Mobile MWC 2014

[Knifeshade]

And it's that time of the year again....Mobile World Congress.

Where most of the phones and mobile gadgets you can expect to buy this year is revealed.
And where we can see what the latest trends are and what direction we can expect the mobile industry to be moving in the years that follow.

This shall be the thread to discuss the things that go on during MWC.



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First order of business, is the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 that was just revealed.

But here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the tablet's finally been made official. If you haven't already inferred from its name, Samsung's latest S Pen entry boasts an 8-inch 1,280 x 800 TFT display. That puts it on par with the Note 10.1's resolution, although here users will obviously benefit from a more eye-pleasing pixel density (189ppi) and smaller 210.8mm x 135.9mm x 7.95mm (8.3 x 5.4 x 0.31 inches) footprint. Beneath that love it or hate it sealed plastic chassis, lies the company's Exynos 4 Quad processor clocked at 1.6GHz and paired with 2GB RAM, radios for WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, GLONASS and HSPA+ 21 (850/900/1900/2100MHz), up to 32GB of internal storage (microSD expansion available), in addition to a 4,600mAh battery. And, as with most Android products rolling out as of late, the Note 8.0 will ship with version 4.1.2 of Jelly Bean onboard -- skinned with the requisite TouchWiz UX.

Source

 

[goldb]

Re: MWC 2013

With the launches of the XperiaZ and HTC One pre-MWC, I dunno what to expect from Sony and HTC respectively. Maybe they'll pull something out that we haven't heard about. Mostly though, I'd think it'll be updates and upgrades on existing models. I think what will be receiving a fair bit of spotlight or awaiting further criticism is RIM and their BB10; which will have a lot of people wanting to test it out to play.

As for the Samsung 8.0; wow; looks alone and I'm sold- I just want to check out how it compares to the iPad mini.

 

[Knifeshade]

Re: MWC 2013

Well, Sony didn't announce anything new, just showed off the Tablet Z. (which looks pretty might I add)

But mother of god. Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 everywhere. Every high-end phone has it inside. HTC One. LG Optimus G Pro. Asus Padfone Infinity. Even the Galaxy S4 is rumoured to have one inside instead of their home-brewed Exynos 5 Octa. Which kinda makes the playing field look boring this year when everybody has more-or-less the same guts and it's just the exterior that's different. o_O

What I've found interesting so far is Firefox OS, LG scooping up webOS, and the new Clover Trail details.

As for the Samsung 8.0; wow; looks alone and I'm sold- I just want to check out how it compares to the iPad mini.

It also makes phone calls. Imagine that for a second.

 

[goldb]

Re: MWC 2013

I saw the Firefox OS 2 days ago, very much like look of it and it's quite an affordable pricing for the handset by Alcatel too( around $100 iirc).

I was gutted to read that because of our crappy 4G networks here in the UK, we won't be getting the LG LTEs for the foreseeable. LG reps have said it's too immature, and since it's relatively new here, it won't improve until the 2nd half of the year. Bummer.

Asus Padfone, I didn't know about this :/ I've seen a very brief hands on video and the connectivity between the phone and pad seems smooth enough, just need to read up more on it.

It also makes phone calls. Imagine that for a second.

I did not know this. So out of this and the Sony Tablet Z, which do you lean towards? I'm much preferring the Samsung to be honest, performance head-to-head aside, the rough edge look of the Tablet Z doesn't quite do it for me.

 

[Knifeshade]

Re: MWC 2013

Hard to compare really. The Note 8.0 is obviously going after the iPad mini crowd. I think it's a nice tablet; the form factor is nice and portable without compromising too much if 10 inch tablets aren't your thing, and the stylus and digitizer sets it apart. It's just the specs, they look outdated (by 2013 standards).

From what I've read, the Tablet Z just seems like your run-of-the-mill 10.1" tablet. Just prettier looking, lighter, and more modern? And pricey?

Re: Padfone. Yeah, I was genuinely surprised to see Asus still pursuing the phone-tablet transformer idea. But kudos to them for innovating to be honest. Though I think the most surprising was their Fonepad (are you confused by the names yet...). It's a 7" tablet/smartphone. The idea is hilarious, but it makes a bit of sense when you think about it. Nobody would hold up a smartphone the size of your dinner plate in public, but you could easily just use a headset for handling calls. And it makes sense for the people who don't make as many calls on their smartphone but would love a bigger screen for a more comfortable experience. And the 7" form factor is big but it's still portable enough. It's a neat niche.

Overall, I found this year's MWC to be "linear". Less innovative, more conservative. But I think it's just a reflection on what the trend is nowadays. More and more companies like to hold their own events for their product announcements rather than at big events where it might get lost in the crowd. Samsung is announcing their Galaxy S4 on March 14th at their (now annual) Unpacked event. And you have HTC, who took the wraps off the One at their own pre-MWC event. Even Sony, who announced the PS4 at their own press event when you'd presume they would do it at E3.

 

[goldb]

Re: MWC 2013

Then with pricing and size, I'd be leaning even more toward the Note 8.0. I think release for this is around April, I hope we get it over here around then too, so I can have a play with it.

Fonepad/Padfone wuuut? what kinda trick is this? Though you're right, it is a nice niche for them to explore. Hope it'll be worth it.

I saw that the HTC One was voted the Best of Show?

I think moving forward, tech conventions like these will get smaller and smaller as the big players would like to hog all the spotlight on their own products, and since they can afford to, they'll host it on their own platform events.