26 February,2014 09:39 AM IST | | Hassan M Kamal
The Mobile World Congress, currently on in Barcelona, is a must-visit pilgrimage for the serious and the cool geek. Here are a few big releases from this mega event
Samsung goes simple with the S5
Trust Samsung to outdate its own smartphones even before a change in season. Soon after unveiling a line-up at a forum in Bali, Indonesia, they have proven that if it can't beat other mobile giants with premium products, they can at least flush in more products. They unveiled the S5, another addition to S series. Powered by a 2.5 GHz processor with a 5.1-inch super AMOLED full HD screen, and 10 hours of web browsing on LTE. The S5 comes with a very simple user interface. But it would have a tough time, standing out among the huge collection of Samsung smartphones, which are increasingly turning into an anthill with no clear differentiation. Luckily though, it's water and dust-proof resistant and can use Wifi and LTE at the same time.
Sony unveils Xperia Z2, tablet and mini Xperia M2
Keeping up with expectations of Xperia lovers, Sony unveiled the Xperia Z2 smartphone powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 801 processor with 2.3 Ghz quadcore Krait CPUs, 4G LTE, 3GB Ram and a 5.2-inch full HD screen. It also comes with a 20.7 MP camera and is slim at just 8.2mm. The Xperia M2 (in pic) has a 4.8-inch screen, runs on Snapdragon 400 processor and comes with an 8 MP camera, whereas the Xperia tablet comes with a 10-inch full HD screen, and has noise-cancellation features when used with Sony headphones (sold separately). It also offers 3GB Ram. The same 801 processor powers it. Its global launch is set for March 2014.
Cool wristbands from Huawei
Chinese company Huawei launched a new dapper wristband, Talkband B1along with its MediaPad X1 phablet. The Talkband B1 has a curved display, provides health and fitness data and can be used for phone calls, with a detachable earpiece. The device can be paired with the seven-inch Android-based MediaPad X1, powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and comes with a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera.
BlackBerry's new smartphone
BlackBerry took the wraps off its new smartphone, Q20 with a 3.5" touchscreen and keyboard with frets and sculpted keys, offering both its classic Qwerty keypad and the flexibility of touch in the BlackBerry 10 OS. It also unveiled the Z3, a budget smartphone that will run on BB 10 OS and created exclusively for its Indonesian customers.
Special mention: ZTE's latest offering
ZTE unveiled one of the first smartphones running on the Web-based Firefox operating system, the Open C and Open II. The Open C comes with a 4-inch multi-touch screen (800x480) and is powered by 1.2 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor, 512 MB RAM and 4 GB ROM. The Open II on the other hand has a 3.5-inch HVGA screen and comes with just 256 MB Ram and 2GB ROM.
