This week my inbox has been blowing up with invitations and meeting requests for events scheduled around Mobile World Congress, but one major company has been notably quiet. Today Sascha Segan of PCMag confirmed that Samsung Mobile will not be hosting a press conference at Mobile World Congress.

We already knew that Samsung would not [...]]]>

This week my inbox has been blowing up with invitations and meeting requests for events scheduled around Mobile World Congress, but one major company has been notably quiet. Today Sascha Segan of PCMag confirmed that Samsung Mobile will not be hosting a press conference at Mobile World Congress.

We already knew that Samsung would not be showing off the Galaxy S III, but a company spokesperson still said they were looking forward to “introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012.” I had speculated we might see a 2 GHz super tablet with 11.6 inch display, but that is seeming less likely now with no press event scheduled.

If the Galaxy S III is to be announced at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of this year, then the company could be holding their other big announcements for that same day. Last year at MWC 2011, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 10.1 at their Unpacked event.

This year’s MWC show will definitely be noisy, so it will be hard to capture the attention of the media. We expect at least a half-dozen quad-core phones to be announced, along with a handful of tablets. Samsung is such a huge company that it almost makes sense they could start hosting their own annual event, similar to Google’s IO, NVIDIA’s GTC, or Qualcomm’s Uplinq.

Hopefully Samsung will have a few surprises to unveil (like the Galaxy S II Plus), but don’t expect any major announcements from them at Mobile World Congress.

Just like HTC, Samsung and other handset makers, Sony is sending out invitations to a press event scheduled for February 26. At CES, we had a pretty good idea of what Sony was planning, but we’re all scratching out heads right now, trying to figure out “what’s new and what’s next” for Sony.

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Just like HTC, Samsung and other handset makers, Sony is sending out invitations to a press event scheduled for February 26. At CES, we had a pretty good idea of what Sony was planning, but we’re all scratching out heads right now, trying to figure out “what’s new and what’s next” for Sony.

Based on what we saw with the Xperia S and Xperia Ion and Sony’s history of using Qualcomm chips, we could see a new flagship device powered by a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip with a 720p HD display, 12 megapixel camera with its rear-illuminated Eximor sensor, NFC, and a battery large enough to get power users through an entire day without missing a beat.

We could speculate all day long, but one solid piece of evidence that we have is that Sony is planning on releasing a device named the Xperia Sola. The handset name just recently appeared at the US Patent and Trademark Office, meaning US customers may be getting their hands on something besides the AT&T bound Xperia Ion. There’s no guarantee that the Xperia Sola will be a superphone powerful enough to compete with the likes of the Galaxy S III or the HTC Edge, but we can always hope.

Since Sony’s leaked 2012 roadmap shows the Kumquat, Nypon and Pepper with April release dates, we’re going to assume that those three devices will be making an appearance at Sony’s press event on February 26. The only problem we have is that all three devices are expected to be mid-range devices with off-contract prices ranging from $335-$475 – substantially less than the $590 price for the Xperia S listed on the same roadmap document.

Will Sony be unveiling a dual-core Qualcomm S4 flagship handset at Mobile World Congress? We truly hope so, but there’s no real evidence that they will. We’ll probably have to wait until CTIA later this spring to catch a glimpse of the Sony Hayabusa which is expected to be Sony’s flagship handset for the summer.

Do you think Sony has an ace up its sleeve for Mobile World Congress?

In order to combat the company’s recent financial downturn, HTC has announced a new group within the company that will report directly to CEO Peter Chou and will be tasked with developing “key products” for the company. Dubbed “Studio,” the new team will be made up of HTC’s most talented engineers and designers in [...]]]>

In order to combat the company’s recent financial downturn, HTC has announced a new group within the company that will report directly to CEO Peter Chou and will be tasked with developing “key products” for the company. Dubbed “Studio,” the new team will be made up of HTC’s most talented engineers and designers in order to get HTC back in front of the competition and “regain the edge in products.”

It’s unclear if HTC Studio is already operational, but this news does confirm all the recent stories we’ve reported about HTC focusing more on hero phones in 2012.

HTC will also be introducing new products that feature a variety of components sourced from multiple companies in order to give HTC as much flexibility as possible to compete. In the past, HTC has only used chips from Qualcomm to power its Android phones, a strategy which hurt HTC last year as competitors turned to NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 chip to power their high-end devices.

We want to make sure that we do have multiple sources for a single component. So we have, I think, a very good range of suppliers to choose from on CPU, for example.Winston YungHTC

The HTC phones expected to make their debut at Mobile World Congress in just a few weeks will certainly be better than last year’s models, but we’re looking forward to see what HTC’s Studio can dream up later this year. Do you think HTC Studio will be able to turn things around for HTC?

New images of the HTC Ville have been spotted, giving us a closer look at the exterior of the device. Anyone who has owned an HTC device in the past year and a half will immediately recognize the unibody aluminum casing and HTC’s unique styling. As we’ve mentioned in the past, the HTC Ville features [...]]]>

New images of the HTC Ville have been spotted, giving us a closer look at the exterior of the device. Anyone who has owned an HTC device in the past year and a half will immediately recognize the unibody aluminum casing and HTC’s unique styling. As we’ve mentioned in the past, the HTC Ville features many of the design characteristics of the HTC Desire S which seems appropriate given that the Ville will most likely be the natural replacement for last year’s mid-range handset. The Ville’s spec sheet includes a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 chip, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display, 1650 mAh battery and an 8 megapixel shooter capable of recording video in 1080p and a 3 megapixel front-facing camera.

We’ve played around with the colors a little on some of the images so that you can get a better look at the front of the HTC Ville. Just like what we saw in the leaked HTC Ville video last week, the handset features three capacitive buttons (back, home, menu) underneath the 4.3-inch qHD display. This is a departure from HTC’s typical button layout which currently includes a dedicated search button. The front side of the Ville is fairly plain, featuring a wide speaker grill above the display with a prominent 3 megapixel front-facing camera directly to the right of it.

Gallery

The right side of the phone sports the volume rocker and the left side features the device’s power port which is a perfect location if HTC plans on making a desktop dock of the Ville. The back side of the Ville is plain as well with a single LED flash accompanying the 8 megapixel camera at the top and two rubber sections which most likely house the handset’s antenna. The most noticeable difference between the HTC Ville and most of HTC’s current devices is the device’s 8mm thick body. We know that many Android manufacturers are in a race to produce the thinnest smartphone on the planet, but we doubt any of them will feel as solid as the Ville with its aluminum shell.

Below is a leaked video of the HTC Ville which shows of HTC Sense 4.0 running on Android 4.0.

We’re only three weeks away from the official unveiling of the HTC Ville at Mobile World Congress. All we really need now is an official launch date, price and we should be all set. Would any of you buy the HTC Ville if your favorite service provider decided to sell the phone for $200?

HTC is the latest company with Android ties to announce its fourth quarter 2011 earnings this morning. The Taiwanese handset maker pulled in 102.4 billion Taiwanese dollars (about $3.48 billion USD), with earnings per share (EPS) of 13.06 Taiwanese Dollars ($0.44). Analysts had expected revenue of 144.6 billion Taiwanese dollars, and EPS of 17.03.

Mobile World Congress is less than a month away in Barcelona and the anticipation is quickly building for the gadgets that will be announced. We expect to see all kinds of Android devices from tablets to TVs, but the star of the show will be smartphones. And at this year’s show a particular kind of [...]]]>

Mobile World Congress is less than a month away in Barcelona and the anticipation is quickly building for the gadgets that will be announced. We expect to see all kinds of Android devices from tablets to TVs, but the star of the show will be smartphones. And at this year’s show a particular kind of smartphone will take center stage: the quad-core-powered-beast.

Why do you need quad-core performance in a phone? Some people will say that mobile applications aren’t ready to take advantage of all that horsepower, and for the most part they are right. In our recent interview with NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang he explained the situation by saying, “It’s a little bit of the chicken and the egg. If the applications aren’t ready, you have to build a processor that inspires the applications to be ready.”

NVIDIA has already delivered their quad-core Tegra 3 processor to the OEMS and it must have inspired them to build some awesome devices because the number or rumored phones is starting to add up. Read on for the full list of quad-core phones that we should see at Mobile World Congress.

HTC Edge (aka Supreme aka Endeavor)

I still can’t believe I’m typing this, but HTC is rumored to power their 2012 flagship phone with a chip from NVIDIA, instead of Qualcomm. This comes as a shock for many since almost all of HTC’s recent phones have been powered by the Snapdragon processor, and Qualcomm has a minority investment in HTC.

This move was first hinted at last year when Stefan Streit, HTC’s VP of Marekting, said there was no exclusive deal with Qualcomm and “Nvidia or TI-powered smartphones and tablets are possible in the future.” Then rumors of the Tegra 3-powered HTC Edge started appearing in November, and it appears the phone is quite real.

Rumored specs of the HTC Edge include:

• Quad-core 1.5 GHz Tegra 3 processor
• Android 4.0 with Sense UI 4.0
• 4.7-inch display with 720p resolution
• 1 GB RAM
• Backlit 8 MP camera with 28-millimeter, f/2.2 lens
• Beats Audio
• 32 GB internal storage
• HSPA+ 21 Mbps support
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Slightly over 10 mm thick

Fujitsu Arrows Tegra 3

Fujitsu also surprised a lot of folks at CES when they were the first company to showcase a Tegra 3 phone. Their prototype Arrows phone was kept under the glass, but they had a working unit that was running the game Riptide GP on the big screen. Fujitsu has traditionally targeted the Japanese market with most of their handsets landing on NTT Docomo, but a company representative told me they plan to enter the U.S. market this year.

Highlights of the device include:

• Quad-core 1.2GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor
• Android 4.0
• 4.6″ 1280 X 720 TFT-LCD
• 13.1-megapixel camera capable of ISO 25,600 sensitivity
• 1 GB RAM (prototype had 4 GB RAM)
• LTE support
• Waterproof and dustproof

LG X3

LG was the first company with a Tegra 2 phone, so we expected them to deliver another device based on the latest Tegra offering. Earlier this month, Evan Blass of PocketNow posted the first report of the LG X3, which he said is likely to debut at MWC.

Highlights of the device include:

• Quad-core Tegra processor
• Android 4.0
• 4.7-inch 1280×720 display
• 8 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera
• 16GB of expandable storage
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, WiFi 802.11b/g/n
• HSPA+ 21 Mbps support
• 2,000mAh battery
• Under 9mm thin

Everyone else is showing their Tegra 3 phone next month, so we expect LG to join the party.

Huawei Diamond Series

Huawei impressed us at CES with their Ascend P1 LTE phone, but the company says they have a new Diamond Series coming at MWC that will be their “smartest, fastest and most high-performing smartphone.” The Ascend P1 LTE was using the new dual-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4, so we expect the Diamond Series could feature Tegra 3. Not much else is known about the Diamond Series, so hopefully we learn more at MWC.

ASUS quad-core phone?

Asus has announced they will unveil a newly redesigned Padfone at Mobile World Congress. Protoype units show at CES were running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 processor, but there have been conflicting reports that the final design could feature Tegra 3 instead. Asus produced the first quad-core tablet with their Transformer Prime, so it’s possible they could use the same processor in this flagship phone.

The Padfone is sure to impress with its innovative tablet dock that brings the smartphone’s content to a larger display. The tablet dock is also said to work with the ASUS keyboard docking station from their Transformer tablets, so this could be one of the most interesting products we see at MWC.

Samsung, Motorola, and Meizu

In addition to all the leaked quad-core phones, we might see a few surprises. Samsung will not be showing their Galaxy S III phone at MWC, but they will be showing several exciting new mobile products that could include some quad-core devices. These products could be powered by Samsung’s own quad-core Exynos 4412 processor or Samsung could use NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 again (like they did with the Galaxy Tab 10.1).

Motorola appears to be firmly aligned with Texas Instruments processors, but they have a history of dual-sourcing their parts. We saw Motorola use Tegra 2 for their Xoom tablet and Atrix smartphone, so it’s always possible they could surprise us with a Tegra 3 device. My gut tells me they will debut a couple products powered by the new dual-core 1.8 GHz OMAP4470, but anything is possible.

Finally, we could see a special appearance by the Meizu MX quad-core phone. Their dual-core model was powered by the Exynos 4210 and their quad-core model is rumored to use the Exynos 4412, but that chip is not official yet so anything is game.

And the competition?

NVIDIA will steal the show at Mobile World Congress when it comes to mobile quad-core processors, but they won’t be the only game in town. Qualcomm will make a strong showing with their dual-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4, Texas Instruments will impress with their dual-core 1.8 GHz OMAP4470, and Samsung could reveal their dual-core 2.0 GHz Exynos 5250.

Even though Qualcomm, TI, and Samsung may have chips that offer faster performance, it looks like the average consumer already assumes that quad-core is better than dual-core. I believe most of these chips will offer performance numbers in the same ball park, and the average consumer doesn’t care who wins the different benchmark scores. It will come down to which OEM can best take advantage of the hardware they choose and who can deliver new user experiences that will excite the customer.

My prediction? With Samsung holding their Galaxy S III for a separate event later in the year, HTC comes away with the best smartphone of MWC 2012.

The Asus Padfone has been a long time in the making, but we should finally see the final design at Mobile World Congress on February 27th, according to a report from Paul O’Brien of Modaco. The first of its kind innovation allows the user to dock their smartphone into a tablet docking accessory [...]]]>

The Asus Padfone has been a long time in the making, but we should finally see the final design at Mobile World Congress on February 27th, according to a report from Paul O’Brien of Modaco. The first of its kind innovation allows the user to dock their smartphone into a tablet docking accessory for a larger viewing area.

Many recent reports keep claiming that the Padfone will feature Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor, but the device was already spotted with a Snapdragon S4 (MSM8960) in some leaked benchmarks. Sean Hollister of The Verge also confirmed the Snapdragon S4 processor was included with the prototype unit that was being shown off at CES.

This could all change however because Asus is expected to reveal a redesigned Padfone that differs from the prototypes that have been shown so far. This means the physical design will be altered, most likely to remove the physical buttons since the Padfone is expected to ship with Android 4.0.

Another interesting feature of the Padfone is that it supports the Asus Transfomer keyboard dock. The prototype unit shown at CES supported the older TF101 dock, but we expect the redesigned unit to support the newer TF201 docking station that works with the Transformer Prime.

Overall, it looks like a pretty unique device that is sure to garner some attention thanks to its unique design. Ultimately, we think it will succeed or fail based on the exact retail pricing of the tablet accessory. Hopefully they can keep it under $150, similar to the mobile docking station of the Transformer Prime.

Bonus video: In case you somehow missed it, check out the first unveiling of the Padfone by Asus Chairman Jonney Shih.

Details of the HTC Ville and Endeavor have been floating around for months now, but it looks like HTC may have another Android phone ready to make its debut at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona: the HTC Primo. According to StuffTV, the HTC Primo is expected to be a mid-range Android [...]]]>

Details of the HTC Ville and Endeavor have been floating around for months now, but it looks like HTC may have another Android phone ready to make its debut at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona: the HTC Primo. According to StuffTV, the HTC Primo is expected to be a mid-range Android 4.0 handset, which we suspect to be the replacement for last year’s HTC Desire S.

The HTC Primo is expected to feature a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and a 5 megapixel rear-camera with an f/2.0 lens capable of recording video at 720p and capturing images simultaneously. As you would expect, HTC will will be gracing the Primo with Beats Audio integration. The handset will not be the thinnest in HTC’s 2012 lineup, but I don’t think anyone will be complaining about the Primo’s 9mm thickness.

No images of the HTC Primo are currently available, but we suspect we’ll see a few hit the web before the phone makes its Mobile World Congress debut on February 26.

It has been almost a year since LG set foot on stage at MWC, announcing the LG Optimus 3D (known as LG Thrill 4G in the US). This device was pretty exciting and revolutionary. Very few manufacturers have a glasses-free 3D option for their customers. Though an impressive device, most users expected [...]]]>

It has been almost a year since LG set foot on stage at MWC, announcing the LG Optimus 3D (known as LG Thrill 4G in the US). This device was pretty exciting and revolutionary. Very few manufacturers have a glasses-free 3D option for their customers. Though an impressive device, most users expected more from the Optimus 3D. It seems LG is trying to make things better with a successor this year which it will unveil at the 2012 MWC, rumored to be named the LG CX2.

The LG CX2 is not as beefed up as some of the smartphones we are expecting, but it might bring some good improvements if you do not need stunning specs. According to PocketNow’s sources, this device will feature a 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor, a 4.3-inch WVGA NOVA display, an NFC chip, DLNA, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, and an HSPA+21 antenna.

This smartphone will also be a bit thinner, measuring just under a centimeter (LG Optimus 3D is under 1.2 cm). Adding the NOVA display will help improve the brightness of the display. PocketNow is reporting that there will be a difference in brightness between 2D and 3D modes, though.

We will have to wait and see what LG has in store for the CX2 once this device is officially unveiled next month. As for the rest, it is expected to be pretty much the same as the LG Optimus 3D. For now, feel free to chime in in the comments section. Do you think this device is enough of an upgrade, or will you be skipping it?

If you were at all disappointed by the handsets shown at CES earlier this month, just wait until Mobile World Congress. Flagship devices will be on display from every major player on the market. Including LG, whose crown jewel for the first half of 2012 has just been leaked and detailed by PocketNow.

According to [...]]]>

If you were at all disappointed by the handsets shown at CES earlier this month, just wait until Mobile World Congress. Flagship devices will be on display from every major player on the market. Including LG, whose crown jewel for the first half of 2012 has just been leaked and detailed by PocketNow.

According to Evan Blass of PocketNow, the X3 will be LG’s next big device launch – and it certainly has the rumored specs to fit:

• Android 4.0
• Quad-core Tegra processor
• 4.7-inch 1280×720 display
• 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera
• 8 megapixel rear camera
• 16GB of expandable storage
• Bluetooth 4.0
• NFC
• 2,000mAh battery

The LG X3 is slated to come with HSPA+ 21, but don’t count an LTE model out just yet. An LTE version could very well be in the works for areas that can utilize the network.

While these specs blow any device currently available out of the water, they’re going to be commonplace at Mobile World Congress this year. The HTC Edge, or Supreme (or Endeavor), is also rumored to launch with a quad-core Tegra 3, and the Galaxy S III may just steal the show with whatever Samsung has in store.

As for when the LG X3 will be released, look for it to hit retail sometime in late spring or early summer.

This is total speculation, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this device land a “G” in its name if it comes to the US and finds its way to T-Mobile. This would be the perfect handset for T-Mobile to base a G3X after. What do you think of the rumored specs on the X3?