Round-up from Mobile World Congress - Day 1

 

HTC, Samsung and Sony launch new smartphones and tablets as Barcelona show gets underway.

Mobile World Congress has officially kicked off in Barcelona and several big names, including HTC, Sony and Samsung, have opened the show with brand new smartphones and tablets.

The annual event is the largest exhibition for the mobile industry and each year brings a flurry of announcements, most important of which - obviously - are the exciting new gadgets.

Taiwanese manufacturer HTC grabbed the limelight early on by unveiling the HTC One, which, confusingly, is a range of not one but three different smartphones. All three handsets will feature Sense 4, HTC's latest take on the Android operating system from search giant Google.

But despite their software similarities, the HTC One X, HTC One S and HTC One V have widely varying specifications. Here's what we know so far:

• HTC One X - The first HTC phone equipped with a quad-core processor, the 1.5Ghz Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset. It has a 4.7in display and supports high-definition 720p resolution. Described by HTC chief Peter Chou as a “beast”, it's a very powerful device.
• HTC One S - Slimmer than the HTC One X, measuring just 7.8mm in thickness compared to its bigger brother's 8.9mm. Uses the same 1.5GHz processor but packs half as much storage space (16GB) and a smaller 4.3in touchscreen display.
• HTC One V - Comes with a smaller single-core 1GHz chip and just 512MB of RAM, compared with the full 1GB in the HTC One S and X handsets. The screen is also notably smaller, at 3.7 in across. At the right price, this could be a great “budget” smartphone.

Meanwhile, Samsung has lifted the lid on the latest version of its Galaxy Note, which currently has features akin to both smartphones and tablets, making it one of a few “hybrid” devices on the market. However, the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is quite clearly a tablet all over.

As the name suggests, it features the same 10.1in display as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, as well as a dual-core chipset clocked at 1.4GHz and the newest version of Google's Android software, the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. It can be operated by finger touch or stylus pen.

Another exciting development to unfold on the opening day of Mobile World Congress 2012 was the launch of the Huawei Ascend D quad, which the Chinese manufacturer claims is the world's fastest smartphone.

“We've listened to people's top demands from smartphones - speed, long battery life, high-quality visual and audio capabilities, and a compact, lightweight handset. The Huawei Ascend D quad exceeds these expectations,” said Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei Device.

The Ascend D quad has a 4.5in touchscreen boasting HD 720p resolution, similar to that of the HTC One X, as well as Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound and an eight megapixel camera.

Finally, there is also news from the Sony Mobile camp, with the unveiling of the stylish Sony Xperia U, complete with its 3.5in display enhanced by the Sony Bravia colour booster. It also features a 5Mp camera and exchangeable colour caps for quirky user customisation.

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