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Mobile World Congress 2013: Roundup
MWC 2013
It’s that time of year again already; MWC 2013 is here and we can expect the usual raft of announcements from leading technology manufacturers. We’ll use this post to summarise announcements and link to any of those that are listed on the Clove Technology website. We’ll also provide UK pricing and availability updates where possible.
Samsung confirms new Galaxy S debut for March 14th in NYC
Rumours have been rife for months now about if/when/where Samsung will announce its next flagship, but it is now reported to have confirmed at MWC that the date to pencil in is March 14th. Samsung has chosen New York as the destination for the device unveiling, which is the first time it has made the flagship announcement in the US since that of the Galaxy S. The S3 was announced in London last year and the S2 at MWC in 2011.
You will likely have seen the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 over the last few weeks thanks to various leaks and early hands-on pieces. It has now been made official by Samsung, which adds an iPad Mini competitor to its vast portfolio of products. The Note 8.0 hits the middle ground between the Note 2 (5.5″) and the Note 10.1, but interestingly it seems to have phone functionality included. This is unusual for a tablet, but does keep your options open if you only want to carry one device. Specs and styling are very much a combination of the other two Galaxy Note devices and S Pen functionality is of course included. We can expect the Note 8.0 release date to be in Q2 of 2013.
More info available here
Huawei Ascend P2 – ‘The world’s fastest smartphone’
Not only has Huawei announced the world’s fastest phone at MWC, it’s also announced a 60% annual increase in mobile device shipments. The Chinese company is growing rapidly and has now overtaken BlackBerry to become the world’s third largest smartphone manufacturer. It’s in terms of Wi-Fi speed that Huawei is touting the P2 as being so fast – claiming that it will offer speeds 2 or 3 times faster than rival devices. The P2 supports LTE Cat 4, which on paper gives it the ability to operate at download speeds up to 150Mbps (although it may be a while before you gets those kinds of speeds in the UK). The handset also conforms to the Huawei thinness that we’ve come to expect, measuring in at 8.4mm. It’s expected for launch in Q2 2013.
HP Slate 7
HP will for a long time be famous for the canning and firesale of the HP TouchPad, which caused quite a stir back in 2011. The HP Slate 7 is the first tablet to be released by the company since, but this time its gone down the Android route. The Slate 7 is another 7″ budget tablet, which with a price tag of $169 will compete with the likes of the Nexus 7. The spec sheet is reasonable for that price (although GPS and NFC are not included) and HP Is playing to its strengths by including Beats Audio technology and a wireless printing app that should make wireless printing on the go a lot easier.
LG four-tier strategy
LG has announced bold plans for a four-tier Optimus series and is aiming to sell 10 millions smartphones in each quarter of 2013. We’re already well aware of LG’s new flagships – the Optimus G and the Optimus G Pro, which fall into its top tier – the LG Optimus G Series. The next in line is the LG Optimus Vu series (‘large screens for enhanced viewing experience’), followed by the LG Optimus F series (“4G LTE smartphones for everyone”) and finally the LG Optimus LII Series (“continuation of unique design heritage”).
It’s the LG Optimus G and Optimus G Pro that our readers will no doubt be most interested in and we’ll provide an update on any UK pricing and availability as soon as we can.
Nokia
Nokia will be providing a live webcast of its presentation, which kicks off at 8:30AM CET or 7:30AM GMT. You need to register for the webcast here
Clove Technology’s Blog – for the latest news, reviews and advice on smartphones, tablets and accessories.
2013-02-25 00:49:01
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