Mobile World Congress - Barcelona 2009

[marriott0.01]

Still no official word on that yet, but there is still several days left

[The Professor]

The watchphone buzz is really undeserved imo, the only thing its good for is having a bluetooth headset and not having to carry around a phone. The screen is just too small to use for anything else phone-like and you'll have to charge your watch every few days which will be a pain. I hope its really cheap or it'll be overpriced.

Liking Acer's stuff, hope its decent.

WM 6.5 to come out soonish please, it would make me literally fall in love with and marry my omnia (which I like a fair it already).

Btw, +rep for the posts Keep them coming!

[marriott0.01]

WM only confirmed on 3 devices so far, the 2 new HTC devices and an LG device, got some more updates coming as soon as I get on my laptop, coz I'm on my iPhone in the car atm.

[The Professor]

Do they not release updates like apple do? That's a bummer if true

[marriott0.01]

Microsoft prefer to "encourage" people to buy new handsets in order to get the new Windows Mobile. But will know further details nearer the end of the year, when it's likely to be launched.

[marriott0.01]

Thanks to Engadget for the Day one roundup :

We know, there was an absolute flood of news from Mobile World Congress today, but day one in Spain has finally come to a close, and it looks like Microsoft is flexing all its muscle to try and lock up partners and rejoin the fight for mobile dominance. Seriously, this is Redmond's show: we haven't seen a new, non-prototype Android handset powered up yet, and that's frankly astonishing and somewhat disappointing. What else did we learn?

As expected, Windows Mobile 6.5 brings some much-needed interface enhancements to the table along with the Windows Marketplace app store and My Phone syncing, but some longstanding issues remain -- the biggest one being that it still doesn't support capacitive touchscreens. We spent some time with it, and while we're impressed with the new lock screen, honeycomb app launcher, and browser, it's obviously just a paint job -- it's still kinda laggy and the media features haven't been changed at all.
The Palm Pre is going to have full Flash support. So will Windows Mobile, S60, and Android, according to Adobe. BlackBerry and iPhone users are still out in the cold.
HTC launched the Touch Pro2 and the Touch Diamond2, which are super-evolutionary in the best possible way. Both are incredibly slick and well built, feature some nifty new calling features and UI tweaks, and will be upgraded to WM 6.5 for free when the time comes.
The hardware highlight of the show so far has to be the Samsung OmniaHD, which can capture and play back 720p video. S60, 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, yeah yeah -- it's a phone with freaking HDMI out. What more do you need to know?
Huawei had the only new Android handset we've seen on display. Only it wasn't so much a "handset" as a "non-working hunk of plastic." It'd be cool if it was real, but it's obvious to us that Microsoft wanted this to be its party, and those kids from Googletown weren't invited.
LG launched the Arena KM900 featurephone and the GM730 WinMo phone, both with variants of the S-Class UI. We'd be interested if the GM730 ran it as well as the Arena, but it doesn't. Way more intriguing: the GD900, which sports a super-cool transparent keypad.
LG also made a splash by announcing a deep partnership with Microsoft: WinMo is is going to be LG's "preferred" smartphone OS, and it's committed to launching an incredible 50 Windows Mobile devices through 2012. See what we mean by Microsoft's party?
Nokia forgot to launch the 8.1 megapixel N86 at MWC, instead unveiling it in Singapore. Hey guys, we're all in Spain -- you know, where the E55 and E75 launched?
Acer came to this gunfight with a spoon, launching four me-too WinMo 6.1 phones -- two of which most likely can't be upgraded to 6.5. We wouldn't take 'em if they were free.
Sony Ericsson showed off a vapor-y Symbian Foundation phone with a 12.1 megapixel camera codenamed the Idou. It's pronounced E-Do, and by the time you'll be able to buy one we don't think you'll be interested anymore.
Garmin-Asus let us play with the Linux-based nuvifone G60 and WinMo-based nuvifone M20. They're slick and have solid GPS features, as you'd expect. But why did they make us shoot the demo in a moving car?
There might be a HTC G2 called the "Magic," and it might be coming to Vodafone. There might also be an Android-powered LG KS360. There might also be no chance in hell these two are at MWC.
We spotted a GSM Palm Pre with a Vodafone SIM card, which could mean everything or nothing. But it exists!

Whoa, those are just the highlights -- you can check out everything that went down right here. We're hoping the rest of the week brings some crazy Android news, but we're not holding our breath -- Microsoft wanted to make a statement here in Barcelona, and after day one, we'd have to say it succeeded. Keep it locked, we'll be back tomorrow!

[marriott0.01]

Update
Well as of yet, MWC today has been just about seeing all the new phones and there has only been one big announcement that we're all excited about.
The HTC Dream or the "G2" is now official. Unfortunately it wasn't unveiled yesterday by HTC, but left to today to be unveiled by the guys at Vodafone. The phones due in April in the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France and this time it doesn't include a slide out QWERTY keyboard. - More - More - More

The Toshiba TG01 has had its first hands-on, and the hype around Toshiba's first phone is immense, and we're hoping they can deliver the goods, so far it has all been good stuff from the guys at Toshiba - more.

The mysterious QiQi has been unveiled at MWC and it's Android - more

Although not yet unveiled at MWC, and probably won't be this year, Tech giant Dell are preparing their own Smartphone, and it's finally been confirmed! Thanks AT&T - more

Gigabyte's S1200 has been spotted with what seems to be a very different UI - more

Software
Nokia have unveiled that they will be bringing Skype, the popular VOIP service, to it's handsets, starting with the Nokia N97 - here

Also the Xperia X1, which stormed last years MWC, is getting an update, the first Sony Ericsson Windows Mobile is getting some new panels, including a Skype panel. - more

[The Professor]

The glossy finish on the HTC Magic makes it look so cheap its unreal. Not that it's a nice looking phone to begin with

[marriott0.01]

The glossy finish on the HTC Magic makes it look so cheap its unreal. Not that it's a nice looking phone to begin with

The G1 was ugly and they fail with the g2 lol

[The Professor]

Yeah I'm not sure what HTC are playing at with that lol. Especially considering how beautiful the diamond 2 and touch 2 are