How long will Europe have to wait for its first taste of the Mozilla smartphone OS? Not long at all, it seems.
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Mozilla has gone from having zero mobile presence to being a big name waiting in the wings pretty quickly. The powerful open-source browser only landed on Android in 2010 (and in a "pre-alpha stage"), while Firefox OS (formerly Boot to Gecko) made its debut roughly a year ago this week. So, twelve months after the big reveal, whats does Mozilla have in store for us at this Mobile World Congress? You'll just have to check back in at the time below to find out!
February 24, 2013 11:00 AM EST
Mad Catz announced the F.R.E.Q. 7 gaming headset last week, and the company has the $200 cans on hand here at Mobile World Congress. As you may recall, the marquee spec is Dolby Pro Logic IIx processing, which expands 5.1-channel audio to 7.1 channels for a richer aural experience. Another cool feature: these over-ears come bundled with both a standard stereo connector and a cord with USB for connecting directly to your computer (both have mini-USB on one end). The F.R.E.Q. 7 wasn't plugged in so we can't speak to sound quality, but they feel lightweight, and the red color really pops in real life. (There's also a matte black option.) The devices are currently available for pre-order, but you can get a hands-on look now in our gallery.
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Android-powered monitors aren't exactly a novel concept, but it's definitely a new frontier for Acer. The company is just dipping its toes into the space with the Smart Display DA220HQL, which it's showing off here at Mobile World Congress. The 21.5-inch, 250-nit, 1080p panel makes use of VA technology (like some other Acer monitors, actually), which provides viewing angles on par with IPS. Which is to say, they're wide, and colors stay vibrant regardless of whether you're standing off to the side or you've got the screen pushed down at a near-flat angle.
As far as connectivity goes, you've got three USB ports, as well as micro-HDMI for hooking this up to your PC. There's also an Ethernet jack, a microSD slot supporting 32GB cards and a 1.2MP front-facing camera if you want to use Skype or some other app for video calls. As you can see in the gallery and in that main shot up there, this is mostly clean Android, which isn't a surprise since Acer isn't known for saddling its tablets and phones with heavy skins. Still, like recent Iconia Tabs we've tested, it has the Acer Ring UI for quickly launching apps. Even then, it's easy enough to ignore if you're not into it. On the inside, you've got a dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP 4428 CPU and 8GB of RAM to keep performance hopping, which is plenty -- this is, after all, a mobile OS we're talking about, even if it does live inside what appears to be an all-in-one PC.
Other design notes: that speaker grille up front has what can only be described as a paisley pattern, which, uh, we're not very into. But hey, to each his own. We do appreciate the relatively narrow bezel, though the backside and front face have a few too many glossy bits. Even so, it's a nicer design than what ViewSonic had to show at CES. (Besides, how many people are going to see your monitor's rear end anyway?) As far as availability goes, we so far know this will hit Europe in March for 399 euro. It's said to be US-bound, too, though no word on pricing. For now, we've got some hands-on shots below for your viewing pleasure.
Last week, Acer got out in front of the Mobile World Congress madness by reintroducing its Liquid E1 smartphone and announcing the new Liquid Z2. Well, we're on the ground here in Barcelona and we just got to see them both in person. A quick recap for those who missed Acer's first Androids of 2013: the mid-range E1 runs Jelly Bean on a 4.5-inch 960 x 540 IPS display, has a dual-core 1GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera and a 1,760mAh battery. The entry-level Z2 also runs Android 4.1, but has a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 screen, single-core 1GHz CPU, a 3-megapixel shooter and a 1,300 mAh cell. Both phones come in either black or white and can be had in single- or dual-SIM configurations. Peruse our galleries of photos below, won't you? Then join us after the break for a video and our full impressions.
Here's a question we've been asking ourselves for a while: what if the dock for a hybrid tablet could offer not only a keyboard and battery, but also increased performance? Wouldn't that provide the best of both worlds, with long battery life when you're in tablet mode and true laptop productivity when you have a place to sit down?
Turns out AMD is on the same wavelength. In fact, the company has already implemented the idea in a prototype device here at MWC, destined to appear in commercial products around the middle of this year. As you'll see if you check out the video after the break, it's built by Compal and includes a 13-inch 1080p display with a quad-core Temash chip, which when combined with its Turbo Dock delivers some serious power -- going from 8 W to 15 W, with extra air flow delivered through the connector to keep it cool.
AMD says that the docked tablet offers general computing performance broadly at the level of a full-fledged 17 W Intel Core i3 notebook. Judging from Microsoft's Fish Bowl HTML5 benchmark, we're looking at a gain of 50 percent -- and yes, that's pretty impressive. Next stop, a dock with an extra discrete GPU for CrossFire gaming? Who knows, but it's the logical progression.
Mobile World Congress might be the world's premier smartphone show, but that doesn't mean you won't find a bunch of tablets on display. In fact, that's pretty much all Lenovo is showing -- that, and the K900 phone, which you've already seen. All told, the company is introducing three new tabs, all of which run Android Jelly Bean, and fall into the budget / mid-range category. At the highest end is the S6000, which really isn't "high-end," per se, given that it has a 10-inch, 1,280 x 800 IPS display and a quad-core MediaTek's 8389 / 8125 processor, clocked at 1.2GHz. The tablet, which measures 8.6mm (0.34 inch) thick and weighs in at 560 grams (1.23 pounds), is rated for eight hours of battery life, and there's an optional HSPA+ radio too.
Similarly, the 7-inch A3000 (pictured above) has a 1.2GHz quad-core MTK processor, IPS display and optional HSPA+ , but its resolution is a lower 1,024 x 600. Though it's smaller, it's also a tad thicker, at 11mm (0.43 inch). Finally, at the entry level, there's the A1000, a 7-inch tablet with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and Dolby Digital Plus audio (it's being marketed toward music enthusiasts as well as first-time buyers). Both models have microSD expansion, but the A3000 supports cards up to 64GB, while the A1000 can only handle 32. (The A1000 maxes out at 16GB of built-in storage, by the way.)
The tablets will all be available sometime in Q2, with worldwide availability (yes, that includes the US). We won't find out prices until later, but we do expect to see these on display here at MWC, so stay tuned for the usual hands-on treatment.
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.
Coffee is what fuels us in the morning -- but it turns out that a cup of Joe can do much more than perk up sleepy office workers; this week a truck that runs entirely on coffee set a world record for the highest speed ever attained by a java-powered vehicle. That isn't the only green car news that broke this week -- with the Geneva Motor Show fast approaching, we've been keeping an ear to the ground for the latest from Switzerland. McLaren is set to officially unveil its 903-horsepower P1 hybrid supercar at the Geneva show, and Volkswagen will show off its new XL1 plug-in hybrid, which gets a whopping 261 miles to the gallon. Volvo, meanwhile, just launched the world's first car with external airbags to help protect pedestrians from serious injuries. But if you prefer bikes over cars, then you'll want to check out Bicycled Bikes, a unique set of bikes that are manufactured in Spain from upcycled car parts.
A mobile-focused show like MWC 2013 seems like an odd place to show off a TV-connected box, but that's how Samsung has chosen to introduce its new HomeSync device. Powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core CPU and running Android Jelly Bean, it's a media hub that the press release claims will let you view all your videos, photos and apps at full 1080p resolution, with streaming from local Galaxy devices. Additional specs include 1GB of RAM, 8GB Flash memory, a 1TB HDD, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n 2.4 & 5GHz, Gigabit Ethernet, plus optical audio and HDMI 1.4 outputs. It even supports up to eight individual password-protected and encrypted user accounts, with each able to individually sync content from other devices and share it with the other accounts. There's no mention of Google TV, but it has access to the Play store to get apps on its own, while also allowing remote control from a phone. Also unspecified is pricing or any support for specific streaming protocols like Miracast or WiDi, although it's supposed to launch in "select countries" starting in April.
The last two events put on by Nokia at Mobile World Congress have been pretty solid affairs -- the PureView 808 last year, preceded by the earth-shattering partnership with Microsoft the year before that -- but we must admit, we're not quite certain as to what we should expect this go-round. Will there be another mystery product that we weren't expecting, such as a tablet or PureView Lumia of some kind? Hard to say, but what is certain is that we'll be there covering it for you. And as an extra bonus, if you want to follow along with us, Nokia is planning to have a live video feed available here as well.
February 25, 2013 2:00 AM EST