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Is this the Nokia Lumia 610? More specifications leaked
While posters are raised and Barcelona continues to fill with confused-looking tech journalists, another taste of Nokia's 2012 offerings has appeared. This time, it's the company's low-cost Windows Phone entry. The Lumia 610 will purportedly pack a 3.2-inch display and a 3-megapixel camera, with BGR even reckoning that it will arrive with Microsoft's Windows Phone Tango OS, with a price of around 175 euros. We'll be listening intently to what Nokia has to say over the next few days -- and it looks like it could be plenty.
Signage suggests Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 en route for MWC debut
Could it be that Samsung really, truly, has another 10.1-inch slab in store for us this week? After seeing the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 make its official debut earlier, it appears more and more likely that it'll have a counterpart equipped with an S-Pen before the week is over. Apparently, someone was snooping sneaking around a hotel that the Sammy folks are staying at -- and are planning to show off its products -- and uncovered a poster teasing the wildly rumored Galaxy Note 10.1. Naturally, this doesn't guarantee we'll actually see the mystical tablet in Barcelona (after all, we'd imagine something like this would merit a press conference), but it's looking a heckuva lot more likely now, isn't it? [Thanks, Peter]
Samsung announces the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
We already saw Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 just over a week ago, and now the company has come clean with its 10.1-inch variant (along with a new Galaxy Beam smartphone). Aside from bumping up the screen resolution of its LCD to 1280 x 800, from 1024 x 600 on the 7.0, the 10.1 features the same 1Ghz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, front and rear cameras (VGA and 3-megapixels, respectively) and 21Mbps HSPA+ connectivity if you opt for the 3G model instead of WiFi. The 10.1-incher notably comes equipped with a 7,000 mAh battery (up from 4,000 on the 7.0), which will hopefully ensure stamina that's similar to its predecessor. The slate is unsurprisingly loaded with TouchWiz-flavored Ice Cream Sandwich, and will be offered in 16 and 32GB models (expandable by up to 32GB if you supply your own microSD card). There's no word on pricing just yet, but Sammy plans to start selling all 10.1-inches of this treat during March in the UK -- and you can bet we'll get our own in-person hands-on while we're traversing the show floor here at MWC. For now, you'll find full details about the slate in the press release after the break and press images in the gallery below.
Samsung unveils new Galaxy Beam smartphone / projector combo with dual core CPU
Samsung has finally started to reveal its new products at MWC 2012, starting with this refresh of the Galaxy Beam packing Android 2.3 and a 1GHz dual-core CPU. Just like its predecessor it brings an integrated projector capable of 15 lumens of brightness, enough to shoot a high definition image that's up to 50 inches wide. There's a dedicated app that activates the projection, letting users pump out video and pictures, as well as interact with games when the 4-inch WVGA screen just isn't big enough. It has a 2000 mAh battery to keep the party going -- handy when you're stuck somewhere inconvenient with a few dozen of your coworkers -- 8GB of built-in storage and a claimed 6GB of RAM (we're double checking that, consider it a likely typo until you hear otherwise). There's more details and specs in the press release after the break, but no word on release date or market availability of this HSPA phone just yet.Update: We've just confirmed that the Beam isn't loaded with a whopping 6GB of RAM as we initially reported. As it turns out, the device is actually packing 768MB of RAM (which is 6 gigabits, by the way). You can check out our hands-on with the device here for more details.
We're live from Mobile World Congress 2012!
It may be the dead of winter, but you wouldn't know that in Barcelona. The sun's shining bright on Fira, the Spanish city's main exhibition center, as construction crews work furiously (read: gather on staircases for seemingly day-long lunch breaks) to prepare for Mobile World Congress. We've arrived in the Catalonian capital to bring you the latest and greatest from el mundo de la telefonia movil, beginning with tomorrow's manufacturer previews. For now, grab a glass of sangria and enjoy el fin de semana -- the fun begins at dawn.Protip: Use our "mwc2012" tag to see all of this week's Mobile World Congress news and hand-ons!
Mobile World Congress 2012 preview: what will we see?
Without hesitation, February always seems to be the most hectic time of the year for the mobile industry, thanks primarily to the annual Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain. The show has long been considered the proper venue for phone and tablet vendors to show off their latest and greatest innovations. Naturally, the internet is been set ablaze with plenty of rumors and even a few official product announcements from companies hoping to benefit from some solid pre-show buzz.In this guide we'll take you on a tour and walk through the hardware we already know will be shown off at MWC, as well as what we should likely expect to see and the things we'd really love to hear more about but probably won't. Join us after the break, won't you?
Samsung partners with FeliCa for Japanese NFC solutions, unveils 2012 Olympics' mobile payment app with Visa
Across the globe today, Samsung is bringing a number of pushes to broaden NFC adoption. On the island of Japan, the company's sealed a partnership with FeliCa Networks to implement its NFC-Secure Application Module chips in its mobile devices. Notably, the solution is ensures compatibility between Japan's long established Osaifu-Keitai contactless payment services and the newer breed of NFC Types A and B which normally don't play nice together. The chips are touted has having "advanced security" to keep your funds in check, and are expect to hit "commercial deployment" set for 2013. Flying over to London, Samsung and Visa have unveiled the official NFC payment app for the 2012 Olympics, in their continued preparation for the event. Despite the unveil, the application (based on Visa's PayWave) will officially debut for display at Mobile World Congress next week. This comes nearly ten months after the duo announced their plans to further establish NFC-based payment options for London and the event itself. Hit up the two press releases after the break for the full details on the announcements.
Acer's CloudMobile gets manhandled, sexy shell may hide Android secrets (video)
Acer's CloudMobile has already broken cover once. Now it's been manhandled in the flesh by members of the media. Sadly, we weren't on hand at Fashion Week in Milan to give it the once over ourselves (we'll have to wait for MWC for that), but the folks at Notebook Italia were. It looks like the 4.3-inch display is, in fact, of the 1280 x 720 variety, and the processor tasked with pushing all those pixels is a dual-core 1.5GHz part. Underneath that award-winning shell is also Dolby Mobile sound, NFC and Ice Cream Sandwich. Interestingly, reports are that the handset is running the unannounced Android 4.1, but we haven't been able to confirm that just yet. Also not quite ready for prime time? It's namesake AcerCloud platform, but the company still has a few more months to work that one out before the anticipated Q3 release. Check out the video after the break and hit up the source link for a few more photos.
Acer Liquid Glow: Glossy-coated ICS phone to show up at MWC
One phone is never enough. Acer's revealed that it's bringing a second handset to Barcelona next week and it's got that Ice Cream Sandwich we know you love. With a 3.7-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, the Liquid Glow packs a 1GHz processor and a 5-megapixel camera underneath that glossy colored shell. Those underwhelming specs are pepped up a bit with the promise of Android 4.0, but we still expect those gentle specifications will keep the phone pretty keenly priced -- it's unlikely to go toe-to-toe with its quad-core sibling. Acer says that we can expect it to arrive in the UK this summer, but we'll be sure to try it out ahead of that in just a few days.
ViewSonic adds ViewPad G70, E100 and P100 to its tablet collection
In addition to the ICS phone trio, ViewSonic's also just announced three new tablets ahead of the MWC party. Pictured on the left is the 7-inch "super light, super slim" ViewPad G70 -- to be sold alongside the E70 -- featuring Android Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, microSD expansion, a two-megapixel imager and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, along with various ports including mini HDMI, micro-USB and mini-USB. Oddly enough, ViewSonic hasn't confirmed the G70's processor specs, but we'll let you guys know when we do.Another ICS tablet in this lineup is the 9.7-inch ViewPad E100. While we're still waiting for its press shots, we're told that this slate packs a 1,024 x 768 IPS display, a 1GHz chip, and the usual selection of connectivity like HDMI, USB and microSD. All of this comes in a package weighing 620g and at 9.1mm thick.Last but not least, we have the Windows 7-powered ViewPad P100 pictured on the right, featuring a 10-inch 1,280 × 800 IPS display, a dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom N2600 and a camera on both the front and the back. No deets on pricing and availability just yet, so stay tuned as we scan the MWC show floor next week.
Mozilla rumored to debut LG-made Boot to Gecko device at MWC
Mozilla hasn't exactly been quiet about the fact that it has some big stuff to show off at Mobile World Congress. We've already gotten a peek at Boot to Gecko and it's announced it'll be joining the app market fray. But, what we haven't heard anything about just yet, is hardware. A mobile operating system and software outlet are only useful if you've got a physical platform to run it on. Now rumors are circulating that LG is in cahoots with the makers of Firefox and will be building developer hardware for its fledgling OS. Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich has said publicly his foundation will be at MWC with "partners..." plural. Who exactly those ally companies are isn't clear, but we'd say it's safe to assume there is at least one hardware maker in the mix. And, if the sources at ExtremeTech are right, that manufacturer already has a rather busy schedule. We'll just have to wait till we land Barcelona to find out for sure.
LG's upcoming MWC lineup runs into some Italians, gets documented on video
You might have already seen LG's upcoming Optimus Vu in video form, but what about the rest of the company's Mobile World Congress debutants? Enter Italian site Telefonino, who's managed to wrangle hands-ons with that phablet and two of its co-stars, the Optimus 3D Max and the delectable Tegra-3 powered Optimus 4X HD. Catch the latter running LG's customized version of Ice Cream Sandwich in the embedded clip above, and those seeking demos of its other brothers can head on over to Italia, via the conveniently placed source links below.
Samsung's Galaxy S II celebrates 20 million sold, just in time for MWC
After crossing the 10 million units moved threshold back in September, Samsung has joyously announced ahead of MWC 2012 that its Galaxy S II family of phones has sold 20 million since launching in April. According to Samsung, taking just ten months to hit the mark puts it ahead of the original Galaxy S (hovering around 22 million sold) by seven months. The hallmarks of this model -- in its many forms as seen above for AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint -- has been the Super AMOLED Plus screen, slim design and dual core CPUs, all of which made it a record breaker right out of the gate. Samsung's been pretty quiet as Mobile World Congress 2012 approaches, but whenever we see the Galaxy S III, it will certainly have a lot to live up to.
ZTE to unleash eight new phones at MWC, hopes multi-core chipsets and LTE push them into third place
If the trio of slabs ZTE announced earlier this week weren't enough for you, sit tight, the outfit just announced it's bringing a total of eight new phones to Barcelona next week. The new handsets will reportedly flaunt multi-core processors, LTE radios and the latest versions of the Android and Windows Phone platforms. This announcement both echos and one-ups the recently announced Mimosa X, which gets its dual-core chops from an NVIDIA Tegra 2, but boasts only HSPA+, rather than the promised LTE. ZTE says it hopes the new devices will help it become one of the world's top three handset providers by the year 2015. Seem far off? Don't worry, at least the phones will be here by Monday. Read on for ZTE's official press statement.
LG Optimus 4X HD unveiled: Quad-core Tegra 3, Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.7-inch display
If LG failed to impress so far with the Android 2.3 phones it's shown off in the run up to MWC 2012, perhaps the Optimus 4X HD can turn things around. This 4.7-inch beast will hit Europe in the second quarter and is its first to feature a 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3 as its benchmark destroying CPU, a 4.7-inch True HD IPS LCD (1280x720) plus what appears to be a lightly customized version of Ice Cream Sandwich. Perhaps the only logical followup to its Optimus 2X that kicked off all the dual-core madness, it also includes a 2,150mAh battery, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Despite that huge screen, at a depth of 8.9mm it's only slightly thicker than the superwide 4x3 Optimus Vu. Just like the Fujitsu prototype we spent some time with at CES, the Tegra 3 features a 4+1 "Companion Core" design, with a fifth low power unit available to take care of more mundane tasks without draining the battery. This is all pretty close to the leaked "X3" specs we'd heard, however there's no mention of NFC or HSPA+ just yet, only DLNA and MHL. Check out the full press release after the break for a few more specs.
M3 Android NFC Communicator mixes something old, something new for prepaid subs
Malaysia may not be on the tip of anyone's tongue when wireless comes to mind, but that's not stopping local outfit DMD Mobile from attempting to make its mark. Set for an official unveiling at next week's Mobile World Congress, the M3 Android NFC Communicator is the outfit's clumsily titled stab at the prepaid market in South Asia and the Middle East. The touchscreen handset, to be available in both 2.6-inch portrait QWERTY and 3.2-inch candybar form factors, comes loaded up with a surprising mix of last- and current-gen specs: 650Mhz single-core CPU running a skinned version of Gingerbread 2.3.5, support for dual-band HSPA+ (850 / 2100MHz) and quadband GSM, VGA front-facing / 3MP rear cameras, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi and NFC. Sure, it's not the most thrilling of forward-looking devices to surface this year, but priced at RM500 (that's about US$165), it's certainly more of a great deal than it is bargain bin entry. Hit up the source below for additional info on this low-hanging mobile fruit.
Huawei Prism, HTC Ville may be heading to T-Mobile in April?
HTC and Huawei are both expected to bring their A-game to MWC. What exactly that entails remains a mystery, thanks to both companies keeping their lips sealed. And while we're still not completely sure as to what secrets these devices still hold -- or even their official names, for that matter -- TmoNews picked up a leaked screenshot that shows off a list of upcoming accessories on T-Mobile, some of which are for the HTC Ville and Huawei Prism in April. Does this guarantee that we'll see both devices featured on the GSM carrier? Not at all, but stay tuned over the next few days because we have a feeling more answers will come pouring in soon.
Nokia bringing two Lumia devices to MWC next week?
You have to love the last days leading up to a major event like Mobile World Congress, because the rumor mill just doesn't stop. The focus of this particular whisper is Nokia's Lumia series, which according to Reuters should have at least two new members before the show is over. Its sources indicate that the oft-rumored global version of the Lumia 900 is go (AT&T's model shown above), as well as a lower-end Lumia 610. All of us who crave the deeper details are still left in the dark about what we can expect on these devices, but it does give us a heckuva lot more to look forward to next week.
Sony Mobile rebranding quietly begins, changes to roll out over the next month
With the assimilation of Ericsson's wireless stake now neatly a footnote in its corporate history, Sony's moving on and making its newfound freedom known -- albeit quietly. According to a rep for the company, its first rebranding baby steps began just last night, with the former SonyEricsson portal now redirecting to SonyMobile.com. Other related properties, like its social networking extensions and various related digital properties, are also slated to make the transition throughout March, with further announcements planned for Mobile World Congress next week. We'll be there live in just a few days, so stay tuned. In the meanwhile, hit up the source below to see synergy at its finest.[Thanks, Kevin]
Mozilla Labs Apps set to allow developer submissions for Mozilla Marketplace at MWC
Been keeping up with Mozilla Labs' Apps project? Today the company's focused on developers, with pleasing news if you've been looking to get your app's feet wet in it. In the coming weeks at Mobile World Congress, the Firefox maker will finally open its self-titled Marketplace's doors for app submissions. If you're unfamiliar, Mozilla's been working to create an "operating system- and device-independent market," which will rely on the likes of HTML5, CSS and other open source materials -- Mozilla also plans to introduce its own APIs for apps, pending W3C approval. The end result will be the ability to use said apps without being locked down by your devices and their respective app stores. The store is set to open up for consumer consumption later in the year, so now's your chance to reserve your software's spot and name on the list. More details await in press release after the break and at source link below, while you get your code ready.
