MWC round up day two: HTC Facebook phones, Windows Phone 7, LG Optimus Pad and HTC Flyer tablet
In today’s Mobile World Congress installment we’ve got the first of a wave of fantastic looking Facebook phones, Windows Phone 7 turned game controller, LG offering 3D on the go and the coolest tablet we’ve ever seen that isn’t called iPad…
There’s plenty of excitement on the show floor in Barcelona, and it’s no surprise with the slew of new devices revealed over the last 24 hours. We were gobsmacked yesterday when we watched Steve Balmer’s keynote (we blagged our way into the GSMA VIP bar for a comfy seat and direct feed from the auditorium) where the next generation of Windows Phone 7 was demoed, as an additional game controller for Kinect. Elsewhere the tablet game is looking even competitive with some worthy iPad competitors revealed and for those of you who like to spend a lot of time on Facebook, you’d better read the next paragraph first….
HTC Facebook phones revealed
HTC’s biggest news was the arrival of two Facebook phones. The first, the HTC ChaCha, is heavy on the buttons with a fully QWERTY keyboard and a new Facebook-obsessed UI while the second, the HTC Salsa, packs a 4.3in touchscreen and a special Facebook button. Both are UK bound but pricing and the like are still missing in action. The other exciting part of HTC’s presentation? Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg popped up on screen and promised a wave of Facebok phones this year:
HTC Desire S: even more desirable!
If Facebook isn’t your primary motivation HTC had more smartphone joy to share: the HTC Desire S. One of last year’s most desirable phones (yes, we went there) has been super-charged in the new HTC Desire S which is carved from a single block of aluminium and feels like the spiritual successor to the gorgeous HTC Legend which rocked similarly solid looks. Besides the aesthetics there’s a five-megapixel camera, 720p video grabbing skills and a front-facing camera. It’ll come packing Android Gingerbread initially and is set to drop in Q2 2011. Oh, and you’ll be able to pick it up on O2, too.
Windows Phone 7 turns Kinect controller
There’s been lots of big Windows Phone 7 news with Microsoft and Nokia getting into a marriage of convenience but a nice little tidbit that popped up during the Microsoft MWC 2011 keynote was Windows Phone 7 devices acting as Kinect controllers. We’ll have to wait until later in the year before we see this on devices it seems, but expect this and a range of new updates in the next generation of Windows Phone. Take a look at the video below to see the Kinect controller in action:
LG Optimus Pad: iPad fighter?
After the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Motorola Xoom, the LG Optimus Pad is the third Google Android Honeycomb tablet we’ve seen from a big firm at MWC 2011. The Optimus Pad features twin cameras at the back for taking 3D snaps which is its big new feature but it’ll also take normal five-megapixel stills and 1080p HD video. The tablet needs glasses for you to look at your 3D video or pictures but it’s an interesting new inclusion.
HTC Flyer: tasty looking tablet
The HTC Flyer is a 7-inch Android Gingerbread tablet (soon to be bumped up to Android Honeycomb) which has all the usual things you’d expect from a tablet but takes it a little further. It comes with a stylus but you don’t need it to navigate around (you use your finger for that). Instead the stylus is used for writing directly into Android with digital ink. You can doodle on the homescreen, create cool notes with sketches and handwriting as well as typed text using an onscreen virtual keyboard. You can also add audio to the handwritten notes. See it in action in the video below:
LG Optimus 3D: extra-dimensional phone outed
Unlike the LG Optimus Pad, the LG Optimus 3D phone can deliver 3D without glasses which means you get 3D video and 3D games. The Optimus 3D, which will also be available on O2 later this year, is a super-slim phone with a 4.3-inch 400×800 resolution screen. It’ll deliver 720p video and can push that up to 1080p for 2D video. There’s also an HDMI output so you can hook up your LG Optimus 3D to a 3D TV and playback videos and photos.
So, which of today’s treats will be piquing your interest over the coming months? Let us kno win the comments below.
