Monday, February 25, 2013

Mobile World Congress: Barcelona's phone fest


Mobile World Congress sign Barcelona's Mobile World Congress runs until 28 February
The BBC tech team will be providing frequent updates to this page throughout Barcelona's Mobile World Congress to keep you up to date with developments.

 

Monday 0630 GMT

The GSMA - organisers of MWC - predicts mobile operator data revenues will overtake voice revenues globally by 2018. It suggests health-related apps will be one of the biggest draws - and the software could end up saving hundreds of billions of pounds worth of medical costs.

Sunday 1700 GMT

Mozilla's new mobile operating system gets off to a strong start with news that it has secured 18 mobile operator partners and nine launch markets. ZTE, LG and Huawei are among those on board.
Tony Cripps, principal device analyst at Ovum, is impressed but warns of problems ahead.
"That is a huge achievement for what, in fairness, has looked like an underdog among the plethora of alternative software platforms currently vying to power the so-called 'third ecosystem'," he writes.
"Windows Phone, Blackberry 10, and Tizen all look like better bets on the surface. As such, the Mozilla Foundation and its early sponsors, especially Telefonica, deserve considerable credit.
"The real acid test for Firefox OS and its long-term prospects is the quality of the software itself and the user and developer experiences that it fosters. However, it will be difficult to say whether it meets those needs sufficiently until we have seen retail devices. What is clear from the Firefox OS demonstration handsets that we have seen was that they are still some way from being market ready, being both slow and buggy."
Firefox phone Mozilla aims to bring the first phones powered by its operating system to Europe by the summer

Sunday 1430 GMT

Huawei unveils its latest handset, the Ascend P2. The 4.7in device is said to be the "world's fastest" thanks to a new kind of 4G chip - but has a smaller screen than the D2 which the Chinese firm unveiled at the Las Vegas CES tech convention in January.
The firm - which some analysts say is now the world's third biggest smartphone vendor - secures a large turnout for its Barcelona news conference at the Casa Llotje de Mar, a former stock exchange. It also unveils its new marketing campaign which will use "make it possible" as its slogan.
View Rory's Tout video here
Huawei press conference Huawei made a splash by hosting its event in the Gothic castle-like splendour of Barcelona's Casa Llotje de Mar

Sunday 1010 GMT

Rory tweets he's in town.
Rory tweet

Sunday 1000 GMT

Asus's viral marketing campaign is causing a stir ahead of its announcement on Monday.
The campaign takes Barcelona's famous statue of Christopher Columbus and makes it appear he is talking into a large phone/tablet.
Tech sites are convinced this heralds the unveiling of the firm's Intel-powered FonePad, which Taiwan's Digitimes news site has already said will launch at MWC.
Asus advert Asus's marketing team uses a CG animation of the statue known locally as Cristobal Colon

Sunday 0200 GMT

Samsung kicks off the Mobile World Congress news via a pair of press releases rather than an event. They detail news of the Galaxy Note 8.0 featuring an 8in (20.3cm) screen.
An email from Samsung highlights that it launched a tablet with a 7in screen in 2010 and claims its new device will "reignite the mid-size tablet category". The move is presumably designed to help it compete against Apple's iPad Mini - which has a 7.9in screen - which has proved more popular.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Samsung hopes its new 8in tablet will help it compete in a crowded market

Sunday 0100 GMT

The BBC's Mobile World Congress coverage is under way with a preview by Jane Wakefield and a look at how big phones can get before you start suffering from wrist ache.

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