MWC 2011

mobile
February 15, 2011
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LG Optimus 3D shares 3D videos with special YouTube app

By on February 15, 2011 at 1:30 AM.

LG Optimus 3D shares 3D videos with special YouTube app

LG on Monday announced a partnership with YouTube that will allow LG Optimus 3D users to share 3D video content using a special YouTube 3D app. The app, which will come pre-installed on LG’s new 3D smartphone, will allow users to upload 3D video content directly to YouTube’s 3D channel and share the videos with friends. Deals like this are crucial to the success of the Optimus 3D, as owners must have ways to easily share captured 3D content and view said content on PCs and other devices. Unlike videos viewed on the Optimus 3D’s glasses-free 3D display, however, users will need 3D glasses in order to properly view 3D videos uploaded from the phone to the YouTube 3D channel. Glasses are available from a variety of vendors, and they can also be purchased directly from Google’s YouTube Store for $7.10 per 10-pack. Hit the break for LG’s full press release and don’t forget to check out our LG Optimus 3D hands-on impressions, gallery and video. More →

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Gaming
February 14, 2011
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Microsoft shows off Kinect, Windows Phone 7 integration [video]

By on February 14, 2011 at 11:49 PM.

Microsoft shows off Kinect, Windows Phone 7 integration [video]

Sony Ericsson’s just-announced Xperia Play is set to bring an amazing gaming experience to Android fans around the world, but mobile gamers might want to think twice before signing those two-year contracts. In fact, we hope you’re sitting down, gaming fans, because Microsoft on Monday demonstrated some pretty impressive forthcoming Windows Phone 7 features at Mobile World Congress. The demo, which is just the tip of the iceberg, shows us what might happen when Windows Phone 7 meets Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and the ever popular Kinect motion-based controller. The results, though exhausting, look pretty amazing. Hit the jump for Microsoft’s demo video and while it definitely looks awesome, don’t get too excited just yet — Microsoft notes that this is just a technology demo and gives no real indication of when we might see integration of this caliber. More →

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General
February 14, 2011
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Hands-on with the Dell Venue

By on February 14, 2011 at 10:14 PM.

Hands-on with the Dell Venue

We just swung on by the Dell booth here at MWC and wanted to report back on our quick encounter with the Dell Venue — which is basically the Venue Pro with Android and without a QWERTY slider. To quickly go over the raw specs: 1GHz QSD 8250 processor, 4.1-inch AMOLED display, 512MB RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1400mAh battery, and micro-SD card slot. The device itself is a tad on the thick side — 12.9mm — but feels extremely solid in the hand. The chrome accents on the bezel, like those on the Venue Pro, are a nice touch and give the phone a little flair. The device is running Android 2.2 with Dell’s Stage UI and, much to our chagrin, Dell declined to comment on if/when the device would be updated to Android 2.3. The phone is pretty much exactly what you expect it to be. The device has pretty average specs and behaves like most other Android devices of its ilk. The lighting was terrible, but that didn’t stop us from snapping a few images for you to look over. Hit up our gallery and let us know what you think.

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mobile
February 14, 2011
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Powermat looks to expand beyond the mat

By on February 14, 2011 at 8:35 PM.

Powermat looks to expand beyond the mat

Some of you may be familiar with the mobile accessory company Powermat. The New York City based accessory manufacturer creates a line of cell phone battery covers and battery packs that aim to simplify and add greater convenience to your mobile life. We stopped by the company’s booth at Mobile World Congress and got a glimpse at where the company is now, where they hope to be, and what’s next. Spoiler: if Powermat has its way, you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more about them in the future.

Powermat first came to market around 16 months ago with an innovative, but bulky, line of cases for the iPhone, the iPod touch, the Nintendo DS, and a handful of BlackBerrys. With the case attached to your mobile device, you can place the handset on Powermat’s power mat charging-base and enjoy a cordless charge. Pick up the device, it stops charging. Put it down, it starts charging again. Fast forward to today: the cases have slimmed down, the mat has been sexified, new mobile power accessories have been announced,  and the company is looking to expand its position in the smartphone market place and take its proprietary technology beyond the mat. Hit the jump to read about how Powermat wants to keep you powered on, sans cord. More →

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mobile
February 14, 2011
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Texas Instrument pushing for a more engaging ‘smart device’ experience

By on February 14, 2011 at 4:23 PM.

Texas Instrument pushing for a more engaging ‘smart device’ experience

Today at Mobile World Congress, mobile processor juggernaut Texas Instrument held a press event to offer some additional details about its OMAP 4 and 5 processor lines. Greg Delagi, the company’s senior vice president and general manager, gave the keynote — which took place right on the showroom floor. He emphatically talked about the need to push the capabilities of “smart devices” forward while being mindful of the constraints battery technology puts on the industry. Both RIM and LG were brought on stage — the PlayBook and Optimus 3D both use the OMAP 4 platform — and they too heralded the headway TI is making with its system on a chip (SoC) OMAP processors. The company even has technology in place that will bring cost effective, power efficient gesture recognition and Pico DLP technology to a wider array of smartphones and smart devices; it works just like the Kinect. We have some video of the motion-based gesture recognition, in action running on prototype hardware after the break, along with some of Mr. Delagi’s thoughts on why OMAP is such an effective mobile processor. More →

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mobile
February 14, 2011
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An interview with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop

By on February 14, 2011 at 1:30 PM.

An interview with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop

Earlier this morning at Mobile World Congress, we got a chance to conduct a small group interview with Nokia’s freshly minted CEO, Stephen Elop. With Nokia’s big announcement this past Friday now in the rear view mirror, there was plenty to talk about, of course — and Elop, who has a reputation for being very candid, did not disappoint. “Our competition isn’t other Windows Phone manufacturers, it’s Android,” said the CEO. What will Nokia do to combat the little green alien and regain a foothold in the U.S.? Hit the jump for the full audio from the interview to find out. More →

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mobile
February 14, 2011
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First Windows Phone 7 update due in early March; Verizon, Sprint phones in first half of 2011

By on February 14, 2011 at 10:17 AM.

First Windows Phone 7 update due in early March; Verizon, Sprint phones in first half of 2011

During his keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed that the company will issue its first software update for the Windows Phone 7 platform in the next few weeks (early March). New features that will be introduced with the update, as specified by Microsoft earlier this month, include copy/paste functionality and better integration with Microsoft services like Bing and the Windows Marketplace. Microsoft’s CEO also confirmed that the update will bring CDMA support to the Windows Phone 7 platform, and that Windows Phone 7 devices will launch in the first half of 2011. A specific availability dates for the software update and CDMA phone launches were not provided during today’s keynote. Finally, Ballmer noted that a new version of Internet Explorer for Windows Phone 7 will become available in the second half of this year, as will a new, more robust multitasking solution that facilitates faster app-switching and adds several APIs for background processes. Don’t forget to check out our live coverage of the keynote for more details.

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Live Coverage
February 14, 2011
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Live from Steve Ballmer’s MWC keynote!

By on February 14, 2011 at 10:05 AM.

Live from Steve Ballmer’s MWC keynote!

Yesterday was so jam-packed full of action, it’s hard to believe this year’s Mobile World Congress convention in Barcelona officially started today. The show runs through Thursday, in fact, and promises to bring us awesome mobile news from start to finish. While day 1 of the show winds down — it’s now 4:00PM local time — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is just getting ready to deliver his anticipated MWC keynote. Windows Phone 7 is expected to be a focus, given the venue, and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear Ballmer talk about Nokia a fair bit as well. Hit the break for our live coverage of the event, and don’t forget to refresh the page for all the latest updates. More →

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mobile
February 14, 2011
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RIM announces BBM mobile gifting platform

By on February 14, 2011 at 9:30 AM.

RIM announces BBM mobile gifting platform

Research in Motion on Monday announced a new service addition to its popular BlackBerry Messenger platform. Dubbed the BBM mobile gifting platform, the new service will allow carriers to enable mobile gifting for their subscribers using BlackBerry devices. Prepaid and post-paid subscribers will be able to use the BBM gifting feature to pay for airtime, apps and other carrier services requested by friends and family. The feature will support carrier billing, so related charges will be billed directly to a subscriber’s wireless account. The service will also be integrated tightly with BlackBerry App world, and will allow users to make requests of specific BlackBerry subscribers — so, for example, a child might request a certain app from his or her mother, who will then receive a BBM notification that the request has been made and can choose whether or not to fulfill it. No carrier partners have been announced at this point in time. Hit the break for RIM’s full press release. More →

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mobile
February 14, 2011
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Qualcomm unveils new Snapdragon chipsets, 2.5GHz quad-core chip

By on February 14, 2011 at 9:07 AM.

Qualcomm unveils new Snapdragon chipsets, 2.5GHz quad-core chip

If you thought the mobile processor space was simmering down, well, you’d be wrong. Today, Qualcomm announced a brand new generation of its Snapdragon family, and the new chips feature speeds of up to 2.5GHz per core. There are single, dual, and quad-core chipsets and they feature Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, FM radio, NFC and LTE modem support. Qualcomm has gone on the record to say that the new chips are capable of a 150% performance increase over existing ARM-based CPU cores in addition to a whopping 65% drop in power consumption. Dual-core MSM8960 chips will be available in the second quarter of this year, with single-core MSM8930 and quad-core APQ8063 chips becoming available early 2012. It looks like realistically, we might not see the quad-core chip make its debut in a consumer device until mid-2012 at the earliest, but that doesn’t make us any less excited. Hit the break for Qualcomm’s press release. More →

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Software
February 14, 2011
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Adobe’s Flash 10.1 for mobile: a solid 2010; 600% growth predicted in 2011

By on February 14, 2011 at 7:59 AM.

Adobe’s Flash 10.1 for mobile: a solid 2010; 600% growth predicted in 2011

At Mobile World Congress on Monday, BGR sat down with Adobe to review how its Flash platform did in the mobile space in 2010 and what the company is looking for this year, in 2011. The results pretty much speak for themselves and, regardless of what some OEMs say, the platform is popular, plentiful, and here to stay. Hit the jump to hear the informal State of Flash address. More →

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mobile
February 14, 2011
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LG Optimus 3D hands-on [video]

By on February 14, 2011 at 7:54 AM.

LG Optimus 3D hands-on [video]

Today is officially the first day of Mobile World Congress and for our first stop on the show floor, we decided to hit up LG (great booth placement, right by the entrance). LG had a host of goodies to showcase, but the device we decided to spend the most time with was the company’s yet-to-be-released smartphone, the Optimus 3D. The new, Android 2.2 handset boasts a 4.3-inch, 3D screen that does not require glasses and, to be honest, looks quite nice. The device features a dedicated 3D button which will bring you to LG’s 3D-interface — giving you access to the camera and guide along with all the 3D content on the device. We could belabor you with more details, but a picture (and video) is worth 1,000 words, no? Hit the jump to check out a quick our clip and a gallery of the LG Optimus 3D.


More →

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mobile
February 13, 2011
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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hands-on

By on February 13, 2011 at 5:36 PM.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hands-on

Again, if you followed our live blog of Samsung’s “Unpacked: Part I” event, you may have noticed that the Galaxy S II got the lion’s share of attention. We literally got bombarded with an hour and twenty minutes of the Gally II and a ten minute how-do-you-do on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Regardless, we went ahead and put our greasy, little, jet-lagged fingers all over one the the new Tab demo units that was available and are ready to report back to you.

The device looks extremely slick. High gloss front, textured black backing, and svelte dimensions. It looks just as nice as , if not a little nicer than, the Motorla XOOM. The device has a 10.1-inch screen with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera capable of HD recording, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and beefy Tegra 2 processor. We do have to admit, it was pretty hard to get a gauge on just how fast the device was, as Android 3.0 just doesn’t seem like it’s quite done yet. The refresh rate of the screen when panning and zooming were superb, but when you shifted the device from portrait to landscape — or vice versa — the screen would kind of blink and take a second to properly orient and size itself. Again, we’re sure this is because Honeycomb isn’t exactly street legal yet, but it is hard to call this one a winner without some final software to hammer on. For us, the 10-inch form factor really is the right size for a tablet — we know some of you like the 7-inch blueprint, but the 10-inch screen feels right for the web — so we’re glad to see the Android tablet makers jumping into this space. No word on when you can get yourself one of these little monsters or how much it will set you back. Until then, hit up our gallery and let us know what you think!

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