mwc 2012

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  • Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 hands-on (video)

    by 
    Joseph Volpe
    Joseph Volpe
    02.28.2012

    The much-anticipated Galaxy S III this is not. What you are looking at above is the Ace 2, a mid-ranger from Samsung's stable of smartphones that's exclusive to the European market for the time being. Loaded up with a dual-core 800MHz CPU and a TouchWiz-skinned build of Android 2.3.6, the phone moves along smoothly, though the slight delay between touch recognition and transitions takes a bit of adjustment for those used to higher-clocked handsets. It's also a typical design for the OEM, encased in plastic and registering with a good balance of weight in the hand. We'd have hoped the unit would've felt much lighter, owing to the materials employed in its construction, but that extra bit of heft does help elevate it away from any sense of cheapness. As you can tell, we had an opportunity to spend some time with unit, so follow on after the break for a few more first impressions.

  • The Engadget Interview: Nokia Lead for Imaging Experience Damian Dinning at MWC 2012 (video)

    by 
    Myriam Joire
    Myriam Joire
    02.28.2012

    Hot on the heels of yesterday's interview with Stefan Pannenbecker, we had a chance to sit down with Damian Dinning, Lead Manager for Imaging Experience at Nokia, to discuss the mother of all cameraphones -- the Symbian Belle-based 808 PureView -- which was announced yesterday at Mobile World Congress. With such incredible specs as a 41-megapixel sensor and f/2.4 Carl Zeiss autofocus lens, we wanted to get a better understanding of the technology behind this flagship shooter. Watch the video to find out how Nokia is redefining mobile photography by using sub-pixel interpolation and oversampling for high-quality digital zooming and image stabilization, plus improved low-light performance.

  • LG's demonstrating LTE voice-to-video call switching at MWC

    by 
    Daniel Cooper
    Daniel Cooper
    02.28.2012

    Your friend calls you up to have a little gloat: not only did they just get a Mike Tyson-style face tattoo, but they've also snuck into the Xbox prototype lab. Of course, if you demand proof, you'll have to end the call and fire up a video chat -- or at least that's how it used to be. Soon you'll be able to flip seamlessly using LG's new LTE-based voice-to-video switching. The same technology also lets you share video over super-fast mobile internet in real-time as it's being recorded. It's all compliant with industry standards (hopefully meaning it'll be widely adopted) and we'll first see them on LG's smartphones released later in the year.

  • Toyota and Samsung turn your smartphone into a second display for your ride

    by 
    Daniel Cooper
    Daniel Cooper
    02.28.2012

    Toyota and Samsung are pairing up to get the latter's smartphones to work perfectly with the former's vehicles. The duo will launch Samsung Mobile Car Application to sync your Android device to the in-vehicle-infotainment (IVI) systems of modern cars. You'll be able to use voice control and improve the accuracy of your GPS by hooking it up to mobile internet. At the minute it's just an announcement, we won't see any products entering the market until the second quarter of the year. They just wanted to tease, those lovable scamps.

  • LG Optimus L-style series hands-on

    by 
    Mat Smith
    Mat Smith
    02.28.2012

    LG's Optimus L-style family of (slightly more) affordable devices is here, packing a similar designer flavor to the Prada phone 3.0 alongside some reduced specifications. Three models made their debut here at MWC, from the 4.3-inch Optimus L7 to the dinkier 3.2-inch L3, with the 4-inch L5 offering a size and specification compromise right in the middle. Skip on past the break for some first impressions.

  • Vimeo outs new iOS app at MWC, now sporting iPad compatibility

    by 
    Billy Steele
    Billy Steele
    02.27.2012

    Back at CES, we first got wind of Vimeo's impending plans to welcome the iPad to its iOS party. Today at MWC, the outfit has announced that the new version of its app for iDevices is now available -- and it'll play nice with your Apple slate. If you're in need of a refresher, the update features browse-while-watching, a watch later queue, access to the Vimeo Music Store and a built-in video editor for managing those clips while you're on the move. Looking to take the leap? The free app is just a few clicks away via the source link and a bit more info waits in the PR below.

  • Acer CloudMobile hands-on at MWC 2012 (video)

    by 
    Brad Molen
    Brad Molen
    02.27.2012

    Tucked away in the dark corners of the Google booth at Mobile World Congress, amidst several miniature hubs inhabited by all types of various companies, is a stand dedicated to all things Acer. Included as part of the selection was the CloudMobile, the proud owner of a coveted iF Product Design award. So were we that impressed by its trophy-winning feature? Yes and no. It's not tough on the eyes by any stretch of the imagination, especially given its fancy textured back and curvacious construct, but we have a difficult time declaring this to feature the best design of the show, nor is it necessarily much of a ground-breaker. The build quality itself doesn't quite hold a candle to what you'll experience on something like the ceramic-like aluminum treatment used on the HTC One S, but yet doesn't feel like it will smash into a million pieces if we give it the 'ol heave-ho.But perhaps the CloudMobile earned the honors by producing a respectable internal design: it offers a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon chipset and 4.3-inch 720p HD display, for instance, and that panel is absolutely stunning with great viewing angles. We weren't allowed to view any part of the OS beyond the lock and a couple home screens, no doubt due to the model's pre-production firmware, so we'll need to leave our impressions of the UI for another time. From what we can tell, it will definitely be offering a customized skin, though it's unclear to what extent that will shine through in the final production version, still due to come out sometime in Q3. For now, enjoy the images and video underneath.

  • Mozilla partners with Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom to further Boot to Gecko project

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    02.27.2012

    So far, we have seen neither hide nor hair of that rumored LG-built Boot to Gecko developer device. Mozilla hasn't exactly been keeping quiet, though. The company announced a pair of partners on the web standards-based mobile OS: Telefónica and Deutsche Telekom. The German parent company of T-Mobile will be lending members of its Innovation Labs team to the development of the project. Telefónica will be bringing hardware to the equation. It revealed plans to build "open web devices" based on B2G for release this year. Qualcomm and Adobe are also throwing their weight behind the HTML5 platform. Before the week is through we should be able to scrounge up a few more details and spend some hands-on time with the OS.

  • TI reveals more OMAP 5 details at MWC 2012

    by 
    Michael Gorman
    Michael Gorman
    02.27.2012

    Well, if our hands-on at CES didn't sell you on TI's next-gen OMAP 5 platform, perhaps some more specs revealed recently at MWC 2012 will. We've known about its dual Cortex-A15 and Cortex-M4 architecture since this time last year, but we didn't know that those M4 cores are there to handle real-time processing of multimedia -- like video encoding and decoding -- which TI claims can provide up to ten percent power savings. Additionally, the company's wunderkind SoC will pack a dual-core PowerVR SGX544 GPU and a dedicated 2D hardware-accelerated composition engine to deliver great graphics and lower power consumption than other mobile silicon solutions. OMAP 5 also comes with a multi-tasking image signal processor that can use up to four image sensors at the same time, or take 1080p 60fps video while snapping 12-megapixel stills simultaneously. So, you ready for a super-speedy OMAP 5 chip in your next smartphone yet? Those who are still skeptical can peruse the PR after the break for a full rundown of its considerable capabilities.

  • The Engadget Interview: Nokia VP of Industrial Design Stefan Pannenbecker at MWC 2012 (video)

    by 
    Myriam Joire
    Myriam Joire
    02.27.2012

    Today at Mobile World Congress we spent a few minutes talking with Stefan Pannenbecker, VP of Industrial Design at Nokia about Espoo's past, present and future handsets -- including the just announced 808 PureView, Lumia 610 and Asha 302 / 203 / 202, as well as the Lumia 900 we played with at CES. He shared his insights on Nokia's design language and philosophy and some interesting details such as the clearcoat finish used on the Lumia 800 / 900 and N9. Enjoy the video.

  • AT&T service in the works to let app developers pay for users' data use

    by 
    Billy Steele
    Billy Steele
    02.27.2012

    AT&T has been making news all over MWC in the past couple of days. The most recent report from The Wall Street Journal says that Ma Bell is planning a service that will enable app devs and other content providers to pay the carrier for subscriber's data usage. AT&T's head of network and technology said today that "A feature that we're hoping to have out sometime next year is the equivalent of 800 numbers that would say, if you take this app, this app will come without any network usage." Donovan goes on to say that interest is swirling from companies that offer services like streaming music and video that feed on a steady diet of data and that the carrier's rollout of LTE would make the new service possible. Imagine if your Spotify habit didn't eat up a chunk of your precious monthly allotment. Sounds pretty good, eh? We're going to withhold judgment to see what mobile services adopt the new plan and continue to keep our Yacht Rock playlist(s) to a minimum.

  • Intel's Xolo X900 by Lava hands-on (video)

    by 
    Joseph Volpe
    Joseph Volpe
    02.27.2012

    Intel's Medfield-based Android smartphones have been buzzed about for sometime now, but until this past CES, we hadn't actually seen one of these unicorns en vivo. No longer, as the chip manufacturer outed a trio of those very handsets today at its MWC event. Of particular note is the Xolo by Lava, a 4.03-inch, single-core unit running a mostly stock build of Gingerbread and destined for the Indian market. We spent time getting to know the device, so follow on past the break as we parse through its finer qualities.

  • Intel details Medfield plans, announces a trio of phone-friendly Atoms

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    02.27.2012

    The age of Medfield is upon us. At Mobile World Congress Intel took the wraps off its smartphone platform, ditched the code name and gave us some details on three different Atom chips destined for handsets. The Z2460 is currently shipping and serves as the heart of the reference platform that devices from Lenovo, Orange, Lava and ZTE are based on. The processor can hit clock speeds of 2GHz and packs an Intel XMM 6260 HSPA+ radio. The next generation part, dubbed the Z2580 will supposedly double performance and gets upgraded to an XMM 7160, which adds LTE to its cellular arsenal. Down the road Chipzilla also plans to introduce a "value smartphone" processor, dubbed the Z2000. Clocked at only 1GHz and going with a 6265 HSPA+ radio, the goal is to power Android phones that can be sold for less than $150 -- unsubsidized. Sounds crazy, but it's true. To bring this vision to fruition Intel has added Orange, ZTE, Lava and Visa to its list of partners. Check out the PR after the break for more details.

  • Visa certifies Intel's Smartphone Reference Device, payWave hits Medfield

    by 
    Tim Stevens
    Tim Stevens
    02.27.2012

    Sure, if you're running a Google Wallet-having device you're already down with Visa's payWave wireless payment service, but we can now confidently say that Intel-based smartphones will also be similarly enabled, even if they haven't been blessed by the Big G. At its Mobile World Congress press conference, Intel just announced that its Medfield-based Smartphone Reference Device, the one we saw previously at CES, is now Visa-certified. Users will be able to tie their credit card to their handset and, once done, make secure payments to retail terminals over NFC. Your wallet of the future just got a little bit lighter.

  • ZTE PF200 hands-on

    by 
    Sean Cooper
    Sean Cooper
    02.27.2012

    ZTE's newly announced PF200 was also on hand at MWC 2012, though, unfortunately this handset wouldn't boot up. Powered by a Qualcomm 1.2Ghz dual-core processor, running Android 4.0, with a 4.3-inch qHD display, 8 megapixel af camera, WiFi, DLNA, and even NFC. The PF200 like the N910 if obviously showing its inexpensive price point through the size and quality of the housing and the choices in construction materials. While it isn't outrageously bulky, it too could do with a little slimming down, and again the back and its diamond patterned plastic feels terrible to hold. Catch a glimpse of its lack of glory in the gallery just below.

  • AT&T HTC One X hands-on

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    02.27.2012

    Are you salivating after seeing HTC's One X? We don't blame you, it's a stunning piece of hardware with a set of rather lust-worthy specs. But, how does the AT&T version stack up to its international cousin? We're happy to say, quite well. Yes, the quad-core Tegra 3 was given the boot in favor of a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 and an LTE radio was crammed inside, but otherwise this is pretty much the same device we saw on the floor in Barcelona. The only piece of carrier branding is an AT&T logo above the gorgeous 4.7-inch 720p display. Thankfully, the design was left largely unmolested. At least at this early stage it's also blissfully free of bloatware and carrier apps, but we'd expect that to change before launch. Sadly, none of the demo units on hand at the New York showroom had SIMs in them, so we couldn't test LTE reception, and the devices weren't logged into the Market so we couldn't pull down benchmarks or a taxing 3D game. That being said, Sense 4.0 and ICS were plenty responsive and pages rendered very quickly -- even without those two extra cores. Check out the gallery below and the video after the break for more impressions.

  • ZTE PF112 hands-on

    by 
    Sean Cooper
    Sean Cooper
    02.27.2012

    ZTE's other handset launch of note at MWC this year was the PF112 (pictured at right next to SGS 2.) First take away here was the 4.5-inch 1028 x 720 HD display which was really bright and clear -- and again we were a little shocked by the dichotomy in build quality of the sets we're seeing from ZTE. Quad-band GSM radios, triple-band HSPA+ were on hand as well as an 8 megapixel rear-facing cam, all the wireless connectivity one could ask for and even an FM radio thrown in for good measure. Housing quality is fine, bezel size about on par with its neighbor in the pic above and fit and finish also looking sharp. Follow the break for some more pictures of this Android 4.0 device.

  • AT&T announces global coverage via a single SIM at MWC, makes dual-wielding a thing of the past

    by 
    Billy Steele
    Billy Steele
    02.27.2012

    Tired of switching out those SIM cards when you travel abroad? AT&T is about to relieve that burden. At MWC, the company has announced a new platform that offers global internet, WiFi, satellite and Ma Bell network coverage via a single SIM. In addition to the hardware, the new tech offers worldwide diagnostic, monitoring and alert / response features for management purposes from AT&T Control Center -- backed by Jasper Wireless. Glenn Lurie, President of Emerging Segments notes "Lessons learned by market leading manufacturers suggest that a single carrier supplier with a single SIM solution is often preferred over working directly with multiple regional wireless carriers." Coverage for globetrotters will be provided in more than 200 countries via hundreds of carriers to keep you connected -- with a few less components in tow. If you're looking for a few more details, hit the full PR below to read on.

  • Nokia 808 PureView first sample shots -- feast your eyes (update: GigaPan them!)

    by 
    Myriam Joire
    Myriam Joire
    02.27.2012

    This is it. Here's an exclusive first look at some sample shots taken with Nokia's freshly minted 808 PureView imaging powerhouse -- and wow, just wow! The collection contains photos taken at different resolutions in various conditions that show exactly what the 41-megapixel camera is capable of. Feast your eyes in our gallery below -- we'll have a ZIP file with the original pictures for you to download shortly. Also, stay tuned for our upcoming interview with Damian Dinning, program manager for imaging at Nokia. Update: Our very own Andy Yang of Engadget Chinese slapped a few of these shots on GigaPan for your zooming pleasure -- check it out after the break. You can also grab the originals (a 31.8MB download) from Nokia Conversations.

  • Xperia U, HTC One X and One S coming to Orange UK

    by 
    Daniel Cooper
    Daniel Cooper
    02.27.2012

    Orange, the only cellular network that's also one of your five-a-day has announced that it'll be releasing Sony's Xperia U, HTC One X and One S to smartphone demanding Britons in the second quarter of the year. Depending on your point of view, it's either fantastic or terrible that the network bagged the white edition of Sony's handset as an exclusive, but it's going to tempt some of you to the citrus-side of the force. There's no word on pricing, but we'd expect them to cost something we've heard called "money." While you wait for them to arrive, why not decide on which handset you'd rather purchase by reading our splendid hands-ons with each of the handsets? Xperia U / One X / One S.