Well day one of Mobile World Congress is over and done with, and what a day! So many announcements I almost don’t know where to start. Its nice to see that our rumour round up on Friday was pretty much spot on, although a few surprises managed to sneak past us! In case you’ve missed any of today’s announcements, here’s a brief summary.
Sony Ericsson:
The big surprise of the day of course was Sony Ericsson and their shock announcement of the Idou, along with the (expected) launch of the W995.
Idou:
Idou is a 12 megapixel camera phone, with 3.5″ touchscreen display. Its nice to see Sony Ericsson raising the bar again, now lets hope they can get this one out a little quicker than they did last year with the Xperia X1. They said at their press conference that there are to be a number of large announcements around summer time, all based around their "Entertainment Unlimited" concept. Is this the end of cybershot and walkman branded phones or the start of a new range of all singing all dancing phones?
W995:
Codenamed the Hikaru, the W995 has been floating round as a rumour for a while now. The W995 is the first walkman handset to feature a high end camera. Features include an 8MP camera, 8GB internal storage and a memory card slot, 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS.
Nokia:
Quite a few handsets from Nokia again this year, a couple were on the rumour list, but a most managed to sneak past us here too. Nokia have also announced that they are going to be incorporating Skype into their NSeries handsets starting with the N97 in June.
Nokia E75:
As expected, the E75 is a smartphone aimed at the business user. Standard looking candybar at first glance, but the E75 has a slide out QWERTY keyboard, a first for Nokia and a feature normally seen on HTC devices. Specifications include; HSDPA, WiFi, 3.2MP camera and support for 16GB memory cards.
Nokia E55:
Not expected this one, but it did feature on the leaked roadmap in September. The E55 features are the same as the E75 but it has borrowed the keyboard style from the likes of the BlackBerry Pearl/Sony Ericcson P1 with a "half qwerty" keypad. It will take some getting used to, but will no doubt speed up text entry.
Nokia 6710 & 6720:
These two handsets are all about navigation. Both handsets have a 5MP camera, AGPS and will have Nokia Maps 3 preinstalled. As with most Nokia phones, MP3 player, Radio and web browser will all be on them too.
More information on the Nokia 6710
More information on the Nokia 6720
Nokia N86 :
An follow on to their initial announcement, the N86 is an 8MP slide handset that will no doubt give the Sony Ericsson C905, and the N96 a run for their money. Along with the 8MP Carl Zeiss Camera, the N86 features a dual LED flash, dual slider, 8GB internal memory, 2.6" screen, TV-Out and MicroSD slot. GPS and Nokia Maps are also installed.
Ovi Store:
Nokia’s version of the Apple App Store is to be called the Nokia Ovi Store, and will bring together all parts of the Ovi service – Download, Mosh and Widgets. We’re expecting to see it preinstalled first in the Nokia N97, which will be released in June, but S60 and S40 users will be able to download it to their phones from May. Nokia have launched a developers site, in a similar way to Apple, where software developers can submit their applications directly to Nokia.
HTC:
HTC managed to keep all their handsets a secret prior to launch, the only rumours were on the G2 – the next Android phone, and that was confirmed today.
Touch Diamond2:
The Touch Diamond was one of last years most desired phones, and as good as it was, there was room for improvement. This year, the Touch Diamond gets bigger, a 3.6" screen, 5MP Camera and more memory. The Touch Diamond 2 is due around April.
Touch Pro2:
The Touch Pro was also a popular phone last year, but for some it wasn’t serious enough. HTC have beefed the device up significantly this year. The screen is now 3.6" with a much higher resolution (800x 400) and the speaker has been improved to allow for better use during conference calls. The Touch Flo interface has been improved to make using the device even easier.
HTC Magic:
Dubbed the G2, the Magic is the 2nd handset from HTC to run the new Android operating system. Everyone was expecting the next Android phone to be on T-Mobile as the G2, but the HTC Magic is a Vodafone exclusive and won’t be using the name G2. First glance, it looks similar to the T-Mobile G1, but without the QWERTY keyboard. Specifications include 3.2MP camera, Wi-Fi and GPS.
LG:
LG have had a good year with several successfull handsets, and it looks like they’ve still got a few tricks up their sleeve and are about to raise their game again when it comes to touchscreen phones.
LG Arena:
As expeced, the LG Arena is a touchscreen device. Its 3" screen although smaller than the Omnia HD has a higher resolution, meaning pictures and video should be clearer. Its also their first handset to run their S-Class user interface. Features include: 5MP camera, Video capture at 30fps and 120fps (for slow motion) GPS, Wi-Fi and HSDPA.
LG KD900:
Just heads up on this one really, with a formal announcement coming later in the year. The KD900 is similar in appearance to the LG Secret that was launched last year, but interestingly, this phone has a see through keypad. No information as yet on spec, but we do know it will be a 3G handset.
LG GM730:
The GM 730 is a Windows Mobile phone, running LG’s new S-Class interface on top. The phone has HSDPA and is a compact touch screen device. The GM730 is expected to go on sale in the first half of 2009.
Samsung:
Samsung again managed to get a lot of attention this year, mainly due to the announcement of the Omnia HD.
Tocco Ultra:
I’m not 100% sure why they’re calling it the Tocco Ultra, as it doesn’t really resemble the original Tocco, but this full touch screen handset has handy addition of a sliding standard phone keypad. Great for those that want a touch screen phone, but don’t want to lose their keypads completely, or move to a more bulky device with a full QWERTY keyboard.
More information on the Tocco Ultra
Omnia HD:
The Omnia is a great handset, but the Omnia HD really takes it up a level. It has a huge, 3.5" screen and is capable of recording HD video – a first for a mobile phone. It will be available in 2 versions, a 16GB and an 8GB, the same as the current Omnia.
Beat DJ & Disc:
The Beat DJ and Beat Disc are 2 music devices that feature audio technology by Bang & Olufsen. Both feature a 3 MP Camera and support for upto 16GB memory cards.
Other News:
Windows Mobile:
Windows Mobile 6.5 has been confirmed. Aimed at being more finger friendly and allowing users to ditch the stylus, the new OS will be made available at the end of this year, but Microsoft say that current Windows Mobile users won’t be able to upgrade to 6.5.
Mobile World Congress:
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