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Circle this Sunday in your filofaxes phone fans, as this be the day the next few months’ handsets get real (yo). Mobile World Congress is the annual week of droppage, where all those recent leaks from the likes of HTC, Nokia, Samsung, Sony, LG and countless others get scrawled on the walls of Barcelona’s overheated convention centres. This is what we know so far:
The Taiwanese chappies have already stated they plan on scaling back their launches, instead focusing on just several key phones each year instead of the tidal wave of mediocre updates previously seen.
As well as actual tangible hardware (see below), HTC is rumoured to show off the Sense 4.0 UI, which sees new transition animations, a tweaked shortcut bar and plainer widgets – for those that actually want (or can’t get rid of) a skin on top of the slick looking Ice Cream Sandwich.
Together with Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, HTC is also expected to unveil a Spotify rival, though details are scant about that.
HTC One X / Edge / Endeavor (above): Whichever code-name you wish to call it by, this is expected to be HTC’s first quad-core phone, which is sure to find its way into many of our Android lovers’ pockets. Rumours have pointed at Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor, with four 1.5GHz chips, along with 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. An 8MP camera capable of shooting 1080p video with stereo mics should look nice on the rumoured 4.7-inch screen. Image Credit: Pocketnow
HTC Ville (above): Apparently the Ville features a 1.5GHz dual-core chip backed up by a decent 1GB of RAM, and a good looking 4.3-inch 960×540 resolution display. There’s also an eight-megapixel shooter on the back; a front-facing VGA cam; four flavours of Wi-Fi (no 802.11ac sadly), and Bluetooth 4.0. Image Credit: Pocketnow
10-Inch tablet: HTC’s Flyer tablet never really made the splash the company was obviously hoping for, but could a scaled-up version take on the iPad? We’re really not confident.
Nokia’s teaser trailer for its MWC showing promises a “pure view,” which seems to suggest its wares will lean heavily to the image-capturing side. Just what we like to hear! But what else can we expect?
Nokia Lumia 910: Said to have a 12.1-megapixel camera bolted onto its 4.3-inch-screened body, we have also heard this Euro-variant of the Lumia 900 will contain 16GB of onboard storage, too. Image Credit: Typhone
Nokia Asha 302, Asha 203, and Asha 202: Unfortunately these appear to be low-end S40 handsets, so there’s probably nothing to see here…
With the Galaxy S3 not making an appearance this year, Samsung’s cancelled its press conference, and diminished all hope of any major announcements at the show. But we hope to get some hands-on time with the following devices…
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (above): Announced on February 13th, the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 measures 10.5mm-thick, and will be Samsung’s first foray into the brave new world of Android 4.0. It’ll pack a 1GHz dual-core chip backed up by a decent 1GB of RAM; between 8 and 32GB of built-in storage plus a microSD card slot; a rear three-megapixel shooter plus a VGA front-facing cam for video calling, all fronted by a seven-inch 1024×600 screen.
Samsung 10.1-Inch Galaxy Note: Virtually doubling its current Note tablet in size, the 10.1-inch tablet is said to be aimed at the Wacom art tablet market. Little else is known about this mysterious product, though.
Can a name-change and boardroom shake-up at Sony solve the woes of its previous phone arm, Sony Ericsson? We’d like to see some solid handsets come out of the direction of new CEO Kaz Hirai, with the Xperia S, announced at CES, proving to be a good first step.
Xperia U (above): With the same design as the Xperia S, it looks like this previously-known-as-”Kumquat” phone will have a 3.5-inch display and mid-to-high-range specs (including a 1GHz dual-core processor and 5MP camera). Image Credit: ePrice
Xperia P (above): Otherwise referred to as “Nypon,” this one is meant to feature a dual-core 1GHz processor; 4-inch qHD screen and 8MP camera. Image credit: IT168
Xperia Tapioca: Named after a root starch, Sony’s third rumoured phone will be decidedly budget. Running on a single-core 800MHz processor with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, the display is said to measure 3.2-inches and the camera just 3.2MP.
Like a cheap lap-dancer, LG isn’t wishing to leave much to our imagination this MWC. In fact, much of its load was announced this week, including…
LG Optimus 3D Max (above): Another 3D phone from LG, this time with with a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP chip backed up by 1GB of RAM; 8GB of storage; a 1,520mAh battery; a dual lens five-megapixel 3D cam, and a 4.3-inch 3D WVGA display covered in the new Gorilla Glass 2. Unfortunately the Max is saddled with Gingerbread, but it’s got NFC, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to keep you connected, while being only 9.6mm thick. LG’s also touting 3D up-conversion for apps like Google Maps, Google Earth and “other road views” using an enhanced 3D converter.
LG Optimus L3: We’ll definitely see this phone announced at MWC according to LG, which has already confirmed it will have a 3.2-inch display and reside in their new “L range” of ultra-designed handsets.
LG Optimus L5: Scant details are known about this one, but LG has confirmed it will also sit in the L-range, and launch in the first half of 2012 with a 4.0-inch screen and Ice Cream Sandwich.
LG Optimus L7: Presumably this will be the big flagship, with LG confirming its 4.3-inch screen and ICS-ness.
LG Optimus 4X HD (previously known as the X3) (above): Announced the Thursday prior to MWC, the Optimus 4X HD measures 4.7-inches, and packs Nvidia’s latest and greatest chip, which it’s calling a 4-PLUS-1 – four traditional processing cores plus a fifth “battery-saver” core that deals with less demanding tasks like playing music and when your phone is in standby. The CPU is also joined to a 12-core GPU, so games should fly on this beast.
The Tegra 3 chip is clocked at 1.5GHz and is backed up with 1GB of RAM; 16GB of storage; a 2,150mAh battery, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. There’s no 3D here thankfully, just a traditional 4.7-inch “True HD” IPS screen with a resolution of 1280×720. It’s also got an eight-megapixel shooter with Backside Illumination on the rear coupled with a 1.3MP front-facing snapper for video calling.
LG Optimus Vu (above): This tablet was officially unveiled by LG on the weekend, with a 4:3 ratio IPS screen, measuring 5-inches. It’s fairly well equipped with “Rubberdium” pen for stylus action, while a dual-core 1.5GHz processor is backed up by 1GB RAM, 32GB of storage and a 2,080mAh battery that should keep it chugging away nicely. It’s also got an eight-megapixel shooter on the back and a 1.3MP front-facing cam for video chat. There’s even an LTE-chipset in there for 4G-equipped markets (that’s not us), and it’s all crammed into a pretty svelte 8.5mm thick frame.
LG Miracle / Fantasy (above): Whatever superlative they heap upon this phone, the main thing you need to know is it’s said to run Windows Phone 7. A phone with a 1GHz processor; 4-inch WVGA NOVA screen; 5MP camera and NFC. Maybe. If Windows Phone 7.5 adds support for it. Image Credit: GSMArena
Fujitsu’s spreading its wings and launching in Europe with a bunch of new smartphones that will hopefully ape some of that futuristic tech our Japanese friends have been using for years. Little is known about the actual phones, but we do know they’re all bound to be quite high-end; waterproof, and possibly feature biometric security systems.
Another Japanese company to propel its wares onto our shores is Panasonic. They’ve already announced one handset, but another is said to be close on its heels…
Panasonic Eluga (above): Is that meant to be a cross between “Beluga” and “eulogy”? We’re really not sure what message Panasonic is meant to be sending out with this one. Nonetheless, it’s only 7.8mm thin, is waterproof, has NFC, and an 8MP camera. There’s also a 1GHz OMAP processor with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, plus a 960 x 540 OLED qHD screen. Unfortunately, it’s been saddled with Gingerbread, though an ICS update is on the cards for spring.
Panasonic Lumix phone: Panasonic’s Lumix range of cameras is top-notch, so anything that bears that moniker is sure to get us snappers feeling a little hot under the collar. Little else is known about this one, unfortunately.
Asus has a fact-free MWC teaser video, just like Nokia! But we do know one device we’ll be seeing more of:
Asus PadFone (above): Asus has shown this off before, but not formally introduced it to the masses as yet. But this 4.3-inch tablet/phone combo has us hot under the collar with its purported quad-core Tegra 3 processor.
ZTE’s got eight phones for us! Chances are, at least seven of them will be entirely ignorable. We do know some shit about some of their shit, though…
ZTE Mimosa X (above): Powered entirely by Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor, it will run Ice Cream Sandwich, and pack a 4.3-inch 960×540 screen, a 5-megapixel camera, a front-facing camera, and 4GB of storage.
ZTE PF200: With a 4.3″ capacitive touch screen, 8megapixel rear camera and 1080p front-facing cam for really pulling out those crow’s-feet when doing video chats, it’s also said to include DLNA support, MHL integration for sharing data via USB and a built-in NFC chip. Just in case Europe suddenly starts giving a toss about contactless payments.
Know something more about any of the devices above? Hit us up at tips@gizmodo.co.uk if so.
Top image credit: Whizchickenonabun
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I’m also looking forward to what Google will be doing. Their display last year was huge fun and their website for this year seems to be living up to this. http://www.android.com/events/mwc/2012/
This was last years http://youtu.be/kH0YuP2H_hI
Phones, phones, everywhere! So many similar looking phones!!
Have a look at this
http://www.idrugged.com/2012/02/08/cell-phones-before-and-after-iphone-pictures/
Wow, a comparison of phones made by a retard!
“A phone with out the touch screen facility is not even considered as a good phone. There are uncountable cell phones in the market but no one can be compared to the iPhone. It is an insult of iPhone by comparing it with an ordinary phone. Google’s Android phones are also getting popular these days but iPhone is still on the top.”
Classic.
Going by dumb Apple fanboy logic, Apple actually stole the design for the iPhone from this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada
The first capacitive, flat black phone, which won 5 design awards. Apple zealots forget this though and insist that the flat black rectangle was the brainchild of Jonathan Ive.
BLASPHEMER!!!!!!!!!!
A phone fan with a filofax? That’s all wrong, Kat!
Well, unless it’s a Blackberry.
Funny you should say that…
Well, I will confess to using a paper diary, but it’s not a Filofax I’m afraid. And I do back up every entry digitally, on Google Calendar!
A “paper” diary! Is that new?
Why yes…it’s the 2012 model
Are you the one going to Barcelona Kat?
Unfortunately yes…for both Giz US and UK >.<
Unfortunately? I’ll take your spot!
I have a feeling that if you go there to browse it is awesome, but if you have to write about all that you see or the most important bits it must be terrible.
Travelling for work is very over rated.
Got it in one. Working 16+ hour days (plus the weekend!) really isn’t my idea of fun.
Travelling for work isn’t great, but it is even worse when you have to go to something like this – there is only so much PR & marketing waffleyou can take on a limited supply of sleep/caffeine. And I’ll never understand why they make these events go over weekends!
2012 model….was that launched at CES?
Yes, you may’ve seen our hands-on review of it then? Or watched the video? Apologies again about the shakey-cam; I was too excited by its thick thick stock to hold the camera straight.
What is this “paper” of which you speak? Can we expect a Giz article on it soon?
Pfft. Next you’ll confess to using “paper” calendars!
Wow, I never thought anticipating ZTE launches would be one of the events I was looking forward to most but it is between that and the Padfone.
Sadly with all the leaks and without the next Galaxy S, I’m going to struggle to maintain my apathy. Sony, fujitsu, Panasonic would be of mild interest, same with Nokia but I’d be more interested to see how they are bringing WP7 at a lower cost point but with HTC and LG seeming to be the biggest players……:(
“…the main thing you need to know is it’s said to be LG’s very first Windows Phone 7 device”
Either this statement is missing something, or someone forgot about the Quantum and Optimus 7.
Crumbs, you’re right! Amending now.
I think you need to remove “device” from that amendment :p
And let us not forget the LG Jil Sander Phone, the LG-E906 I believe.
Everyone forgot about the …Thingy and the …Wotsit. Even Kat
Tbh though it might as well be the first cause there has yet to be a worthwhile Windows Phone 7 handset.
No Moto? Wonder if we’ll see Google’s supposed flagship tablet.
Yeah but who cares about all these crap phones? There’s no Apple stuff, and anything else is pointless.
-Taf
Oi, Behave
I’m sure a large group of Apple spy’s will be there…
They’ll all be dressed in White/Silver Unibody suits
I used to argue about apple vs. android just like you, but then I took….
An arrow to the mouth?
I didn’t know how to end it then BOOM! you swooped in a nailed it
To be honest I’m not excited for new hardware until the Software side catches up. I’ve had my GS2 for nearly a year now and nothing has pushed it and I feel like everything is good enough hardware wise for another year or too. I really doubt phones will be making a big Quad core shift this year and if they do they wont have the Software to back it up. From benchmarks of Tegra 3 I see no reason for Apple to move to Quad core as the dual core chip does a better job so far, especially the GPU side of things.
All I see happening is the resolution being bumped to true HD, cameras moving to 12MP and using ICS instead of GB. The thing is though I don’t understand why you need such a high resolution on a small screen? You don’t get anything out of it, the difference comes really on the pixel density side and the quality of the colours. The icons all stay the same size so you don’t gain any screen estate by upping the resolution. I’ve never been in the situation where I’ve needed more than 8MP on my mobile camera, bumping up to 12 hardly changes anything as the quality of the cameras still suck. What would be more meaningful is making a camera phone with a proper zoom, rather than digital as that’s the biggest thing holding them back.
ICS is coming to most of last years phones and to me the Software is more important than the hardware this year as it’s really quite poor. It’s so inefficient right now to the point it doesn’t take advantage of dual cores. I’ve been using ICS on my GS2 though and you can tell the speed difference, it’s a lot nicer than GB. I was just hoping for more from ICS really, most of my problems with the OS still stand, though I will stick with Android for it’s open nature as I hate Apple telling me how to use my phone.
That said I’m not excited for any Tablet because I really feel they have little function. Whenever I’m using one I just feel like I need to use a TV, MP3 player or a Laptop/desktop to get full functionality of what I want to do. I bought my Mother an iPad 2 for Christmas and she doesn’t use it, she just goes back to using the Laptop for the functionality. People say it’s for use when you’re out and about but it is too big, it just stays at home. You end up using it like a Laptop because of the size and it needs it’s own bag or case. So you just go to your phone instead as it is truly portable and the only device you need on the go.
The rest of the hardware from TVs to PCs and anything else all do a good enough job this year that there is no reason to upgrade. When TVs start using OLED or whatever and the resolution jumps to 4K along with actual content then I’d want to upgrade. When the hardware in PCs goes from 4 cores to 12 or GPUs jump from DX11 to DX12 then I’d want to upgrade.
However right now in the UK I struggle to find much HD content in 1080P. I struggle to find any game that pushes my PC these days, I can max BF3 out at 80FPS and that was meant to be the next big thing. So again it’s the Software that needs to catch up with the hardware.
Nice roundup of stuff to look out for!
I’m personally not too excited about the Tegra 3, and sad that the SGS3 won’t be there. Hopefully we see some other intriguing devices like an unbreakable (really) phone, or a smartphone with week long battery life. If someone can finally get me extra long battery life in my phone without extras, they can shut up and take my money.
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