Monday. InformationWeek.com will be reporting live on site, so stay tuned for the latest news.
HTC is not quite ready to show off its next flagship device, but it is ready to tackle the middle of the market. HTC is expected to announce the Desire, a midrange phablet that offers a 5.5-inch 720p HD display, 1.6-GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor with 1.5 GB of RAM, 8 GB of onboard storage, and a 13-megapixel main camera and 5-megapixel user-facing camera. The Desire is also expected to be the first HTC phone to come with Sense 6.0, the latest version of HTC's user interface. HTC's press conference is scheduled at 4 p.m. Central European Time (CET), Feb. 24.
The Nokia X may be the most interesting device announced at Mobile World Congress. Rather than run Windows Phone, which is Nokia's smartphone operating system of choice, the Nokia X will be the firm's first Android smartphone. Don't expect it to be a Galaxy S5 killer, though. Instead, the Nokia X is expected to run a customized version of Android and be targeted at emerging markets where Android dominates the entry-level landscape. Specs are shaping up to include a 4-inch WVGA display, 1-GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor with 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal storage, a 5-megapixel camera, and a 1,500-mAh battery. Nokia's press conference is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. CET, Feb. 24.
Samsung's Galaxy S5 is sure to be the star of the show. It will be the Korean company's top-of-the-line handset for 2014 and it may go on sale as soon as March. Expected features include a 5.2-inch screen with 2560 x 1440 pixels (a first for smartphones), a 16-megapixel camera, thinner/lighter design with aluminum body panels, resistance to water, a fingerprint sensor, and the latest version of Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. Samsung's Unpacked5 event is scheduled for 8 p.m. CET, Feb. 24.
LG has already pulled back the curtain a bit on the G Pro 2, its premiere phablet for the year. The G Pro 2 takes last year's behemoth a step further in terms of size, specs, and performance. The basics include a 5.9-inch 1080p HD screen, quad-core Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm with 3 GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization, support for LTE networks worldwide, and a large, 3,200-mAh battery. LG said the G Pro 2 will have a wide array of software tweaks, but it hasn't shown just how they work. LG's press conference is scheduled at 1:00 p.m. CET, Feb. 23.
The Sony Xperia Z2 will give the Galaxy S5 a run for its money in terms of design, specs, and performance. The Z2 follows the Z1 and Z1S flagships announced by Sony and should bring the best that Sony has to offer to the table. Perhaps the most important element of the Z2 will be its screen. Reports suggest the display will match the GS5's at 5.2 inches and 2560 x 1440 pixels. It will be powered by a 2.3-GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm with 3 GB of RAM, a 20-megapixel main camera with Sony's Exmor R sensor and G Lens, and more. Sony's press conference is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. CET, Feb. 24.
The dark horse of MWC 2014 will surely be Geeksphone. The company partially revealed the mysterious Blackphone in January, with a promise to give us all the details at Mobile World Congress. Blackphone runs a customized version of Android called PrivatOS that will let people make and receive secure phone calls and messages, transfer and store documents securely, conduct secure video chats, as well as maintain strict control over their location data. Blackphone did not say how it is achieving these claims, but it says the phone will be sold as an unlocked GSM device that will work with most worldwide networks. Geeksphone's press conference is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. CET, Feb. 24.
The dark horse of MWC 2014 will surely be Geeksphone. The company partially revealed the mysterious Blackphone in January, with a promise to give us all the details at Mobile World Congress. Blackphone runs a customized version of Android called PrivatOS that will let people make and receive secure phone calls and messages, transfer and store documents securely, conduct secure video chats, as well as maintain strict control over their location data. Blackphone did not say how it is achieving these claims, but it says the phone will be sold as an unlocked GSM device that will work with most worldwide networks. Geeksphone's press conference is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. CET, Feb. 24.
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