ASUS is the manufacturer behind the Nexus 7 we like so much, and now that the company has a new seven-incher of its own on the way, the just-announced Fonepad, we simply had to see how the two tablets compare. While the materials used may differ, the two tablets certainly share similar looks, though some details, like button placement, get swapped around. The big difference between the two is the Fonepad’s inclusion of an earpiece, letting you use the tablet as an (oversized) ...
We’ve already shown you the new Lumias Nokia unveiled at the MWC, the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720, but the company also had a couple other handsets to debut. It may not be our usual cup of tea, but we decided to take a look at one of these cheaper options, the Nokia 301. We were especially impressed with some of the camera features that you’d normally see on a ...
Remember the YotaPhone dual-screen Android with an e-ink display? We’ve been hearing about since summer of last year, got to check out a video of it action back in December, and at the Mobile World Congress this week we finally had the opportunity to see it in the flesh. From one side, the YotaPhone is your pretty run-of-the-mill mid-range Android, with decent specs and a 4.3-inch 720p screen, but the magic happens around back, where you’ll find a 4.3-inch e-ink screen. You can transfer images from the ...
Hardware’s a huge part of what to see at the Mobile World Congress, but when we stop gawking at all the full HD screens and next-gen SoCs for a few minutes, there’s also a lot of great software to check out. Nokia announced some new apps of its own, which we wanted to give you a quick look at. First up we’ve got the Here apps, and while the apps themselves aren’t new, the push to get them on non-Nokia devices is. Then there’s Nokia Music Plus, a paid upgrade to the normal Music ...
Now that you’ve had a chance to take a look at the new Padfone Infinity from ASUS you probably have a general sense of some of the improvements ASUS has managed to make over last year’s Padfone 2, but how do these two models really stack up when compared head-to-head? We stuck around the ASUS booth at the MWC to find out just that. It’s remarkable how similar ASUS has kept the look of the phone, and even with the new model being slightly larger, when ...
Yesterday we got to hear ASUS announce its latest Padfone model, the Padfone infinity. With the new tablet/smartphone combo now official, we decided to go hands-on with the model to see for ourselves just what ASUS was able to put together. There are no basic changes to the Padfone concept this time around: you’ve still got a smartphone alongside a tablet dock, which must have the smartphone inserted in order to function. Like so many other flagship Androids we’re hearing about lately, the new Padfone graduates ...
Watch today’s Pocketnow Daily as we talk about all of our MWC 2013 coverage, which includes the newly-launched Galaxy Note 8. Then we move to Samsung’s new HomeSync Android device and what it means to Galaxy devices. We later talk about Nokia and their new Lumia devices, which sadly underwhelm. Then it’s HP talk, as they’ve now launched a new HP Slate 7 Android tablet, to the surprise of everyone. We end today’s show talking about Samsung’s press invites for their Unpacked Galaxy S IV announcement. All this and more after the break. Stories: -
The first Optimus G was a pretty nice little smartphone from a company that’s really been hard to feel enthusiastic for over the years. At least, between misses like the oddball Optimus Vu and the low-to-midrange L series it dumped on the market last year, it was starting to feel like it had been a seriously long time since there was an LG smartphone worth getting excited about. Ultimately, the Optimus G was itself overshadowed by the Nexus 4, a cheaper version with the benefit of Google’s software support, but had that not ...
Seeing HP bring its Slate 7 Android tablet to the MWC started stirring up some old memories of the TouchPad in us. The glory days of webOS may be long gone, but many of us here were big fans of the platform, and even if its reincarnation as Open webOS wasn’t about to bring us any new smartphones, it was still nice to see the project live on in one form or another. Well, the timing for that ...
Samsung’s Galaxy Note II is the gold standard when it comes to phablets, so of course we had to compare it against ZTE’s new 5.7-incher, the Grand Memo. While the Grand Memo’s screen isn’t that much bigger than the Note II’s the handset itself is noticeably taller. ZTE goes with a higher-resolution camera than the Note II’s, but you pay for that with a much larger camera bulge. ZTE may get around to releasing a stylus, but even if it ...
We told you about Acer’s Liquid C1 back at the start of the month, an Android running Intel’s Lexington platform. At the MWC today, we were able to get some hands-on time with the smartphone. The Liquid C1 has a 4.3-inch qHD screen, runs a 1.2GHz Intel chip, and has a 2000mAh battery. While it’s not the thinnest phone around, it still manages to give the appearance of one, thanks to some smart design choices. Performance seemed brisk enough, considering Acer’s intent to make this a budget-priced handset, ...
We’ve been itching to get our hands on Firefox OS for a while now, and thanks to the ZTE Open at the Mobile World Congress, we finally got a chance to take it for a spin. As shouldn’t be that surprising, it feels like a mix of ideas from a lot of mobile platforms. While connection problems kept us from diving too deep into apps, we took a quick walk through the phone’s home screen, checking out notifications and its universal search feature. We’ll be spending more time with Firefox OS in the ...
Intrigued by ZTE’s just-announced Grand Memo, the 5.7-inch phablet we just told you about? We went hands-on with the Android to let you know just what to expect. Again, we’re looking at a 720p model with a Snapdragon S4, after hearing about 1080p and a Snapdragon 800 during the announcement itself – clearly, ZTE has its signals crossed somewhere. While it’s no Huawei Ascend Mate, the Memo is definitely a handful. Take a look below to get a quick look at ZTE’s UI and some of the software.
Have you noticed that those who are absent at a party are always the most talked about? It’s not always because they’re necessarily missed, but people will most likely remember those who didn’t attend more than those who did. Samsung is definitely not absent from MWC 2013, but their strategy has changed dramatically. Two years ago MWC was Samsung’s show floor for unveiling their most compelling smartphones of the year. Some would even argue that they owned the trade show each time, with enough popularity to serve them well in order to build enough buzz around their ...
Sony just revealed some of the pricing and availability details for its Xperia Tablet Z, and we just had an opportunity to go hands-on with the tablet at the Mobile World Congress. The 6.9-millimeter-thick tablet is just astonishingly slim for its size, making it the thinnest 10.1-incher around. It runs a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro, has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, and manages to pack in a 6000mAh battery in spite of its narrow cross-section. While the ...